Withlacoochee Bay Trail, buggy but beautiful!

 We've been anxious to drive back over to the Gulf Coast, weather permitting. It's been hot and humid and pop up showers are hard to predict. (and they usually come from the warm Gulf waters) 

So when we saw it would be low tide, we took a drive.

More chance of seeing shorebirds when there are exposed sandbars at low tide.

And the water was glassy and the views were amazing!

But there were deer flies buzzing all around. We didn't get a single bug bite but they were annoying to say the least!

Do you see the one that photobombed this photo? He was right on the lens of the camera for crying out loud!

But it was a good day for sightings!

Osprey

Tricolored Heron and Great White Egret.

Are you following me?

The Heron just wanted to hang out with the Egret! 

And here's proof that the earth is FLAT!

Don't go out too far and fall off! lol

This Swallowtail Kite might take a photo of you and post it on his blog! hahahaha! Straight out of camera with his catch of the day!

He has his camera focused right on YOU!!!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.  

Sunny Days at Cannon Farms in Dunnellon

 It was a hot sunny morning when I went to the farm last week but the flowers were in full bloom so I couldn't resist getting out in the maze!

Everyone there is so friendly and nice. Ashley offered to take me out farther to see more of the Zinnias but I wanted to spend time taking photos of the sunflowers. 

I spent most of my time in the sunflower field.

There were so many more blooms since I was there just a week ago.

It didn't feel too bad at 10 am. It was around 80 degrees with a light breeze.

I just kept on clicking and trying to remember that I had to choose a bouquet to bring home when I was finished.

I saw flocks of Cattle Egrets fly over the whole time I was there.

Ashley said that the flowers were drawing all kinds of birds and bees and bugs. 

She had seen a lot of ladybugs early in the season.

And the Monarch butterflies loved this special sunflowers. (I think they are Mexican sunflowers)

Hummingbirds were around and lots of honey bees.

I even saw a Swallow-tailed Kite while I walked around.

Being out in the flower fields gave me a chance to get better photos of the Zinnias.

They were gorgeous!

What a fun experience! 

I bought lots of fresh veggies again this week. We didn't have any go to waste last week but hubby mentioned more than once that we were eating 3 vegetables at every meal! lol This week the bonus was okra! We LOVE fried okra! And it's really worth the trip for the vine ripened tomatoes and fresh picked corn. Thanks to the owner for coming out to my Jeep with corn he had just picked and I almost missed.

Here's the sunflower I picked and brought home.

It doesn't get any better than Cannon Farms, family owned and operated! They are closed for the season now but it sure has been wonderful to spend time there! Thanks for everything Cannon Farms. See you next season!

 

Links to the farm are HERE and HERE. 

I'm joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE . 

I’m joining Thankful Thursdays and

I like Thursdays HERE too! 

The Dolphin, a small-toothed cetacean

 

This will probably be the easiest post I've ever written. I could add one photo and one photo only. But of course you know I can't do that! 

We DID have an amazing encounter with a Dolphin on our drive over to the Withlacoochee Bay Trail on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

We were standing on an observation platform looking out over some shallow water and saw a Dolphin swimming our way. 

For starters, we can see the dorsal fin of Dolphins swimming out in the deeper waters. That's not unusual. But to have one swim right in front of us is most unusual and very exciting. 

Can you see the water coming out of his blow hole?

And then to have it splishing and splashing, fishing for it's lunch was something to watch!

Fish were flying out of the water, hoping to live another day! lol

It was an incredible display to be so close to with our cameras clicking away.

And to share a Tricolored Heron that we spotted from the top of the tall tower I bravely climbed (more on that in the previous post).

He was a beauty!

I'll finish with a cropped photo of the Dolphin coming out of the water to give us a smile! 

Amazing! We were very thankful to witness something so special!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.  

A few "regulars" have shown up for the winter months!

 

A lot of birds live in Florida year round because of the mild weather.

But I'll share some that we are seeing more of this month!

American Kestrels

We have seen them on several of our hikes lately!

They really are eye catching!

  Flycatchers

We are seeing all kinds of flycatchers when we hike.

And they are busy catching the bugs right out of the air! YAY!

 

More birds, less bugs is a good thing!

The Sandhill Cranes are back at the Pruitt Trailhead of the Florida Trails. 

They are neat to see and pretty easy to spot under the trees!

Lots of bluebirds and warblers everywhere we go and a few wildflowers and butterflies around too! 

A few blog friends asked how I took this photo.

I pointed my camera down and zoomed a little into Johnson Pond and that's what I got. At first I was disappointed that it wasn't in sharp focus but then I fell in love with it! It's like a work of art. Nature IS a work of art! Thanks for all of your sweet comments!

 

It's a great time to take a hike in Florida. Temps are in the 70s all week long! 

Come on down!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.