Halpata Tastanaki Preserve "What's new?"

 

I had another post planned with some neat sightings from this past week's hiking but then I drove over to HTP and hiked from the Pruitt trailhead. 

Eastern Phoebe

And I wanted to dedicate a post to this one hike. 

A new 'bright blue' sign! WOW!

I still won't have space to share it all but I'll share some highlights.

Gulf Frittilary 

And now are you ready for this?

Queen Butterfly

It had some of the darkest and richest colors I've ever seen!

Some views of the underside of the wings!

It stayed in the same area...thank you very much!

The weather is still mild here and there are lots of wildflowers and butterflies! 

And now for an update on the honey bees swarming in a tree along the trail.

They usually send their scouts out to find a hollow tree or good place to build a hive.

But these are starting to build a hive right where they are so that was a surprise! There's an abundance of wildflowers in this area but it still seems like an odd place for a hive.

So a hike that lasted less than 2 hours produced a lot of neat sightings and a LOT of photos!

When you hike, you always have something interesting to talk about.

Have you seen some amazing sights this week too?

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A Quick trip to the Pruitt Trailhead!

 

Even a short hike can reap great results! 

When we drove in, the first bird I saw was perched on an old dead snag. So I rolled the window down and took a photo.

Mississippi Kite

We see Kites all through the summer months here in Florida.

Swallow-tailed Kite

Queen Butterfly

The stars of this little outing were the butterflies!

The Queen butterfly was exquisite!

And some of them were a duller brownish color. 

The Gulf Fritillary is always a pretty orange and common in North Central Florida.

And here are the maps for this little outing!

I love these unknown roads! I feel right at home here!

Happy September everyone!

 I am getting this post done early before Hurricane Idalia comes through. I'll update it to let everyone know how we fared. Hopefully it will just be a rain event for our area and we won't have any damage. I'm keeping everyone in the path of the storm in my prayers.

Update : We weathered the storm without any damage. You don't have to drive far to see a lot of damage though. We live about 30 miles, as the crow flies from Cedar Key. But we are fine and have clear skies and hot temps again! WHEW!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

  and Mosaic Monday HERE !  

The Gulf Coast, Postcard Perfect!

 

When you walk the Withlacoochee Bay Trail to the Gulf Coast, you are constantly looking around.

The views are amazing!

Northern Cardinal

There are birds everywhere!

Gulf Fritillary

And butterflies?

Wildflowers and butterflies are in abundance.

This Gulf Fritillary made us stand on our heads for a good shot!

The one bird we were surprised to see was this Northern Harrier.

They are more commonly seen over the preserve and along the greenway.

But this one soared over the water.

The Queen butterfly stayed on the flowers long enough for us to get some neat photos.

It's not often that ALL most of my butterfly photos are in focus! lol

I've seen butterflies everywhere this week and even some hummingbirds!

We didn't see any Manatee this trip, but we'll be back!

Has it been a good week for you too?

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.  

  Mosaic Monday HERE and I like Thursdays HERE !  

The Queen Butterfly

 

The beholders eye sees the beauty.

A little twist to the usual quote.

But I'm going to start with beauty that we all agree on and end with what I think was the most beautiful sighting I had this week. This is not a butterfly we see often so it seemed fitting to see it this week in honor of Queen Elizabeth 11.

Queen Butterfly

We've had a lot of pop up showers lately and the wildflowers are blooming like crazy!

Long-Tailed Skipper

This Skipper was missing a bit of one of his tails but I loved the way the sunshine came onto him.

I don't remember ever seeing the Morning Glory on this trail but it was blooming when I hiked this week.

And I walked 'off trail' to get this wonderful photo of a Mockingbird! 

I thought it was a Cuckoo and walked through the tall wet grass to get a really good photo. Thank you very much! lol

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

And now onto what I thought was my most beautiful sighting this week.

The Yellow Orb Spider

I don't usually like spiders but this one is amazing!

A rainbow over the Gulf of Mexico this week.

And please keep leaving comments even when it gives an error message. It seems like they are all coming through so I don't understand why the message comes up.

 

Thank you SO much for your sweet comments! They really do make my day. And I won't even fuss if you tell me my amazing spider is not beautiful! hahaha!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.   

'Beauty and the Beast' Blue Run Park in Dunnellon

If you don't want to see a beast, stop reading about 2/3 of the way down! lol

I know I've probably seen this butterfly before but I never got a good ID of it.

It's a Queen butterfly and was just gorgeous.

It was so orange, it was almost brick red. 

And a few of the pretty birds we've seen this week...

Catbird

Prairie Warbler

Wren

So precious!

And now for the 'beast'! I know many of you think because I post a photo of an alligator, I like alligators. But not really. They are so primitive and scary to me. And as long as I am way up high on the bridge looking down at the Withlacoochee River, I don't mind seeing one.

Someone...NOT ME...wrote in chalk!

But there are 2 hanging out on the swamp side of the trail at Blue Run Park. And they are just about ruining my hiking experience. Everyone is talking about them.

This might be a Mama Gator and she is HUGE!

And then there's a baby, not real close to Mama but in the same swamp.

What bothered me most this past week was that the first time we walked by the big gator lounging in the swamp, we took a few pics and moved on. Then when we came back by, it wasn't there. So then I spent all of my time looking for it! It could be ANYWHERE!!!

And just as we were finishing up our hike, there was a trail of water across the trail where the baby had gone from the swamp side to the river side. Wish Mama Gator would cross over (when I'm NOT there) and stay in the river! 

And my oh my but the Withlacoochee River was gorgeous!

Let me see if I can end this with a pretty flower!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.