Playful River Otters and friends!

 

We always hope for a special sighting when we go to Blue Run Park in Dunnellon.

There's a good chance we'll see lots of neat birds but it's fun to see something out of the ordinary.

Lately, it's been River Otters.

They are a challenge to photograph because the swim under water for a long distance and you never know where they'll 'pop up'!

But they are so cute and fun to see!

A few years ago we watched some Red-shouldered Hawks in a nest. The baby photos were some of my favorites. Old photos in the post HERE.

And we still see the pair near the nest.

We love seeing them all grown up and beautiful.

So perfectly groomed....not a 'hair' out of place.

Oh but this one is having a wild feather day! heehee!

We saw one medium sized Alligator swimming along.

And at the very end of the hike a special bird.

Cedar Waxwing

A beautiful day at the Park! When visitors come, we always take them to Blue Run Park. It's the perfect place to see wildlife and birds. 

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.   

A Good year for Hiking!

 It was such a difficult year for us all...

all over the world!

But we were fortunate to have good hiking trails to hike and unusually good weather this year. I feel blessed to have the good health to get outside and enjoy nature.

I wanted to choose a bird or critter from each month to highlight but I didn't realize how hard that would be. We see so many amazing sights here in Florida. 

Join me for hiking through the months of 2020!

January - River Otter at Blue Run Park

February - Bobcat at Blue Run Park

March - Eastern Coral Snake, Florida Trails

April - Fox Squirrel, Florida Trails West

May - Blue Grosbeak at Pruitt Trailhead (Halpata Tastanaki Preserve)

June - Bobolink flock, Halpata Tastanaki Preserve

July - Gopher Tortoise, Halpata Tastanaki Preserve

August - Bobwhite Pruitt trailhead, Florida Trails

September - American Redstart, Blue Run Park

October - Barred Owl, Florida Trails West

November - Barred Owl, Florida Trails West

December - Great Horned Owl, Halpata Tastanaki Preserve

How privileged we were to see so many owls this year! We even saw one early in the year too. 

We've ended the year with 157 hikes. 

Now let's keep going!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’. 

Amazing Sights at Blue Run!

We took a trip over to Blue Run Park for an afternoon hike and saw so many amazing things in a 2 hour hike!

This Green Heron stood out with it's bright colors in the dullness of the swamp.

You had to look at the right spot to see him!

Later I turned to ask my hubby something and saw this Black-Crowned Night Heron.

He was hard to spot.

He hides among the low branches on the river side of the trail.

Later we were lucky to see another River Otter.

He was the blackest color and some of the photos came out dark blue. (there appears to be a leaf on the back of his head)

We saw him dive into the shallow water and come up with something in his mouth.

But it's hard to tell what he had caught. It didn't really look like a fish but seemed too big for a crayfish or frog. 

And it looked white! He gobbled it down before we had a chance to take more photos. 

What a day we had! LOTS of neat sightings! Many of them 'out of the ordinary' which makes it even better!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.

Where the Rivers Meet

It's so beautiful to stand on the bridge and look out at the Withlacoochee River. 

This is where the Withlacoochee River meets the Rainbow River and there are beautiful swirls of color in the water!

And today we had the treat of watching a River Otter swim.

He went under water for so long, we had trouble keeping up with him.

We never knew how far down the river he would go before popping his head up.

They are so entertaining.

Can you find him in the center of the photo?

Another fun sighting on this hike at Blue Run Park in Dunnellon was a pair of Great Blue Herons.

They were 'chasing' each other and putting on quite a show.

One of them swam through the water like a Swan....

so graceful!

The other one was 'king of the brush pile' and then flew up into a tree and 'honked'.

It was a beautiful day to hike with lots of neat sightings. January is a great month to spend in Florida.

Have you had a good week? Have you taken many photos?

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.