Let's drive out to the Gulf Coast!

 We're discovering the 'real' Florida so we won't see seashells on white sandy beaches!

Great Blue Heron flying overhead

But we might see some fisherman trying to catch something on a hot summer day.

Then again, we might not see anyone! haha!

Did I mention it was HOT!

This was my jeep in the parking lot all by it's lonesome! 

John and I stopped at Felburn Park first and walked on a shady part of the trail to see the beauty of the water ponded up on the canal.

It's one of my favorite spots in Florida but not for a hike in June! We are already in the mid 90s every day with high humidity. 

We had our choice of parking places there too! 

Then we drove down over 4 miles of a dusty white road looking out the window at the canal.

It was so hot, the birds were in hiding.

This is a stretch of the Withlacoochee Bay Trail that ends up at a point on the Gulf.

Happy Birthday John!!!

We were happy looking out at the overlooks. It was windy and surprisingly cool there.

I love exploring the backroads of Florida at any time of the year. But our picnic lunch was eaten inside the Jeep with the AC running! Yes, I know....we are wimps!

A horse on the drive over looks like it has 3 eyes! 

Have you packed a picnic this summer? 

It's TIME! And it tastes even better out on a nature trail!

Happy Independence Day America! 

Thanks again for visiting me and leaving such heartfelt comments. 

Blogger buddies are the BEST! 

Love, Diane 🌴

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE!

Beautiful Birds of Florida

 

We always check the tide chart before we drive out to the Gulf of Mexico and on this particular day, the lowest tide was at noon. 

Perfect! All of these sandbars will be covered with water when the tide comes in.

But for now....

a glimpse at how many birds are out there!

The Pelicans seem to be having a conversation.

Or is it an argument? lol

We drive along the canal on a dirt road for 4 miles before we reach the Gulf.

Great White Egret, Snowy Egret and Tri-colored Heron

And we had never seen so many birds along the banks of the canal and in the water.

I think this is a Bonaparte's Gull.

Hubby was driving and some of these were taken from inside the truck!

Snowy Egret and Tri-colored Heron

And then some of my favs!

A Stork fishing for his dinner!

He looked a bit comical with all his twists and turns!

Just one more before we have to walk away!

We saw a wonderful variety of shorebirds! 

And now to share my favorite photo of the day!

Great Blue Heron

It was hard to pick a favorite!

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  and Mosaic Monday HERE !  

A Trip to the Gulf Coast!

 It takes us less than an hour to drive to the Gulf Coast so this is one of our favorite day trips!

And no we didn't travel by horse cart but hubby was kind enough to pull into this little convenience store for me to get a few photos! I can't imagine getting out in this on the main road! 

Every trip to the Withlacoochee Bay Trail is an adventure!

I love the winter brown grasses all along the canal.

We have honestly never seen so many birds and such a variety but I'll skip around and show a few highlights.

This fisherman was checking his baskets and the pelicans followed closely to see if they might get an easy meal.

It was amazing to watch!

And something else that caught our eyes!

Dolphins!

We spotted several out in the bay and that's always a treat!

A cropped view!

Lots of beautiful scenes as we hiked to the end of the trail.

It was a brisk winter day and perfect for walking!

Do you have a special place to visit to see birds and wildlife?

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

  and Mosaic Monday HERE ! 

I once caught a fish THISSS BIGGG!!!

 

The fish story will be at the end of the post but I'll assure you now, I only took the photo! I didn't actually catch the fish! But it's a whopper!

We drove out to the Gulf Coast last weekend and it was a gorgeous day.

It started with a few sprinkles of rain and that scared most people off and we had the trail all to ourselves!

The first bird we saw was a Roseate Spoonbill but I wasn't fast enough to get a photo. 

But then when we got closer to the Gulf, a Bald Eagle was on the shore and flew to a tree nearby.

It was an elegant mature Eagle and we stood there and took lots of photos while it preened.

That was one of the highlights of the day. 

And a great way to start the day!

We saw a few Osprey too and they are always fun to watch glide overhead.

This one perched nearby and we took the pics from the truck!

Looks like he's saying, 'are you looking at ME?'with attitude! 

I took these through the truck windshield. (it was clean from the shower earlier!)

And then when we finished our hike on the Withlacoochee Bay Trail we headed out on the 4 miles of dirt road. We stopped at one of the observation platforms and that's where we saw the 'catch of the day'.

I think it may be the catch of a lifetime! This young lady pulled in a 27 pound, 3 ft long Black Grouper! 

It was amazing! I was almost as excited as she was!

It was 'catch and release' so they put it back in the water to live another day! 

A fun day was had by all!

Don't stay home just because of a few sprinkles! You might miss the gorgeous clouds at the end of the day!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

  and Mosaic Monday HERE !