Inglis Lock Recreation Area

 

I was planning a post to show the wildflowers we are seeing now in North Central Florida. The forest is bursting with tiny blooms and blossoms. We even saw Cactus in bloom this week.

But then we drove out to the Inglis Locks and I just had to show you what we saw there.

I'll start with the MOST exciting sighting!

A Glossy Ibis

We see a lot of Ibis here. (the White Ibis have walked through our yard more than once this week)

He was near the locks and hard to get good contrast! All that green grass and blue sky that we LOVE here in Florida!

We rarely see the Glossy Ibis and usually when we do it is in a field and we can't get a good photo.

It was a beautiful day. 

I even talked to some fishermen and they were catching lots of Bluegill fish. 

So sit back and relax and I'll walk all around and take photos.

(I made a new banner but I don't want to take my humming bird down yet!)

Halloween Pennant Dragonfly

Little Blue Heron (juvenile is white!)

Cormorants (Male and Female)

When we got ready to leave, I spotted something odd in the top of a pine tree.

Someone crashed their model airplane into a pine. Oh my!

One more Halloween Pennant dragonfly up close.

Did you watch any of the choo choo train webcams this week?

 Click on the train icon at the top of my blog and ENJOY!

I'm joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE . 

I’m joining Thankful Thursdays and

I like Thursdays HERE too!

AAARGH!!! We've run her AGROUND!!!

 

When you leave the house and get out in the big world, you just never know WHAT you'll see!

For those of us living in Florida, this is especially true.

Dolphins in the water

When we drove out to hike the Withlacoochee Bay Trail we spotted this from the observation deck looking out at the Gulf of Mexico.

This photo alone could inspire me to write a story, or at least talk like a pirate! hahaha!

I don't know anything else about it except that we were there at low tide and it was definitely stuck on a sand bar. Oh but the yarns we could weave about the Strider from Amelia Island!

But it's time to take photos of the birds and see what else we can see on this 2 hour hike!

Black Skimmers

Black Skimmers

Bald Eagle

Another HUGE Eagle!

 Juvenile Eagle

For some reason we don't think these birds are quite as 'elegant'!

Black Vulture

Black Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Hubby took these photos and they are so good (and I didn't take any vulture photos!) He also gets credit for the hummingbird at the end of the post!

On the drive over we saw Cattle Egrets and several Sandhill Cranes in a low marshy area (no photos) and when we got to the trailhead to park, we saw this wild Turkey!

Lots of beautiful flowers in bloom

Gulf Fritillary Butterfly on Verbena

and a Great Southern White butterfly!

The very last thing we saw on the hike was a hummingbird feeding from Coral Honeysuckle.

Amazing! 🌴

What was your favorite? Know any pirate quotes?

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’. 

Special Sightings

 We usually see a few people on the trails that we hike. It just depends on which trail.

Look how green it is here now!

There are always people at Blue Run Park and it's fun when someone mentions a sighting. We met a lady when we were almost to the bridge and she asked if we had seen the baby ducks yet?

NO....but I picked up my pace to get to the area she mentioned seeing them.

We still didn't see them then. We did see a pair of Wood ducks on the Rainbow River side of the trail.

We hiked over the bridge and to the pond, turned around and was lucky enough to see the babies on our way back out. 

They were SO cute!

Baby Wood ducks

They were scooting past just as fast as they could go so we only got a couple of photos but the sighting was priceless! 

Another day we hiked from the 49th Trailhead (West) and when we met a bike coming, he said there was a wild Turkey ahead. We stayed on the lookout for the turkey but never spotted it.

But look what we saw on the side of the trail!

A baby Gopher Tortoise.

He was about 10 inches across which is small for a tortoise.

And look how clean he was!

We approached him and he hurried away and down into his burrow.

The turtles at Blue Run Park have moss on their shells, even the small ones! They are still cute though! 

It's fun to see a few familiar faces when we hike. One day I went to Halpata Tastanaki Preserve and saw a sweet young woman with her daughter. I've seen her from time to time over the years and it was fun to catch up with her. When I first met her, she was pushing her daughter in a stroller. Now her daughter is riding her bike! They hike with their dog on a leash and love the forest as much as I do!

I know the weather has been crazy this week. Have you had a chance to get outside and enjoy nature?

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’. 

Don't go out after dark!

 Or maybe I should say.....

don't HIKE after dark!

I started a hike on a bright sunny day but ended up deep in the forest!

It's one of my favorite things to do. I would probably follow all of the deer trails if I hiked in jeans and boots. (a good reason to stick with hiking shoes and capris! lol)

But there are some trails near the Shangri-La trailhead that go down into the canal diggings...

and deep into the forest.

Can you imagine how scary these huge rock formations would be in the dark?

What if it was stormy and a flash of lightning lit them up? 

And there were all those EYES looking back at you!!!

Just use your imagination!

Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly

And plan your hikes during the daylight hours when you can see all of this beauty! 

And enjoy getting out in nature!

 

Have you ever followed the deer trails in the woods? It's pretty awesome! Now where's my old pair of leather boots? 

I'm joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE . 

I’m joining Thankful Thursdays and

I like Thursdays HERE too!