American Bison at Custer State Park in South Dakota

I have just returned from a family vacation to South Dakota.  A highlight of the adventure was a visit to the ever-so-lovely Custer State Park in the Mount Rushmore area of the state.

This state park is chock-full of large wild animals.  Yes, the enormous pastures where the buffalo (American Bison) roam are fenced but the animals really do run freely in the grasslands.  A road for tourists to drive through the area is the best way to see the bison, pronghorn, deer, prairie dogs, and the friendly wild donkeys that call the park home.

I have been to this park three times now and enjoy it quite a lot!  I want to wish everyone a happy Independence Day tomorrow (July 4th). Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of each picture.  Enjoy!

A Pretty Snowy Egret at the Walmart Pond

This gorgeous Snowy Egret was spotted at what I refer to as “The Walmart Pond”, a small pond on the side of the Buffalo Ridge Walmart parking lot off of CR 466 near The Villages, FL.  I have often gone to this particular pond to watch the egrets, herons, gators and other wildlife there.  I took these pictures back on April 9, 2016.  It is one of my favorite hot-spots for spotting wading birds.

The Snowy Egret is in its breeding plumage.  The Snowy Egret has a black bill, blackish green legs and mustard-yellow feet.  It is a smaller egret but is slightly larger than the Cattle Egret.  The Snowy Egret eats fish, frogs, tadpoles, aquatic snails, larger aquatic and near shoreline insects and worms.  I am usually rewarded by seeing at least a few water birds, ducks, or the big waders.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!

This Blog’s Anniversary!

Red-headed Woodpecker, Crossville, TN

Lake St. George, Fairfield Glade, TN

 

Wood Stork, Sumter County, FL

 

Lake St. George, Fairfield Glade, TN

American Robins, Marion County, FL

 

 

Great Horned Owlet, Sholom Park, Ocala, FL

This month is the sixth anniversary of this blog! How time flies  I started out talking about the critters I saw daily while we lived along the shoreline of a beautiful lake in a residential resort near Crossville, in Cumberland County, Tennessee.   Next, we lived a year at a little six acre place also in the Crossville, TN area.

Finally, we decided to make the move South to warmer Florida were we lived in Marion County near Ocala, and now live in Lake County, Florida.

A big thank you to all of you who read the blog! I appreciate you!   Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger version.  These are some older snapshots I know you will enjoy revisiting.  Enjoy!

Green Heron, Dunnellon, Fl

Tri-colored Heron, Sumter County, FL

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, Ocala, FL

 

The Little Farm in Crossville, TN

Roseate Spoonbills
Ding Darling Wildlife Preserve, Sanibel Island, FL

Lake Sumter, The Villages, FL

 

Adventure at Cedar Key, FL

Brown Pelican

Great Egret

Marbled Godwit

My husband, son, and I went on a day trip to Cedar Key, FL on the Gulf of Mexico yesterday.  We saw a lot of wildlife!   Here are just a few of the birds I saw.  I will post more pictures in coming days.  Cedar Key is a tiny island very close to the mainland (you get to it via a short bridge).

The Cedar Key area is teaming with wildlife.  I saw a Bald Eagle, a pair of Osprey, two Wood Storks, several herons, egrets, and many other birds!  I took these pictures at or very close to Cedar Key (West of  Ocala) on November 16, 2014.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

Herring Gull?

Shorebirds in flight

Osprey

 

Cormorants

Belted Kingfisher

Female Boat-tailed Grackle

Anhingas and Dora Canal Scenery

Anhingas are wonderful large birds that almost look as if they are living dinosaurs.  They closely resemble the Cormorants.  They are water birds and also are quite at home sunning themselves in trees here in Florida. The Anhingas eat small aquatic animals, and larger insects.

I took these pictures of several Anhingas while gliding through the oh-so-beautiful and tropical wonderland that is the Dora Canal.  The Dora Canal is just off of Lake Eustis in Central Florida.  I highly recommend that if you are in this area, you take a boat tour through this short canal.  There are commercial tours, and boat rentals.  I went as a guest on my friend’s boat.

Most of the canal is in a natural state but dotted here and there, are a few mobile home resorts along the shore.  This canal has Alligators, Herons, Egrets, Anhingas, Osprey, Moorhens, Turtles, and several other species of wildlife.  There is a lot of tropical foliage and beautiful, towering Cypress Trees.   The photo of the row of Cypress Tree trunks may have been taken  en-route to the Dora Canal.   I took these pictures from the water while seated in an open top pontoon boat.  The pictures were taken on Friday, April 25, 2014.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

Birds and a Bunny

A Very Young Cotton-tailed Rabbit

Carolina Chickadee

White-breasted Nuthatch

Northern Yellow-shafted Flicker

A Carolina Chickadee, a White-breasted Nuthatch, a pair of Northern Yellow-shafted Flickers and a lone baby Cotton-tailed Rabbit were some of the many examples of wildlife that I saw in my yards on a hot, humid, off-and-on rainy day on August 9, 2012.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

Northern Yellow-shafted Flicker

The One Lovely Blog Award

A fellow blogger, Eleenie, who writes the wonderful blog, http://denobears.wordpress.com  has nominated my blog for the “One Lovely Blog” award.  I am touched and accept.  This is the first award my blog has received and I highly appreciate the honor!  A part of this award is for me to let you know about some of the great blogs I follow.  I also have been asked to tell you seven different things about myself.  So here goes – seven random tidbits about me include:

1. I like Mexican food.
2. I have been to Fanning Island, in the Republic of Kiribati as a tourist.
3. Some of my hobbies are target archery, playing musical instruments, and making crafts.
4. I follow the University of Notre Dame football team on TV.
5. I am a native of California but have lived in Tennessee for three years now.
6. I am totally thrilled about writing this blog!  Very happy to have International readers, too!
7. My husband and I have been married many years and have an adult son who is living in California.

As far as the blog nominees goes, I would simply say that I nominate all of the bloggers that appear at the right here on my select blog roll.  Not all will participate and that is perfectly OK by me.  These blogs are really outstanding, are nature and wildlife oriented, and have very nice people writing, illustrating, and/or photographing them.  The bloggers all work quite hard, are committed to being great communicators and are nice to our precious environment.  Good job all!  I will be back to the regular content here with my next post.  Thanks again to Eleenie for the most-welcome honor!