This young alligator was seen in The Villages, FL at a golf course pond. Alligators are common in Florida in fresh water marshes, ponds, and lakes. Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture. Enjoy!
Great Blue Heron
A couple of days ago at dusk, I went to the Sharon Rose Wiechens Nature Preserve here in The Villages, Florida. It was the first time I have been to the preserve since Hurricane Irma. Not much has changed except for one large tree being cut down.
While at the preserve I spotted Common Coots, a few Common Moorhens, a few Boat-tailed Grackles, a few Red-winged Blackbirds, and toward the end of our visit, a pair of Sandhill Cranes, a Great Blue Heron , and a flock of ducks that suddenly appeared way up in the sky flying Northward. The preserve is a lovely spot and I am glad to have been there again. Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture. Enjoy!
A Common Coot
Boat-tailed Grackles
Male Red-winged Blackbird
Sandhill Cranes
A male Common Moorhen
A Flock of Ducks
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!
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!
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
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 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!
