The Wood Storks at Halpata Tastanaki Preserve!

Last week I thought I had seen Wood Storks on the Gulf Coast but they were White Pelicans...hundreds of them!

Wood Stork
 

This week we drove over to Halpata Tastanaki Preserve and looked over head to see a dozen or so Wood Storks flying over....maybe more! lol

It was a beautiful day for getting out on the trails.

The weather was nice and we only saw 2 other people while we were there and they were nice too!

Wood Storks glide overhead with such grace.

They aren't quite as beautiful up close but they are some of the most graceful birds in flight.

We walked to Owl Woods and there were log trucks loaded and ready to leave. They don't clear cut this area but they take out some trees now and then for the health of the preserve. They are also getting ready to do some prescribed burns. It's a beautiful place to hike and so well taken care of. During the pandemic it was one of the few places open to us for hiking in our area. I loved the place before but this made it even dearer to me. 

No....we didn't mean to dress alike! How embarrassing! lol

I'm writing this a couple of days ahead of time and hope and pray the hurricane will pass us by. I'll give you an update when I can and hopefully I'll be joining in on the linky parties and commenting. 

Have a wonderful weekend! Get outside and have some FUN!

Update : we are fine after the storm. We had a lot of wind and rain but no damage to our house. Our prayers are for everyone dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Nicole. 

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.   

I'm joining Mosaic Monday HERE 

and I like Thursdays HERE !  

A Hiking story AND a Fishing tale!

 

Well, there are fishing tales and there are hiking stories. This may be more than one tale if you get all the way to the end.

And since it's the first time I've told it, it hasn't had a chance to grow.

I have been known to 'zaggerate' from time to time. (Southern for exaggerate)

But this really is how it went.

We drove to the Gulf Coast and when we got on the dusty road to Withlacoochee Bay Trail, we saw an Eagle.

We hiked and saw a lot of neat birds and butterflies but we'll skip right over those for now.

It's time to eat egg salad sandwiches in the Jeep.

Hardly anyone there and no one is parked near us so we are relaxing with the windows down.

A BIG bird flies onto a limb that we can see to one side of the Jeep. Another big bird flies in crying like a Hawk. 

They sit still for a few minutes and then the crying Hawk makes an aggressive move and the big bird flies right in front of the Jeep, face forward. 

And it's a Barred Owl in all it's beauty. 

The Hawk that scared it away.

I threw down my egg salad sandwich and got out to take pics of the Hawk. The Owl has flown away.

Another Hawk flies in and perches nearby.

We finish our sandwiches and get out to walk to the observation deck. At this time I could have said, "Let's get out so that we can see 100 White Pelicans overhead." 

Because that's what we saw between the Jeep and the deck.

I cropped a few photos to get a better look at them.

We also watched this fisherman catch a really big Catfish with a teeny tiny fishing rod. His son had left it in the water when his wife and son went to the store. 

So he let the Catfish swim and tire himself out and then he pulled it in.

In the water

On the bank

Catch of the day!

Amazing! A truly amazing trip to the Gulf of Mexico. (more pics to come)

The owl was huge, the two hawks were very vocal and the Catfish was the 'catch of the day'. 

No need to 'zaggerate'! 

The flock of White Pelicans may be over 100 the next time I tell it though!

I thought these were Wood Storks but Eileen said something about mistaking them for White Pelicans and now I think they ARE White Pelicans. If anyone has a positive ID, please let me know! 

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.   

I'm joining Mosaic Monday HERE 

and I like Thursdays HERE !  

10...9...8...7...

 I parked at the gate on hwy 484 to hike the Florida Trails to the top of Bluebird of Happiness Hill to watch a rocket launch from Kennedy Space Center here in Florida. I live in the center of the state but I can still see the launches if the weather conditions are good. 

And they were perfect!

There wasn't a cloud in the sky and I knew what direction to focus on.

6...5...4...3...2...1

It was exciting and exhilarating to watch this marvel.

A quote from the website HERE "A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch the USSF-44 mission for the U.S. Space Force. The mission is expected to deploy two spacecraft payloads directly into geosynchronous orbit, one of which is the TETRA 1 microsatellite."

I did a contrast in PhotoScape to be able to see a different view.

And a good website for seeing more of the photos taken on the site is HERE.

Taken on the way back down the hill.

It was an incredible way to start my day.

The sky was perfectly clear except for this neat little clouds to the North. 

I saw a lot of neat things in nature on my hike too.

Flycatcher

I took all of these photos. (you can barely see the clouds from the launch in the right side of the photo)

Another beautiful day in Florida! I wonder if today will have some excitement in it....

you just never know until you get out in nature and explore!

Enjoy your day! 🚀

A Day at the Park, Blue Run Park

 

Blue Run Park is in Dunnellon, Florida but it isn't your typical 'city' park with picnic tables and playground equipment.

It has nature trails with ponds, a trail that runs with the swamp on one side and the Rainbow River on the other side.

A park that has a big bridge overlooking the Withlacoochee River, the River that flows North!

Alligator seen from the bridge!

And ZOOMED in!

A place to launch kayaks and canoes, nature trails and paved biking and hiking trails.

A side trail with oranges ripening on the trees!

And it is one of the best places we know to see a lot of wildlife and birds. 

Red-Shouldered Hawk

Turtle taken from the bridge

Great Blue Heron on the Rainbow River

And a squirrel!

It's a popular place but never very crowded.

There's lots of space to roam!

Lizard

So I'm sharing some of our sightings from a day at the park.

Do you have a favorite place near you to get out in nature?

It's good for what ails you! Happy weekend!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.  

I'm joining Mosaic Monday HERE 

and I like Thursdays HERE !  

The Colors of Autumn

 We have 'Fall colors' here in Florida but they may not be typical of our neighbors to the North.

Fall brings colorful flowers that rival the Spring wildflowers.

We even found one that was new to us this week walking on the Florida Trails from parking on hwy 484. I actually got off the trail to take the photos and got into some thorns. So I drew blood to take this photo! lol

But it's a beautiful time of year. Our temps are milder and the humidity is a lot lower.

We are hiking just about every other day! I wish I had the energy to go every day!

Purple is throughout the forest right now....

with splashes of yellow! 

Coralbean

Red berries

Virginia Creeper

Cypress trees

Maple leaves

I hope you've enjoyed our Autumn colors.

I'm not sure my Mosaic Monday buddies got to see my fairy forest post HERE! 

It was magical!

Have a beautiful week!

I'm joining Mosaic Monday HERE 

and I like Thursdays HERE !