Vacation Pictures - Misc. Wildlife

Here are some various wildlife pictures from our time in Florida.

Danielle and I loved to hear the lizards scurrying in the bushes and flowers every time we were outside. One night at dinner we watched 5 huge ones climb up a tree across the bank.

We found this tree frog hiding in the plant. He's much larger than the ones we have here. Doesn't he look happy? ;)

Ron's dad took me to a bird rehab center to see a spoonbill that often hunts for food in the nearby marsh. He and his hunting buddy the wood stork aren't residents of the rehab center, but we were lucky enough to catch them looking for their dinner. 

The cormorant happily followed Dad along the boardwalk.

These owls have a nest on an osprey platform close to the ocean. I didn't get to see anyone in the nest, but these two were perched nearby. One of the owls carried a white rat around in its talons. (Look at those huge feet!) I think it was waiting for us to leave so it could feed it to the babies in the nest.

 

 

 

Brown pelicans and a snowy egret at Robbie's, where we fed the tarpon one afternoon. (I'll post pictures from that another day.)

 

 

An osprey family.

Vacation Pictures - Everglades

This trip to the Everglades was much different than the last time we went. Although we had to dodge raindrops on our last trip, there was wild life everywhere. All kinds of birds, alligators all over the place, lots to observe. Things were much quieter this time. One of the rangers said the wild life was more sparse this year because the winter was so much colder than usual. It was also nesting season, so some birds were doing their best to remain hidden. Despite the decrease, we did see enough to make our trip worthwhile, but one day was more than enough this time.

We quickly moved on when an idiot further up decided to touch the alligator's tail.

Someone told us it was a cottonmouth. I don't know if it is, but it was a little creepy when we walked by his spot a second time and he was gone!

Anhinga

Sandhill cranes

Red shouldered hawk

Ron and Tyler wanted to learn more about the Nike Missile Base. They skipped the ranger lead tour, but the 2 older folks preparing for their talk to the tour group were happy to share their knowledge before the tour group arrived. They even snapped this picture for them.

I think Tyler intentionally frowned every time I pointed the camera at him. He wasn't really this miserable...most of the time.

We saw two crocodile at Flamingo. Right around the corner from them we saw our first manatee of the trip.

 

Today's Pic

Smiling for the Camera

Burrowing Owls

On our way from Disney to Key Largo we stopped by a park that is known to have burrowing owls. Other than the amount of time I took to take pictures, it was probably only 15-20 minutes out of our way. I've been wanting to see them and this seemed like a good opportunity. Thankfully everyone was very patient and the birds cooperated.

The birds are located at a popular and busy park. Their burrows are taped off, but are quite accessible. Here is a cell phone picture I took of one of the burrows from the van in the parking lot.

Here are some of my pictures. The owls kept an eye on me but weren't really bothered by my presence. In fact, the one owl kept cocking it's head and watching me. It was very cute. Burrowing owls usually have yellow eyes; Brown eyes are recessive and relatively rare. I got to see both types.

This was a fun diversion on our road trip, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to see these cute little owls.

Memories

I ran across this gem yesterday. It's from our visit to Disney 7 years ago.

Today's Pic

My golden girls in the sunshine. It was 70 today.
She is looking so much the part of a teenager, isn't she?

 

Softball Weather!

It was in the 60s today with forecasts in the 60s-70s for the next several days. The warmer weather will bring rain, but today was very nice. Ron and Danielle fit in a little catch before dinner tonight.

Tournament Time

The volleyball team's first tournament of the season was a success! It was a much stronger start than they had last year. They were undefeated in pool play and came in 3rd place overall.

Danielle did great! She played hard and had several great plays. This year Danielle never rotates out, so it's even more fun to watch because she's playing all the time! Playing non-stop in 11 sets made her a little sore and tired today, but she can't wait to do it all again. Unfortunately we will miss the next tournament because we will be on vacation. (She's not convinced Disney is worth it.) We had excellent seats for this tournament, so I was able to get a lot of pictures.

Thanks to Uncle Ron for surprising Tyler with dinner while we were gone all day!

All smiles, even at 5:30am.



Their campsite for the day.

Lining up to wish the other team good luck.

Getting set up to spike the ball.

Ron took this one. The shutter wasn't fast enough, making it look like she's missing an arm (she was just moving too fast), but this was a really good shot for a short kid. :) She spiked it back over the net for the point.

Serving

 

 

Pass to the setter

 



Celebrating a point after Danielle served.

 

Watching the outcome of another game. They played the winner of that game.



She was fooling around while warming up with a friend, but she did have a few diving plays.

Serving

She is growing up too quickly.