February 23rd, 2024

Bonus Post this week!  Woohoo!

And this time is actually IS a Photo Safari Report!  I am calling this one the Twenty-one Bird Hike because (and you've probably already guessed this) I actually counted and I took  photographs of 21 different kinds of birds!  Wow!  We actually saw a lot more but these are just the ones I got pictures of!  Holy Cats! That's a lot of birds!

It was only 40 degrees when we set out...brisk!  So we were well bundled but as the morning rolling along, we began peeling those layers off.  It's like a truly ridiculous strip tease :)  When we arrived there weren't many other folks around but by the time we left, it was downright crowded.  This is peak tourist season right now so it does make sense.  And honestly I love to see so many people out taking proper advantage of our beautiful parks and preserves. BUT it's not my favourite kind of hiking.  Oh well, it's not my own private preserve after all (dang it!)

We chose our first trail arbitrarily and it turned out to be a GREAT decision because ....the Eagles Are Back!  Woohoo!  First Eagle photo of 2024:

It was kind of one bird after another from there.  Sometimes we just stood in one spot, snapping away at various birds surrounding us. Very Cool.  I won't inundate you with 21 actual bird photos.  That would just be too much.  And honestly, just because I took a photo doesn't mean it was a good one.  I always sort them through carefully and only share the ones that I'm not too embarrassed by.

​Here's a cross section of Birdie photos.  I'll do it in two sets of seven:

Although they are beautiful creatures, enough with the birds already!  Yeah I can hear you thinking.  How about we move along to botanicals?

We aren't deep enough into spring yet to get a lot of flowers, but I'll show you what we did find:

We did get a wee bit frustrated at times because the trails kept being blocked off.  All for very good reason, mind you, but still, we did a lot of backtracking!

Let's see,  we also saw a very cute turtle:

Bubble blowing fish - Really!

And then there was the coolest thing we saw the entire hike:  a baby 'gator lounging in the sun on Mama's snout!  I'm not making that up.  The pictures aren't perfect  but I think you can make it out:

There you have it, a bonus post this week, the Twenty-One Bird Hike!

Hope you have a fabulous weekend!  Have fun and be safe :)