lake ocklawaha...the e n d

i just couldn't get enough of these dragonflies!

before i do this final post...of the flora & fauna 

of Rodman Reservoir/Lake Ocklawaha...

i just want to say a big THANKS to everyone who breezes through...

and to those who linger...and even take the time to leave a note!!

i haven't been blog reading since last week, because of our weekend away...

and then i've been dealing with this Sciatica...if you've ever had it...then you know...

it's a pain in the ass...to sit...for any length of time!

SO

i HOPE to get caught up...this weekend!

i just had to explain. i haven't been ignoring you...i haven't been anywhere in cyberspace!

you gotta know i'm in pain...cause i haven't been taking the time to search for cool quotes!

ok, no more talk...want to get these pictures posted before it's OLD news!

Anhinga

along the shore...

Great Egret

Osprey nest.

these 'nesting poles' are scattered about throughout the lake

milo...dreaming...in camper...

Alligator...not a very good picture...but you can see all the floating stumps, logs, etc in the back ground.
also, see the dragonfly ?!

hmmm...a Little Egret  ??

 UPDATE!  Eileen @ Viewing Nature with Eileen...who happens to be a pretty good bird expert...
thinks this little guy could also be a juvenile  Little Blue Heron!  thanks eileen!

weathered wood on the shore...

in PART 1 of Rodman/Ocklawaha i mentioned that the

BIGGEST catch of the weekend was sam's 17 inch Bass!!!

here ya go!

sam and his prize catch!

so loverly...so many dragonflies...

another...not so great shot...but with THREE birds...and all the floating trees and stuff in the water!

TOO cute...TWO cute Cormorants...one standing on one leg.

this picture below... like two fish passing each other...

like sculptures...floating  wood   plants...

a dinosaur fish and some type of pan fish

ready...set...

GO!!!!!!!!!

thanks for wandering and wading...through all the pictures!

end of the day, time to get off the water & head back to camp.

thanks for the wishes on a speedy recovery...of my aching...back...and butt!

be cool & stay safe,

laura

Blooms. Bee. Butterfly. Birds...DAM!

thanks!

but, nope...i didn't paint this.

'gimp' did.  a (free) photo manipulation program.

 i turned it into an oil painting from one of my blooming Azalea pictures.

 cool, yeah!

the Azaleas are attracting bees and butterflies!

Orange-barred Sulphur

TWO Orange-barred Sulphurs

 that's not the ONLY TWO for ONE i've spotted this week...

a Pileated Woodpecker

 

TWO Pileateds!!

oOo

saturday we went for a drive to Rodman Reservoir...

one of the best DAM places in Florida for Largemouth Bass.

we wanted to check out the campground.

it was nothing special, but it'll do for a weekend of fishing sometime.

a Cormorant

(Snail...this one's for YOU...)

 

 Watching clouds roll by
on a sunny day
Who needs church?
Nature is divine.
~Carrie Latet

 a Great Blue Heron

(not 'gators floating in the background. the reservoir is on a draw down right now

and there are stumps & logs jutting out of what's left of the water!)

well, what do you know...

i actually captured a Bald Eagle flying away with his catch of the day!

blinded by the light...when sam said 'LOOK! an eagle!'

i pointed UP, crossed my fingers and...clicked!

a small piece of weathered wood

stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"can't you give me a little elbow room here! this wood's got to breathe!"

today is an errand day.

and tomorrow i have only one appointment in the morning.

SO,

between this afternoon and tomorrow...

i plan to enter blogland...and not leave until i have circled the world!

have a safe journey & stay cool.

laura

The heart of a mother is a deep abyss 

at the bottom of which 

you will always find forgiveness.  

~Honoré de Balzac

weathered wood 'n fungi

i mentioned in my last post...
that my NEXT post
would be pictures of mushrooms...lichen...fungi...wood
taken while camping in georgia
between christmas and new years.

enjoy...the fungusamungus!

fungi...and weathered wood...always make me stop in my tracks!

wild. natural. mysterious. each is unique...in color...size...shape...

"Shall I not have intelligence with the earth? 

Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mould myself."

~Henry David Thoreau 

Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust - 

we all dance to a mysterious tune, 

intoned in the distance by an invisible piper.  

~Albert Einstein, 

in The Saturday Evening Post, 26 October 1929 

during the week we were gone. other than the geese...

and a few other birds...

and an occasional turtle sticking its head up out of the water...

evidence of deer and raccoons by the tracks we spotted...

we didn't see any other wildlife! 

no fish. no squirrels. no insects.

SO, you can imagine how excited i got, when our last morning...

as we were packing up...i saw this brightly colored bug!!

(i'm not sure what it is...if i find out...i'll let you know...)

**thanks to Kate (2nd comment on post)...yes! this is a box elder bug!!**

i'm always picking stuff up.

collecting.

bones, rocks, shells, feathers...

well, here's a picture of all the STUFF collected last week.

goose feathers. small rocks. a snail shell.

and  "what's that white fluffy stuff?"  you ask?

it's just what it looks like...cotton!  

we drove by field after field...in north florida & georgia...

huge rectangular bales of cotton sitting at the edge of the fields awaiting pick up.

cotton that was ripped away from the bales...

by the wind...

as they sit on the back of flatbeds...

dotting the roadways...like snow.

sam...seeing that longing look in my eyes...

pulled over so i could grab a handful from the side of the road.

he knows me well!

((gotta get ready for work...))

keep wandering. have a safe journey.

stay cool.

laura  :]