on the santa fe river...critters. creatures. poop. and the moon.

santa fe river - from suspension bridge

last saturday we did an overnighter at O'Leno State Park. weather was perfect.

30's at night. sunny and in the 60's during the day. great sleeping & hiking weather.

(quick side note: we left kitties at home. sam built a kitty door.

before we left, neighborhood cats started showing up. emo slyly chased them away.

hmmmmm. we think they were early...not supposed to show up 'til we were gone.

oh well. at least they cleaned up before we got home sunday. 

no furballs, signs of food fights, piles of poop or puke, or dragged in frogs or lizards.

good kitties.)

anyway...some of these pic's aren't the best. hiking early on sunday morning...

the sun was BRIGHT and so some of my pic's look kind of washed out. 

santa fe river sink

in O'Leno, 900 million gallons of water per day flows underground

at Santa Fe River Sink...flowing into a complex aquatic cave system...

and reappearing 3 miles away at Santa Fe River Rise.

(at River Rise, the Santa Fe flows for another 35 miles until it reaches the Suwannee River.)

at the river sink...all that gunky green algae stuff collects & coats just about everything!

weeeeeeeee!  get ready for take-off!

and the creature from the green lagoon rises from the swamp...

native wild azaleas grow all along the river

back to the woodsy part of the trails...

Buckeye butterfly

Red-shouldered Hawk

i am fairly certain...pretty sure...that this is a Palamedes Swallowtail. (right? wrong?) (or Black Swallowtail?)

if you know me...then you know i like to ID SCAT & TRACKS.

so here's a pile o' pOOp along the trail. BIG pile. scratch marks around it.

Coyote scat!  of this i'm certain.

finally, eh?

the end.

the moon, saturday night from the campground.

life's a journey. enjoy the ride.

be cool. be safe.

laura

winged things & the moon

'incoming!!'  Yellow-rumped warblers in winter plumage

(i had no idea what these birds were. 

i was going nuts searching through my bird books and online.

a friend of mine e-mailed this picture to 

the Alachua County Audubon Society Pres. she ID'd it!)

* * *

the past couple of weeks i see the same Red-bellied woodpecker

tapping away every afternoon in the same spot, on the same tree.

at first i thought he was bug hunting.

now i realize he's making a nest.  his hidey-hole. literally.

looks like he's almost finished!

* * *

last weekend we did a one night getaway at 

Mike Roess Gold Head State Park's campground...

and spotted a couple of 'winged things'...

Zebra Swallowtail

Little Blue Heron

* * *

from our campsite.

at first the moon was hidden behind the trees...

then...a clear shot of the (almost) full moon. 3.7.15.

"The night walked down the sky with the moon in her hand."

~Frederick L. Knowles

life's a journey. enjoy the ride.

laura

nature's hoarder

the

eastern gray squirrel is a scatter-hoarder.

unlike me...

who tends to be a scatter-brain.

(at times)

i'm not a hoarder...i'm a collector.

this past week i took so many pictures of squirrels,

i couldn't decide if i should climb a tree,

stick my head in the bird feeder

or squat & bury some acorns!

it took me so long to pick out a few squirrel pictures...

i didn't have time to do any of that.

my favorite...

i had to 'morph' this guy. 

here he is in 'emboss' mode...

and now...what would a blog post about squirrels be, without squirrel bones.

well, yes, i do have squirrel bones, but decided to just go with the skull.

squirrel skull

flip side, squirrel skull. look at those 2 front teeth!

time to get outa here...signing off with last night's moon.

life's a journey.  enjoy the ride.

laura

“My friend is going to save a little girl from monsters. I am going with him. That's what friends do.” 

~Jim Butcher, Changes

(i read  A LOT! right now i'm loving Jim Butcher's 'dresden files' series!)

lizard love. scat. skull. and a couple of tree huggers!

it's still a little on the chilly side here in north central florida.

we've had some frosty mornings & the water in the bird bath freezes over night.

i love it!  but most of the little critters are still in hiding.

this past week i've been lucky enough to spot a few lizards (anoles) sun-bathing!! yay!

(FYI: the anoles with the patterned stripes down their backs are Non-natives.

from Cuba or the Bahamas)

* * *

lately we've been hearing what sounds like a pack of pups 

barking & kind of howling...just before dawn and around sunset.

the PROOF is in the SCAT.

out back, in the wooded area...COYOTE poop!

it's not the freshest scat around...but it's loaded with FUR & BONES!

i went online and listened to what the coyotes sound like when they 'talk'...

and it's exactly what we've been hearing!

SO, knowing this, we have had numerous talks with emo & otis.

stressing to them that they have to watch their backs!

our little 'tree-huggers' have been practicing climbing trees!!

* * *

this past week i started working on a HOG SKULL 

i found last year in the field across the road.

(acrylic paint & Sharpie paint pens)

 

* * *

i leave you now...with a parting moon shot.

(NO, not THAT kind!!)  :)

11 feb 2015

stay cool & be safe.

laura

“The things that make me different are the things that make me.”

~A.A. Milne

t-t-t-t-turtles!

the azaleas are blooming.

but the butterflies and bees are not braving the cooler weather yet.

it's still dropping to the 30's or low 40's (F) at night.

i have come to the conclusion that our florida critters are spoiled.

no snakes. no frogs. hardly any birds. no bugs.

they're all snugged away in their hidey-holes waiting for the warmer temps.

hmmmmm. maybe not spoiled...but smart?!!

the squirrels don't mind the cold!

one sunny afternoon this past week i did spot a brave lizard

hanging from a window sill...soaking up the sun.

(cool shadow too!)

last weekend we did a camping over-nighter at O'Leno State Park.

about an hour drive. just one night. to get away.

walked the trails along the Santa Fe river.

again...no deer. no 'gators. no rabbits. no hawks.

BUT THERE WERE TURTLES!!

LOTS!

(see the flying baby turtle?!!)

look close. the back end of the shell on turtle to the right is all shredded! :(   boat prop? gator?

well. that's it for now. 

i couldn't get a picture of the FULL moon last night. very cloudy.

still cloudy this morn.

the moon for all us "Leo's". 

yep, the MOON and JUPITER are in LEO right now!!

so, no full moon. but here's the last clear sky moon shot i could get, on jan. 27th.

stay cool & be safe.

laura

“The mind that opens to a new idea never returns to its original size.”

~Albert Einstein