camping. critters. dry lakes & turtle shells. poop.

BBBBbbbbbbr. what a cold weekend.

at least when we go camping...we sleep in a camper that slides in the back of the truck...

and not in  a tent.

we arrived at Gold Head Branch State Park friday afternoon.

(only about a 40 minute drive from home)

when we checked in, we noticed all the brochures on local wildlife.

gopher tortoises, coyotes, snakes, black bears, fox squirrels, white-tailed deer.

"YEAH!"  i thought  "not just scat & track pictures!"


while setting up the camper, we let milo out for a little fresh air.

she's good. she stays. she listens. (well, most of the time.)

with milo back in the camper, we rode our bikes to Big Lake Johnson.

this park has 2 main lakes.  dry lakes.

both Big & Little Lake Johnson are fed by the seepage of the springs from Gold Head Branch Ravine.

 prolonged drought and the pumping of water for industries, communities & irrigation

are sucking parts of florida's aquifer dry.

these lakes are pretty much nothing other than dry lake beds.

according to a ranger we spoke to, the lakes haven't been this dry since the 1930's.

the boat ramp to nowhere

we walked around the perimeter.

i was shocked & saddened to see the remains of so many turtles.

scattered all over.  just empty shells.  

due to loss of habitat & food provided by these lakes.

a turtle wasteland   :(

finally we heard some sounds of life.  sandhill cranes flying in to settle for the night

somewhere on the other side of the lake...past the tree line ...

small trees & grass growing where there used to be water.

UPDATE: my suspicion was correct!

this is a SHRIKE!  thanks Bob @ Birds & Nature in the Forest of Dean  for confirming!

ALSO confirmed as a Shrike by TexWisGirl @ The Run*A*Round Ranch Report

THANKS!!

(i'm not a birder. i looked through my bird encyclopedia...twice...

and am not sure about this one!  i can't find a bird with these exact markings.

the closest i saw was a Shrike?!  any ideas? please say.)

back at the camper milo is passed out.

on her window seat, atop her pillow throne.

dreamily...she opens her eyes and heads outside.

sniffing a twig or something...very intently.

on a mission...

saturday.

colder & windier.  getting colder as the day goes on.

we decide to hit the trails early.

hiking from Little Lake Johnson down into the Ravine.

along the way...another guess...what bird is this? (a Prairie Warbler?)

YES!!  confirmed as a Warbler by TexWisGirl @ Run*A*Round Ranch Report

AND, not JUST a Warbler...but confirmed even further...to be a Palm Warbler by 

Kathie @ Kathie's Birds!!

we reach Little Lake Johnson.

(yay! i know this one.  i hope.)  Eastern Bluebird!!

a muck embedded bobber

a reminder. just in case you want to take a dip...in the mud...

passing the lakes and moving into the pine forests...we head down to the Ravine...

where it's cooler, damper, lusher, greener.

at the turn of the century there was enough flowing water to operate a Grist Mill.

now all that remains is a small slab of concrete.  and a marker sign.

ferns reflecting in the clear spring water.

Aralia spinosa

also known as Devil's Walking Stick, Hercules' Club, Angelica tree.

the clear spring water

sam bravely stands on log which has fallen across the creek

a lizard. an anole.  a bit stunned by the sudden drop in temperature.

a shelf mushroom on a dead tree, on the forest floor

a fern ball in the crook of a tree

at the topside of the Ravine...

we were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Sasquatch!!

and even luckier to snap a picture!

a little light. looking into the sun. a Red-bellied Woodpecker

a Zebra Swallowtail

(looks to be the same kind of plant we have at home...in my previous post...

blooming right now...the Flatwoods Plum)

ok. almost done. 

get your wooly cap & gloves 'cause we're supposed to have a hard freeze saturday night.

down in the 20's.

Weekends are a bit like rainbows; 

they look good from a distance but disappear when you get up close to them.  

~John Shirley

a moth flew into the camper.

we let him spend the night.

sam unhooked the hose & let the spigot drip to save the park's pipes from freezing.

when i woke up at 6 sunday morning it was 31 degrees (F).

at 8:30 AM it was 27.

ice.

on the ground under the dripping spigot.

(last night...sunday night...at home...it got down to 22)

SO WHAT WOULD ONE OF MY POSTS BE WITHOUT A SCAT PICTURE?

you thought you were getting away...or at least hoping...there'd be NO poop this time.

think again.

milo used her litterbox in the camper saturday night.

this is what i saw sunday morning.

not only did she completely miss the box...

but NO WAY could she do this again...even if she tried.

ONE PIECE of POOP  STANDING STRAIGHT UP ON THE EDGE!

(at least her poops were not soft. ugh. on the rug. ugh. stinky, yes. soft, no. whew!)

well. hope you enjoyed wandering Gold Head Branch Park.

we did.  it was cool.  literally.

YIKES!  time flies when you're doing a post!

i have lots of stuff to get done today.

so i'll catch up with you later today...or some time this week...at your place.

now you stay cool & be safe.

laura

"Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place."     

~Zora Neale Hurston

the brave 'shroom. the Orb. another misspelled sign.

a

single

mushroom

standing tall

and brave

against the almost freezing rainy nights

and

enjoying

the sunny & cool days.

~~

weird weather.

some of the plants are being fooled into thinking spring is here.

then the next day the temperature drops.

Flatwoods Plum

this small Flatwoods Plum tree i bought a few years ago 

at a local Florida native plant sale.

it's grown from about 2 feet tall to 6 feet.

this is the first year it's delicate blooms have come out!

mini Daffodils

the tiny daffodils blooming by the front porch.

oOo

REMEMBER the Orb Weaver from recent previous posts?

the one living in a wind chime on the front porch.

on colder nights, she stays hidden.

but when she senses the temp will be tolerable...

she appears just after dusk and begins weaving her web.

every time i see her out there

i can't resist taking pictures!

she's really grown.

one night i saw that an unfortunate bug had ended up in her lair.

(well, unfortunate for the bug, anyway.)

she wrapped it up.

when she was satisfied that it wasn't going anywhere...

she moved to another spot and left that little bug, June Bug i think, just dangling there.

i was really surprised the next morning to see that she had left this bug 

still hanging on a strand of web...

while she slept all day in her bell.

for her next night's snack?

usually her web hangs from 'her' chime, straight down to the porch railing.

one night, she wove it so that it was almost against the front of the house.

(even if you don't like spiders, you have to admit...

it's pretty cool to watch them at work.

isn't it?)

♥ "Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love."  ♥

~Albert Einstein

having the NEED to get out of town...

sam & i are both taking off work tomorrow (friday) and going camping this weekend.
with milo of course!
she's looking forward to it just as much as we are.
(no phones. no internet. not for milo either.)

most of the local parks are booked but i found one with some vacant spots.

we haven't been there for a few years...and they have a few good trails...

so hopefully i'll get some decent pictures.

maybe even a picture of an ANIMAL or two,

and not just their TRACKS or POOP (oh, sorry...be professional laura...SCAT!)

oOo

i leave you with ANOTHER misspelled sign i spotted at a church 

on the way to a client's home.

i didn't have my camera...but did drive back there the next day

HOPING it was still misspelled.

it was.

this is the third church i've taken pictures of their misspelled signs at.

"I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way." 

~Mark Twain 

when you're done shaking your head,

if you don't have to rush off,

check out my page up at the top or just  CLICK HERE   for MORE misspelled signs.

stay cool & be safe.

laura

♥ "We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, 

and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, 

we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love."  ♥

~Robert Fulghum