Lake Louisa State Park, located near Clermont, Florida, has many acres of old-growth Orange Groves, some bordering the main road into the park. Presently, these groves are non-producing, but provide great habitat for birds and other wildlife.
Recently, some of these trees have been uprooted and stacked in piles as you can see in the photo below.
Uprooted Orange Trees. Rows and rows of them.
I wish the park’s management will allow some of the piles to remain for the wildlife seeking refuge, but I tend to believe they won’t. Better yet, why don’t they plant new trees in their place. They don’t have to replant orange trees.
This is what the field looked like on December 26, 2014 as they began uprooting the trees..
Anyway “Lets Talk Turkey”
Late one evening about one week ago, leaving the guys behind, my friend Karla and I decided to jump in the car and head out in search of a pair of American Kestrels. We had been seeing them daily, when driving in and out of the park.
The Kestrels had been hanging around some of these mangled piles of orange trees, perhaps getting ready to build a nest. They would sit on one of the tallest points of the stack, probably looking for food. I wanted to capture a photo of them.
On this particular evening we didn’t see the American Kestrel pair, I think it was too late in the day, but we did see this gorgeous couple, along with seven other females, coming out of the woods to forage before roosting for the night. They were pretty far away so my photos aren’t the best. The guys missed out!
To learn more about our Wild Turkeys go to http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/wild-turkey/.
Wild Turkey Pair
Until Next Time
Stay Frisky
Maybe she is saying, “pick me instead of her”.
I am sharing this post with Eileen, Viewing nature with Eileen for her Saturday’s Critters at http://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com/2015/02/saturdays-critters-63.html
We left our campsite at Silver Springs State Park, River Camping Area and drove the short distance to the Springs. Our friends Karla and Larry were with us and we enjoyed a few hours of hiking. Below are some of the critters we were lucky enough to see.
Anhingas prefer freshwater habitats and often are seen perched on branches or stumps. This is exactly where we spotted this beautiful male.
Anhinga. Silvery white spots and streaks on wings and upper back.Ruby-red to scarlet eyes, long thin neck, long pointed yellowish bill, black plumage with a green gloss.During breeding season the male acquires pale, wispy plumes on upper back.
This little squirrel seemed to welcome us to Silver Springs. He jumped up on this fence and told us a story.
This Florida Red-bellied Cooter was enjoying a sunny day at the Springs.
This guy was watching us from his home near the shoreline.Way out in the river this BIG guy was sunning himself along with a friend.
A lazy day on the river.
Cypress Trees out in the river.
Almost missed these beauties; I spotted them as we were driving away heading back to camp.
Hooded Merganser, male. White head patches are fan-shaped. Black head, blackish bill, chestnut sides and white breast.Smallest native North American merganser with the largest crest. Numbers increasing, due to use of nesting boxes. His lady in the foreground.In breeding season, found on woodland ponds and rivers. Winters on fresh water. Swims under water using both feet and wings.
Looks pre-historic; did you catch him in the photo above?
Meeow is one of the calls of this beautiful, mimic, Thrush called the Gray Catbird. The meeow call is an alarm call.
Gray Catbird, eats mostly insects, spiders, berries and fruitsGray Catbird, solitary or in pairs. However, I saw up to ten togetherGray Catbird, short dark billGray Catbird, black cap and tailGray Catbird, reddish chestnut undertail covertsGray Catbird, does not repeat phrases like other eastern mimic thrushes
While camped at Lake Louisa State Park, I enjoyed watching and photographing these Gray Catbirds as they flitted around our site. There were at least ten, if not more. One morning while having coffee, we observed them eating flowers off the shrubs surrounding the site. I saw my first Gray Catbird on April 3, 1993. (All photos taken using my Canon 70D with Tamron 600m zoom lens.)
Wolf Song Blog 