Butterflies - delightful

I try to include, in this blog, elements of the natural world which I consider undeniably interesting (and cool.)  Below are a few images of the butterflies from Lake Charles.  This small lake is remote and relatively unknown. No narrative is needed for this blog entry other than to say it was a beuatiful springtime moring.  I'm hoping my readers don't think butterflies and flowers are wimpy or uninteresting.  Click on the images for a larger view.  Enjoy.

The Amazing Osprey

I'm surprised I haven't assembled a blog entry featuring the amazing osprey till now.  I have marvelled at them for as long as I can remember and taken many pictures of them as my journeys are typically near water. (click on the pics to see them larger)

On this particular foray into the wild I went back to the little lake I discovered in the previous blog entry.  But, this time I brought my kayak.  Though it is just a small lake there are several osprey nests.  The birds are on the nest in the springtime so I kept my distance using a 550 mm lens.

Ospreys are masters of the air and sky. They float and hover and dive like the skilled hunter they are. 

Almost effortlessly.

They find a good nest tree and use it every year.  Mating for life ospreys form a tight family unit.  Some trees have been used every year for up to 45 years. 

I waited to watch the male and female switch sitting position on the nest and then I left to give them some space.  It's nesting season so I didn't stay long.

Below is another nest tree on the other side of the lake.  It's a huge and spreading cypress.

the female sits on the nest.  She is the one with the spotted necklace.

While  the  male takes up a perch to hunt and stand watch.  He doesn't have the spotted necklace but he sits on the nest also to give the female a break.

The osprey is such a cool bird, so skilled, so adept, so beautiful.  The osprey can be found in temperate climates around the globe.  I think the reason for the wide range is that they are superior hunters.  Often when I see them they are carrying a fish.   Good luck to these two families with their hatch.  I will go back in a month or so to see the young  starting to fly.

The joy of discovery

I love google earth.  It helps me to find places.  I scan the Ocala Forest to find places  of note.
Yesterday I found it in the woods using my GPS.  I was on my way home from Daytona and I had  daylight so, on an impulse, I turned off at the liquor store in Lynne.
I thought I could find it from memory. . . . .          Imagine my surprise.

(Click on the pics to see them larger.)

Just a little lake in the woods.  But  a jewel it is. 

Funny thing  -  It's right near Bruceville.

It was getting late and the light was fading but I felt so thankful to be here basking in God's creation.
This was just  a quick visit .    I shall return.  I think Jean would like it here.

Juniper Prairie Wilderness

A nice solo hike near home in the Ocala National Forest.  The sign says no hang-gliding.  Huh?

Click in the pictures to see them larger -  hit the back button to get back.

following old forest service roads but looking for opportunities to get off the trail and do some bushwacking.

The area is pocked marked by a complex of small  wet and dry prairies

Percolating rainfall passes quickly through the soil to drive the pressure at nearby Juniper Springs.

Last night this area had over an inch of rainfall and this prairie is already dried up.

a closer look at another dry prairie

evidence of fire, a big fire, dominates the  ecosystem and  visual landscape but allows for larger vistas. 

 I was looking for Scrub Jays because I have seen them about three miles east of here. 

These are burned out skeletons of Florida Rosemary, an uncommon plant but one that has evolved into a fire dependent system

Here is a rosemary bush that has recovered to a height of six feet. 

As the sun fell my time ran out and I pledged to return .  I ventured off the trail several times (using my GPS) and hiked strolling through a wide open  wilderness.  The prairies offed wide and open vistas for taking pictures or just seeing more than you could in a forest.   Really easy hike and surprisingly no ticks.  Let's go!

the dance of the brown skink

Another hike at my local, neighborhood state forest.  While I was egrossed in studying a beat up ole live oak.

I heard a ruslting in the leaves.  I couldn't see what it was so I moved closer and found a pair of brown skink doing a dance.  Maybe the dance.
 

First they would approach and posture up  . . .  closer and closer until their urge to fight was irresistable.

Wow! they were tangling (tangoing) so fast you couldn't even see it.

They would land - disoriented -  figure out where they were and  . . .


 Then they would go back to the posturing part of the dance.


and again tangle. . . .  in the unending dance. 

I felt like I took too many pictures and spent too much time with these little guys so I moved on to bigger but not necissarily better things. (like the otter)

The whole experience reveals several insights to me: First, that small things can facinate as much as big ones.  Second, I get distracted easily.  And third,  I need to start taking video because the pictures somtimes just doesn't cut it when the dance is on.

More Ocala National Forest

It was such a nice day on a Friday I ducked out of work early for a quick hike in the forest.
After due consideration and some google earth I chose a place I hiked about 7 years ago.

A section of the Florida Trail just of the side of the CR 314.  It was windy today and the clouds flew across the sky.  The sunlight flowed through the trees in waves across the grass.

I was really here looking for spring wildflowers but I guess it's still a little to early.  I found a beautiful burned forest stand.  I want to say it was well managed but it sounds so . . .  "managed."

There are still lots of oak trees along the way.  It's hard to see them as out of place but periodic fire is the natural way.  The forest service has made a real effort to control burn this place.  It looks great.

The pictures don't show how hilly it is in the backgound or how far you can see through the trees. 

But you can actually see the waves of sunlight.

A beautiful Florida Trail day hike in the not yet spring.  I sang "In the garden"  as I walked.

Otter With Attitude

Another Encounter with one of my favorite of God's animal creations and , . . .
  a quiet hike in the woods.

A hot late January afternoon here at Indian Lake . .  a small lake.

I approached slowly as I watched a flock of turkeys and was lucky to see an otter before he saw me.

Then he saw me and didn't seem concerned.  Cautiously and curious he checked me out.

I watched him for a long while but lost interest and went about my wanderlust  exploring the
 bent oaks and wild orchids of this place.

I went back to the lake and caught my new friend napping. So I slowly crept up to capture a few moments. I rarely see otters out of the water and this is pretty special . . .

  to me anyway.

He was just taking a cat nap . . . chillin' .    After a while he saw me sitting across the lake.

I'm setup with my tripod in the bushes. I don't move.

  He calms down but now sleeps with his ears up.

I don't move. My new friend is not happy with me. He seems a bit irritated about the loss of nap time.

He checks me out.   After a half hour or so he gets restless and moves.  What is he doing?

He gets up; ambles over to the water and appears to be taking a dump! Never seen that before.

 He turns back to smell it, ugh!

 and does it again! 

  Is this for my benefit?   I'm laughing at the show.

 He looks at me to make sure I have been watching

 

and calmly goes about preening his coat.

Otters are above the mere labors of survival. They have attitude.

 Otters are totally cool and can back it up.  What a day.