January and Florida wildlife

Hard to believe, once again that another month has just slipped by.  As for the weather, it has been a month of near record breaking warmth and very little rain. Though this is not Florida's normal rainy season, what we hear from the locals is they usually see more than they have gotten.  Our rangers are spending more time in their uniform shorts than long pants.

 

For us, we managed to enjoy the weather as it has allowed us to get out and see more.  An unexpected delight this month has been the explosion of strawberries in season now.   We are surrounded by orange orchards and strawberry fields, both of which are being harvested.  Just down the street from us is the 'Strawberry Market", which sells strawberry shortcake of wonderfully large proportions.  Sadly,  we had to stop visiting the market as the owners were starting to recognize us and our pants were getting tight.  We still manage to get there occasionally.

 

We've continued to enjoy our visits to other Florida State parks.  An unusual State Park was Weeki Wachee Springs State Park.  It is Florida's only spring fed water park with quite a history that dates back to 1946 when a former Navy Seal scouted the area for a new business.  He discovered the springs are so deep the bottom has not been found.  Each day, more than 700,000 gallons of clear, fresh water, always at a temperature of 74 degrees, bubbles up out of the caverns.  Besides the wonderful water you can swim in or take a boat ride down the Weeki Wachee River, they  have an underwater mermaid show that has been showing continuously since 1947. 

Another wonderful sunshine filled day, we headed to Honeymoon Key State Park.  Great little park with a nice beach where we spent a couple of hours sitting, watching people and luckily, dolphins that went swimming by.





Little Manatee River

With another Groupon coupon we kayaked down the Little Manatee River.  Saw alligators and lots of turtles sunning themselves.  Was a beautiful, relaxing day of floating.








Pier and beach on Anna Maria Island

One weekend we drove a little further south and discovered Anna Maria Island.  This little town with all of its rental cottages, little boutique shops and restaurants had the most incredible sandy beach.  The sand was like talcum powder and we could have easily spent a few days there.  If you are heading to Florida and are looking for a quiet place to stay, check out this Island.

 

D'enne, Mike and Matt came for a nice long visit this month from Oregon. They spent their first week in Disney World where we  joined them for a fun filled day at the Magic Kingdom.  Their second week was spent near us and we had fun on a Pirate cruise, seeing the manatees, miniature golf, the Tampa Bay History Museum and having Matt spend a couple of days with us, sans parental units.

It's been a busy month, and the end of the month brought some colder temps.....that's relative...cold to Floridians!  60 degrees is not cold to those of us whose home in Oregon is in the 30's.

Thought we would share with you some of the 'critters' we live with here in Florida that are not found at home.

First is the Feral Pig and not indigenous to Florida.  These big boys and girls (can be up to 300lbs) were brought by the Spaniards in the 1700's and left for future hunting. Sadly, they are not food grade unless captured and re-fed grains.  Because they forage for grubs in the ground, digging with their snouts and front feet,  they can turn over the grass/ground to the point it must be repaired.  They are prolific here in the park and at night will come into the campground and destroy a section of grass area.  Rangers hate these critters.


Another 'friendly' (from at least 6 feet) creature we have close by is the native alligator.  This is Lola and she lives less than 1/4 mile from us.  We caught her sunning on a warm day on the bank of the creek.  We've learned alligators can eat as few as 12 times a year, can go for 2 years without eating, and hold their breath an average of 2 hours under water.  They can move at 20mph for a short distance, so staying at least 6 feet away when trying to get pictures of her is important.

When we first saw this Anhinga bird, we thought we were seeing a snake slithering through the water.  We learned this bird does not have the oil in their feathers like most water birds, so their bodies float just below the water with only their necks visible.


We caught this little river otter going across the road in front of the rangers station. He was on his way from one creek to another.



There are a lot of turtles and tortoises here in Florida.  It's fun to kayak down the river and see them sunning themselves on logs.  They are pretty camera shy, sometimes trying to get a picture is not easy, and they jump into the water quickly.

Another little critter we were surprised to see was this little Nine banded Armadillo.  They also are not indigenous to Florida, and there is a lot of speculation on how they got here.  Hurricanes?  Road trip? Or just hitched a ride from someone coming from Texas?

The Osprey, which we have in Oregon are also here in Florida and this is their mating season.  This pair of Osprey have built a nest a couple of hundred yards from us and we have are watching them build their nest.  We believe they now have eggs, so we will be watching for little heads to peek above the nest.  There is always one of the parents at the nest protecting it from preditors like the vultures that are always circling, waiting for just the right moment to dive in.

Mom, dad and babies

Lastly, one of the ladies I work with in the rangers station is an avid birder and volunteers for Audubon.  She shared the location of a bald eagle nest and we have  been visiting it every couple of weeks watching them sit on their eggs, and now seeing the fledglings.

As always, everywhere we go, we get to see and learn so much about the area.  These eagles have been one of the highlights this trip!

 

 





.