Memorial Day Weekend Nature Extravaganza!

Hi Everyone,

Hope you all had a fun filled Memorial Day weekend.

Here in Florida, it was very hot - 92 degrees all weekend with a heat index of 97. Despite the heat, Glenn and I did a lot of walking, and hit three (yes, THREE) parks, and observed a ton of flora and fauna.

First, on Saturday, we headed to Moccasin Lake Park, which is a rather bad name, because I am guessing there are a lot of water moccasins in the lake. But we didn't see any, so that is good. They had a little outdoor aviary, complete with a very friendly vulture (although there was a sign that says he bites.)

They also had a bald eagle, and a very loud peacock that we didn't get a shot of. But more birds to come...

So anyway, here is Moccasin Lake...

From here, we went to Lake Chautauqua Park, which is not in New York state as you may think, but actually about a mile from our house.

It was very pretty and there were some nice little trails around there. Plus, we had the place almost entirely to ourselves - we figure it might be a good place to take the dogs on a walk at some point.

Speaking of which, while we were later out taking the dogs for a walk, we came across this fellow, laying on a bush outside of someone's house. I had a very hard time getting Glenn to get close enough to take a picture.

Also, for Tom's benefit, I am posting a pic of an Anhinga (which I believe means snake bird - called due to it's snake-like neck and head.) This was on a pond in our plan. The Anhinga's wings are not waterproof, so after they get wet, they have to hold out their wings to dry.

Saturday night, Chad and Lisha invited us over to watch the sunset and then take the golf cart to go hear their neighbor's band play at the Ozona Pig.

A nice night out at the Pig.

Sunday, we drove over to St. Petersburg, and through a rather dicey section of town, to arrive at Boyd's Nature Park. Here are the more birds I promised.

A very pretty red-tailed hawk

Mr. Owl is not amused.

I think this was called a Speckled Hawk, and if it isn't, it should be.

In addition to the birds, we saw a couple of Gopher Tortoises.

Two baby alligators...

Can you find them both?

And other amazing wildlife...

This park was much larger than the others and was beautiful, although we walked quite far in the heat and kind of wore ourselves out. Still, some nice scenery.

And look, a Banyon tree!

So, you'll likely be relieved to hear that we were too tired to do much on Memorial Day. I read my book and jumped in the pool when I got hot, and Glenn worked on the flower beds in the front yard. He did find a friend he named Ted. I tried to give Ted a piece of banana, but he was not interested.

So anyway, I think that is it for our nature extravaganza. I hope you have enjoyed it!