Our trip to Homosassa Springs

Recently, we had a chance to drive over to the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. It is located in beautiful Homosassa Springs, Florida. I must say, it was worth the trip! We began our adventure with a relaxing boat ride over to the park. Along the way, we were able to see all types of water fowl and wildlife. Our boat captain gave us a lovely tour, making sure to tell us all the information about the area. After the boat trip, we took a self guided tour of the wildlife park. There was a good variety of wildlife to be seen, not to mention the landscape and spring itself. The spring is a 45 foot deep natural spring that begins at the Homosassa River and eventually flows into the Gulf of Mexico. Click on the pictures in the slide show to the right to see most of the animals and the spring. The manatees were not in the spring the day we visited, but we were able to see the ones they are nurturing in the rehabilitation area. Here are a few of my favorite pictures:

Snook in the "Fish Bowl" (Notice the pink lure in the snooks mouth)

The Fish Bowl (underwater viewing area)

Flamingos

Wood Ducks

"Lou" the Hippo

Bear Creek thinks it's Springtime!

Although we know it's not really Spring, you'd have a hard time convincing some of the plants in our yard. They (like us) have been enjoying the nice warm weather as of late. You have to love Florida in the winter. Don't get me wrong, it does get cold here--really cold, but this has been a mild winter so far. I'm sure we're in for a freeze before too long, so we'll enjoy the early blossoms while we can! Here are a few of them!

Saucer Magnolia

Azaleas starting to bloom

Pear Tree

Wild Ferns

 

Carolina Jasmine

Monarch Butterfly I'm not



Gulf Fritillary Butterfly


Well, maybe it's just me--but when I saw this orange and black beauty I thought it was a Monarch butterfly. I grabbed the camera and snapped this shot thinking this would be great for my blog! However, when I opened the picture on the computer, this butterfly looked different to me. I remembered some pictures Cliff took last year, near the Marina Civic Center in downtown Panama City. It was in October, which is when the Monarchs visit our area. I found the pictures (there is one below) and sure enough they were indeed Monarchs.  So...I did some research and found out that the Gulf Fritillary is the correct name for this butterfly. I'm not disappointed at all because these beautiful butterflies are all over the yard this time of year. It just goes to show you--there is always something new to learn!



Monarch Butterfly



Update on Jack and Diane

Well....it seems our little couple has been busy this year! I wish I could have taken pictures of the whole brood when they were babies, but at least Cliff was able to see them. He saw a Semi truck stop traffic so they could cross the road---and guess where they were going? To the gas station, of course. I took these pictures a couple of weeks ago. We pulled up to the station and they were hanging out beside the store. Jack was still quite protective, not letting me get too close!

Camping at St. Andrews State Park

If you get a chance to visit St. Andrews State Park, located in Panama City Beach, Florida it is worth the trip to spend the night camping. We did just that a couple of weeks ago. The only issue we had was that it was faaareeeezing cold and very windy. We bundled up, had a cozy fire and made the best of it. Actually, we weren’t the only crazy people out there. Some of the campers had heated RV’s but I did see several tents like ours. We really enjoyed the nature trails and being able to see the wildlife up close. Here are some of the pictures we took on our adventure.


Turpentine Still

Our Campsite

Blue Heron

One of the many deer we saw.

Waves crashing on the Jetties

Happy Halloween!!!

Calliope says Happy Halloween!

Here's one of my favorite Halloween songs---Monster Mash!  Enjoy!

Farewell to the Summer

It seems funny to say that-- because it's still hot outside and the air conditioner is running. There is a feeling in the air though, and I can tell that summer is soon leaving us. It has been a long interesting summer. Let's see... we relocated two baby opossums out of the yard. (I was afraid the dogs would attack them) I spent a few nights looking for what was digging up my flower beds. I figured it was an armadillo and I was correct. I renamed him "Armadiggalo". I thought that was appropriate for the mess he made. We did not relocate him because he wasn't making any worse of a mess than the dogs do. Besides, have you ever seen an armadillo up close? They are kind of cute in an alien sort of way. The biggest summer event was rescuing two newborn kittens from a park. They had obviously been abandoned by their mother. So began the two hour feedings around the clock. They are doing well and getting big. We also adopted another kitten before we found the newborns. I've been busy! Well, the hummingbirds are still here and the flowers are still blooming but I know that summer is fading fast. Here are some scenes from our summer of 2011.

Chester keeping cool

Mr. Armadiggallo

Dinner!

Jake watching Rusty