We liked Long Key Natural Area enough the first time
To make another visit,
And managed to find different critters
To take a gander at...
I was pretty excited to discover this male (or imm.) anhinga sunning...
It tolerated my presence pretty well...
At a slightly different angle, I was able to pick up the reflections in the water...
Hubby spied this iguana hanging by the pond...
These guys are escaped/released ex-pets, can be seen
Along canals and other bodies of water,
Regardless of the human population...
Hubby also spied an atala hairstreak butterfly...
There were gulf fritillaries about the little butterfly garden also...
I believe this is a red-bellied turtle
(As noted in previous post)...
Seemed to be swimming over to greet me,
But he just kept swimming under the bridge.
You sure did capture the many animals of Florida. The butterflies are so beautiful. I have seen iguana's crossing the road while driving in the car, but never up close like that. Amazing the you got so close. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteOhh, lovely sights! Superb images! Terrific Inhinga shots. I love it when they spread their wings for drying. Cool iguana. Oh my, it looks rather large. Stunning colors on this reptile. It's so nice to view butterflies, as we will not see them until the spring. Congratulations on the life bird ... so very beautiful. Lovely post, Jann!
ReplyDeleteJann,
ReplyDeleteI had a black and white warbler in a cottonwood tree by Rapid Creek when we did the West River Migratory count in May. It is like warbler went nuthatch on you!
Winter weather advisory tonight, snowy and 20, do you miss SD yet??
Anne ~ Thank you for your compliments! The iguana only allowed us to get so close, but it was close enough! About 15 feet..then it dove into the pond.
ReplyDeleteJulie ~ Thank you so much! I was holding my breath w/ the anhinga photos LOL, hoping it wouldn't fly off! I'm so bad at getting a shot of moving birds, esp. the song birds that flit around in trees! Was just glad to get the b&w stripes so I could ID the warbler. :o)
Caroline ~ Yes the warbler reminded me of the nuthatches LOL. No can't say as I miss SD winters yet...been in the 70's here. :-D
I've been so busy, haven't been checking out posts like I normally do, so I'm just now getting over to see how Florida is treating you, and I see the answer is Great. New kinds of critters to me. Love that you get to see butterflies.
ReplyDeleteRoan, so glad you've found me at my new Blog! It is wonderful to see butterflies this time of year; who knew? :o)
ReplyDelete