Non bird things at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve

 I think this is a silk orb spider. Looks like there's a baby one with it.

Otter teasing me.

"Hey, I'm over here, otter."

He popped up far away and looked like he was eating something. I snapped quick but wasn't really ready for this shot. It didn't come out well but I realized when I cropped it up he was eating a small turtle. He chowed down for a few seconds, then went back down into the water.

A family of four raccoons went quickly scurring by me on the trail. The smallest one stayed back and climbed half way up the tree and was watching me. After a few seconds he climbed back down and hurried to catch up with his family.

This big slow guy wasn't going anywhere. He stopped munching on the grass for a few seconds and looked up.

Lily pad flower upclose. The water was full of them. Lots of tiny bugs hanging out on them.

I headed out on a recent hot Saturday morning to Boyd Hill Nature preserve in south St. Petersburg. I figured since the front trail was mostly shaded and went along a big lake then maybe there would be a nice breeze and it wouldn't feel so hot. I was wrong. Even the tons of alligators there stayed hidden under the water. I would have liked to be hidden under the water as well. I was walking along one of the boardwalks that goes over a section of the lake and and heard a snort. I realized it was an otter swimming around. It was the first time I had seen one at this park. I was so excited. Except he stayed in the shadows and mostly under the bushes hanging along the water so it was hard to get good pictures of him. He blended into the water most of the time. He was cute though and kept swimming around under the boardwalk. The bird sightings were disappointed but since I watched an otter play, passed a turtle and raccoon I still thought it was a pretty successful morning.