Almost night in the backyard - Skywatch Friday

A Saturday night in the backyard. The sun was going down behind the palm tree.

More sunset.

Blue heron on my neighbor's dock. The sun was almost down and I tried to use my flash to get better light but I didn't have much reach.

My shutter frog came out a little early. I usually only see him after it's dark.

A lizard on a plant in my screened in porch. They sneak in under the screened door but we have to make sure they don't get in the house.

For more skyscape photography from around the world, visit Skywatch Friday.

After work walk at Kapok Park

Great blue heron hiding in the bushes. I think I woke him up from his nap.

Tiniest frog I've ever seen. This is blown up. I almost stepped on him.

Mallards walking around keeping an eye on me.

Blue jay with a nut.

Male grackle shining in the sun.

Another hot walk around Kapok Park after work. Kapok is a small park right in the middle of some neighborhoods off a busy road. It used to be a trailer park and was turned into a water management project. It's named after the tall kapok tree that is an emergent tree in the rainforest that grows tallest over all the other trees. I couldn't find any information on how Clearwater Florida got some of these tree. In the winter there's a lot of unusual wildlife there but in the summer it slows down a bit. There weren't too many people there as well. Things were pretty quiet while I was there.

Almost night in the backyard - Skywatch Friday

Right before it got dark, I peaked out the window and saw this night heron sitting on our dock. He's been hanging around the channel a lot lately but this was the first time I've seen him not hiding underneath someone's dock.

One of the frogs living in our shutters. I wonder if he's a young one. He's prettier than the other ones I've seen. I love his little round fingers.

The clouds were moving out just as the sun was going down. Story of our lives. It rains all day and just as it's about to get dark, the clouds leave and the sun peaks out.

Another night in paradise.

For more skyscape photography from around the world, visit Skywatch Friday



Duck, Duck, Frog

It's that time of the year again. Baby ducks swimming by our dock!  This one had 10 babies. There were 2 females so it could have been 2 families hanging out together. It was late last weekend when the sun was just going down in the channel when I saw them. I struggled to get some decent pictures with the low light in the channel. The 2nd and 3rd picture I used the flash to get some extra light.  Then I saw some other ducks down at the end of the channel with the sun hitting on the water right before it went down in the trees.  As I was going back in the house I noticed the frog peaking out of our shutter.



Non bird things at Circle B Bar Reserve - My World Tuesday

I was disappointed in the alligator count during my recent visit. I only saw this small one. I had heard a really big one had been sitting on the trail recently but I never saw it. It might have still been too hot for them to come out of the water.

I found these tiny frogs sitting on a small palm tree right on the trail.  This frog was smaller than my thumb.

This frog was on the same tree as the above but was a little greener and bigger. I'm thinking he's an older version of the one above? They both have the white stripe down their sides.

There were a lot of these spiders everywhere at the park. Since there hasn't been any rain for a while there were big spider webs all along the trail. They were spread out across the trail just over my head. It was a little creepy walking underneath them.

Still a lot of butterflies at the park. This one looks like his wing has had a rough time.

There are lots of other animals at Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland besides birds. Big spiders were everywhere. I just tried to pay attention where I was walking around trees so I wouldn't walk into any webs. Besides lots of the above, there are wild hogs, otters and coyotes. All of which I have not seen there yet. I hear the wild hogs come out at dusk so I won't be hanging around there after dark. There's also the usual raccoons and snakes as well but I have seen those there.

Go and check out more MyWorld images at the MyWorld Site! http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

Little critters at Largo Botanical Gardens

You can always find lots of bugs and little flying things at the Botanical Gardens. It was hot so there were lots of them out. I walked over to a little lily pond and thought "It would be so cute if there were frogs in here". And then I noticed the tiny frog sitting right there looking at me. He was on the other side and I took the above quick. When I started to walk around the little pond to get closer he jumped under the water.

Below is a beautyberry bush. I told my hubby that we need to plant these in the backyard. They attract butterflies. Eventually we'll get around to it. The last picture was taken from one of the bridges that goes over the river that runs through the gardens. On one end the river has started to become overgrown.

Neighborhood visitors over Labor Day weekend.

This immature blue heron was walking around next to our dock at low tide. He should turn all blue by his next molt.

Saturday I walked out into our screened in porch to water some plants and looked up and saw the above juvenile ibis staring at me from our fence. I went back inside and took this from the dining room window.

Sunday afternoon it was drizzling. I looked out the window and saw a few ducks heading down the channel for our dock. This is the first time I've seen a white duck in our channel. I looked it up and it's a type of mallard, so it's the same as the brown ducks that are with it. I ran out to the dock and snapped a few pictures in the rain.

When I went outside in the rain to take pictures of the white duck I saw the above night heron sitting on our dock. I took this picture from the door of the screened in porch. He must be young because his yellow crown was not quite yellow yet.

This girl is a temporary resident who is living in our screened in porch. I think the balls on the left have baby spiders inside. I need to sweep this spider outside or I might be having tons of spiders living in my porch soon.

Another resident, this was taken on my window sill. We have several frogs living in our shutters. I hadn't seen any in a while but Friday night he was sitting there when we got home from dinner so I ran in and got my camera.

Critters in my yard.

There is always a little lizard sitting on top of my pelican planter in our front yard. We inherited the planter from the people who lived there before us. I thought for sure my husband would chunk it in the garbage as soon as we moved in but he decided it fit the neighborhood so we left it there. I finally stopped to take a picture of a lizard sitting on it. Later that day my husband was yelling from outside "There's a frog in the kitchen window." I ran outside with my camera and was a little disappointed that the frog was sleeping in between the frame and the screen. I snapped a picture thinking that would be it. Later the frog came out and I was able to get a good look at him.

Small things that fly or jump - Atlanta

While there weren't a lot of birds at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, there was still a lot of wildlife there. Lots of bees and butterflies around. They had a pond that was full of frogs. Not just ordinary frogs. They were big beautiful bright green and yellow frogs. I've never seen them that pretty here in Florida. Watching the frog pond was worth the price of admission.

First day of Fall

Frog family in our shutters.

Another beautiful sunset in the backyard.

Today was the first day of fall and it was sunny and 93 degrees. Oh well, maybe by December it will feel like fall. We had a quick rain shower when I got home from work. I went outside to see if the frogs living in our window shutter had come out early from the rain. They usually don't come out until it's completely dark. Tonight there were three staring at me. The sun came out for a few seconds before it went down.