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.

Animals at Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park

Lulu, the hippo, lives there. I caught her in a big yawn.

Lots of alligators there. It's fun to hear the gasps of little kids who see these animals up close. Especially with those teeth. I think he's looking right at me.

There are two river otters but only the one was swimming around while we were there.

Lots of wild wood ducks live at the park. The male is the beautiful one in the front. The female is in the back with a bored look on her face.

There were several wild great blue herons working on nests high over the alligator enclosure.

These are the permanent residents at the park being fed.

Now that it has warmed up the wild manatees are heading out into other areas. There were very few hanging around inside the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park when we were there a couple of weekends ago. The park opens the gates to let the wild manatees into the warmer water of the river during the severe cold tempatures (severe by Florida standards). When hubby and I were there in mid January the river was full of them. Now there's just a few straglers. Most are heading out into other rivers, the intercoastal waterway and upper Tampa bay. There are lots of other animals at the park and a lot of wildlife that hangs around as well. 

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I otter be in pictures.

I was walking down Marsh Rabbit Run trail at Circle B Bar Reserve and saw this coming out of the water.

That otter has something in his mouth. The great blue heron wandered over to see what it was. And probably wanted to try and steal it.

The otter started chowing down on his catch.

A little otter pops up!

I was trying to get a shot of what the otter was eating. It's a siren (id'd by my flickr contacts) which is a type of eel with legs.  Creeepy!  When I downloaded the shot I noticed the little one was sticking his head in the shot like "Get me in the picture too."

Short video of the otter eating.

As many times as I have been to Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland, I had yet to see the famous otters. My first trip there in late afternoon proved to be a winner. It was after 5pm and I was just starting to head back across the long trail to the nature center and parking lot when I heard something splashing in the water.  I looked over and saw the otter swimming towards the dead reeds. I was so excited I just started snapping away. The otter plopped down right in front of me and started to eat. The eel kept trying to slither away so at first the otter was having a hard time. Then a few minutes later another smaller otter showed up and seemed to be waiting patiently for leftovers. There was a big crowd watching by the time I left, about 30 minute later.

Atlanta Part 3 - Zoo's otters

On a recent trip to Atlanta, I stopped by the zoo. I happened to walk by the river otter exhibit when the otters woke up and started to play. Usually you pass by these guys and they are sleeping in a bundle. They were so cute. They had a big crowd watching and the kids were going crazy. Above are some of my favorite pictures.

Non-bird animals at Kapok Park

I stopped by Kapok Park on the way home from work one day this week. I was very disappointed to find out when I got there that the boardwalk that runs over the lake and along side of it had caught on fire last weekend. Part of it was completely gone. Park officials had the entire boardwalk fenced off. I'm sure it will be forever before it gets fixed. The boardwalk was a great viewing spot for all of the lake. I ended up wandering around the rest of park and did manage to see some other animals besides birds. There were 3 rabbits running around the park. I managed to get pictures of the 2 above. As I was leaving, I noticed a ripple in the water along the river before the big lake. I stopped and saw 2 river otters swimming around. They were moving fast and only stuck their heads out of the water but I managed to get the above shots.