Cute or creepy?

I was driving into my neighborhood coming home from taking pictures one afternoon and I saw three little raccoons on the sidewalk. They were rummaging around in some bushes at the front of an apartment complex right before my street. I pulled over and took some pictures from my car. They looked awful scrawny and little. I wonder if these were three siblings who had lost their parents. I'm sure they are old enough by now to fend for themselves. They stayed pretty close together. I showed these to a friend who shrugged and said "They're just really big rats." I said "But look how cute they are?"

An after work walk around Fort Desoto Park.

Juvenile black bellied plover. I wish I had found this little guy when he just a baby. He would have been really cute and tiny.

Adult black bellied plover. He just kind of stood there like "What do you want?"

Snowy egrets and a great egret fishing off the jetty next to the fishing pier. The sun had gone down behind some nasty clouds.

Snowy egret got a fish!

"Mom, feed me" says the juvenile sandwich tern. Although he's probably big enough to fend for himself, they tend to beg for a while at that age.

Great blue heron thought he had a fish but it was just seaweed.

Cute raccoon hanging around the picnic area.

Our World Tuesday

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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.

Birds and other things at Circle B Bar Reserve

My first bittern. Yea, I scratched this one off my list. But really, these pictures aren't too great. It was too close to the trail and didn't move for a half hour.

The bittern finally started creeping around under the brush.

This woodpecker was screaming to have his picture taken.

Lazy limpkins hanging around the booms in the lake.

Some type of water snake that had just crawled out of the lake.

There was a raccoon family high up in a tree. My thanks to Philip (one of the semi-regulars to the park) for spotting these guys. He sees everything.

These blue winged teals were too cute. They would bob under the water at the same time.

My New Year's Eve trip to Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland was pretty productive. I finally saw my first bittern. It almost looks like a green heron but without the pretty colors that the green heron has. They blend in well with the dead reeds in the marsh. I might have just walked right by him if a group hadn't already been standing there watching him. It's amazing the amount of limpkins there. They were everywhere.

I am disappointed about Bubba though. One of the park's largest alligators, who lived in the main pond at the big intersection of trails, was relocated. I'm not sure if it was out of the park or a different section of the park. She was very visible in her spot and would lay right on the edge of the trail. The section was roped off and there were big warning signs not to bother the alligators but apparently some kids were seen throwing rocks at her so the park moved her. She was a little too close but I liked to see her laying there on my visits.

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