We're not in Florida any longer, but the blog hasn't caught up yet.
Even though it was super hot the last week we were in the Canal Cottage — and even though we were really busy closing things up for the season — I still walked early every morning before it got too hot. And there were still great photo-ops.
One day, I caught this handsome Pileated Woodpecker hanging out (literally) in a carrotwood tree.
That tree is an invasive species for the area (this link). When we first came to Fort Myers we saw them everywhere. Now most of them have been removed. But I still think it is quite a pretty tree.
The canal streets in our RV Park in Florida are out-and-back walks. No round trip because the streets end at the entrance to the River. This carrot tree is in a yard on the lower end of one of those streets. I took the top picture going up and the bottom two coming back. Just before sunrise, the sky was flat white (as in the top picture), but a few minutes later, on the return walk, the blue was beginning to show.
A couple of days later I saw a different Pileated hopping along a road in the Park. I think this one might be a female because the red stripe on the cheek isn't so obvious. It was rather unusual to see one of these birds on the ground and I was a little worried. She was gone when I passed this spot again, so I hope she flew up to where she belongs.
There are still a few more un-blogged photos from Florida — of birds and other subjects.
A good thing too, because we are busy catching up and getting organized on this side of the country.
Good times, but not necessarily good photo ops.
They will come eventually!
I will be linking this post to these memes later: Eileen's SATURDAY CRITTERS; Anni's I'D RATHER B'BIRDING; Michelle's NATURE NOTES; and Monica's TREES AND BUSHES. Thank you for hosting ladies!!
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