Tuesday, January 22, 2013

1/22 Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Again!

Just can't stay away from this place.  It is so beautiful here, and you can see something different each time you come.  This time, I was able to get fairly close to a red-shouldered hawk:

Next was a pileated woodpecker.  He was extremely noisy, tearing into a small tree and removing bark to find bugs.  Doesn't he have a gorgeous head?

As I was walking quietly along a section of the boardwalk, I heard a lot of splashing and looked over about 6 feet into an area of logs and shallow water.  A young raccoon was using his "hands" to feel into the muck for a meal.  Twice he brought something up and crunched it down--probably a crawfish from the sounds of it.  At least it had to be something with a shell of some sort because a fish would not be so crunchy.  He was young and did not even seem to notice me standing so close above him.  Cute little guy, anyway.


On the way out, I also heard the "Who-who hoo-hoo" from a barred owl  He is very hard to see because a leaf is covering his face:

And finally, I took a picture of a very pretty fern.  I was told it was a royal fern and verified that on the internet.  It was about 3 feet high and wide, and had distinctive spikes on top. 

I am getting very frustrated with my camera.  I bought it as a replacement for the one that broke last July and spent $250 on it.  Problem is that it has no viewfinder, and I find it very difficult to use because I cannot see on the screen what I am aiming at, especially in the sun.  I am going to look for another one online and do more research before I decide what to do.

I enjoyed my more than three-hours walking through the Corkscrew today.  It is the one place in Florida where people whisper and walk very quietly.  It was only about 73 today with a cool breeze, so it felt good to be outdoors. 

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