Part THREE: Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park in Florida

We had such fun at the Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park

in Florida,

that this is part of a series of blogposts of photos taken there.

If you missed the other ones, just go down to the bottom of this page

and hit "older posts" to enjoy the rest.

This bear just cracked us up...he took the top of the garbage can, played with it for a while,

and then sunbathed!:

When we first got there, we took a lovely boat tour down the river in the park.

This was great for us Michiganders to see the natural state of Florida woods and rivers:

A lovely golden eagle:

I am totally smitten with Ibis....and their long, gorgeous white feathers on their back:

They nurse a lot of sick birds and animals back to health at this park...

I loved seeing this great heron walking here:



I SO wanted to comb through those long feathery strands on his tail!:

A playful otter coming to say hi:

I  have YET to capture a photo of an owl in the wild of the U.P. of Michigan...

so I was glad to be able to at least get some shots of some owls

at this park.

I find owls just mesmerizing!:

Just LOOK at his pretty face!:

I still have some more photos of this lovely park...

so join me again next time to see nature at Florida's best there.....

I may be interspersing some contrasting winter photos from Michigan
with the rest of these Florida pictures on some upcoming blog posts, as I still have some left of our winter to share with you all yet too.

Part TWO: Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park in Florida: (Otherwise known as "It's all about Flamingos!) !!

Today....

it is

ALL ABOUT

Flamingos!!!

I am dedicated this entire blogpost to the beautiful

Flamingos

we saw at the Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park.

There will be a lot more pictures posted about this wonderful

park, but today, I had to devote the entire post to these gorgeous birds.

Also today, I'm going to be quiet

(I know! A near impossible feat!!)

and just let you gaze at the wonder of these birds:

An Ibis, a flamingo and a swan in one shot!! :

Forget those

oh-so-tacky

Flamingo statues people put in their yards....

I want a REAL one for my yard this summer.

And?

If he stays until winter in the U.P....

those long legs will be a HIT

to ice skate with!!!!!

*************************************************************

Part ONE: Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park in Florida

My daughter's future Mother-in-Law

volunteers at

Homosassa  Springs Wildlife State Park
in Florida

and was gracious to have invited us

to see it

with her and her family.

She knew how much I love tropical birds and

animals

and that I love to photograph them.

I want to thank her very much for our wonderful day there.

So, for the next few blogposts, I will be sharing with you

some of this lovely park and its enchanting wildlife.

If you ever get to Florida, I highly recommend you make this a stop

on your trip.

It is not a huge park, but very charming and you will get a kick out of the animals.

It used to be privately owned and now the state of Florida has purchased it.

All the animals in it are native to Florida, (except LuLu, the 51 year old

resident hippopotamus..(more on her in blogposts to come!).

It just happened to be  her birthday on the day we went to the park!!)

So, relax, put your feet up and let's start the tour of some of the sites, shall we?

Thankfully, the only alligators we saw while in Florida were at this park!:

I am sorry to say that I don't recall the name of this kind of bird!

Maybe if Cindy is reading this, she can leave me a comment to let us know?!:

(I purposely shot him from the back as I loved his red cap!)

This bear had taken off the garbage can top and was playing around with it

like a flying saucer...it was too funny!:

Here is that same bird from the front. Isn't he a beauty?:

I think this is a white pelican....just chillin' out in the sun:

A Cormorant cooling off by spreading his wings:

A magestic eagle:

Just LOOK at the brilliant ORANGES and PINKS

on this Flamingo's feathers.

They said it depends on what they eat (berries and such) that determines their colors.

I'd say this guy must be eating at the right places!!

It is spectacular!:

My next blogpost will have more shots of these spectacular birds

along with more of Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park...

Hope to see you then!!
******************************************************************************
We are MORE than half way through the month of March, people!!
That means you have to hurry now
and
send in your winning photo for the FREE PHOTO CONTEST here on my blog.
This month's theme is:

RED

That's right, you read right...use you imagination and send in a photo that
signifies RED to you....I can't wait to see what creativity I know you have!
Send me your photo no later than midnight on March 31st, 2011
following
THESE RULES!!!

Hair Updos

Hair Updos

Wedding Hair Updos

Black Wedding Hair Updos

Braided Wedding Hair Updos

Hair Updos For Prom

Long Hair Updos

Medium Hair Updos

Prom Hairstyles Updos

Prom Hair Updos

Short Hair Updos

This year, updo hairstyles are blow-dried and simple. To create a similarly elegant look, ask you hairdresser to create an Audrey Hepburn hair updos that is loose and chic. This sort of style would go fantastically well with a 50s style wedding dress.The most evident hair updo trend this season is a messy, carefree style. While there is certainly less room for sloppiness at a wedding, the spirit behind this trend need not be abandoned when designing a wedding hair style. A sloppy or free-flowing hair style might be perfect for a beach wedding. Many brides are opting for looser, more whimsical styles over classic, tight or sleek updos. Many of the most popular updos at the moment feature loose hairs around the face, modified french twists and carefully orchestrated fly aways.

The updo style can take many forms and can make a woman look glamorous, elegant, chic and sexy. Many short hairstyles for women are contemporary and time tested styles, and you can easily adopt one of them when you spend some time thinking about what might suit you the best. It does not matter whether your hair is straight or curly as there are plenty of short hairstyles for women to choose from. Either visit a hairstylist, or do it yourself. You will amaze yourself with the possibilities.

Pictures Tags: hair updos, long hair updos, medium hair updos, short hair updos, prom hair updos, wedding hair updos, hair updos for prom, black braided hair updos, prom hairstyles updos.

Hair Updos

Hair Updos

Wedding Hair Updos

Black Wedding Hair Updos

Braided Wedding Hair Updos

Hair Updos For Prom

Long Hair Updos

Medium Hair Updos

Prom Hairstyles Updos

Prom Hair Updos

Short Hair Updos

This year, updo hairstyles are blow-dried and simple. To create a similarly elegant look, ask you hairdresser to create an Audrey Hepburn hair updos that is loose and chic. This sort of style would go fantastically well with a 50s style wedding dress.The most evident hair updo trend this season is a messy, carefree style. While there is certainly less room for sloppiness at a wedding, the spirit behind this trend need not be abandoned when designing a wedding hair style. A sloppy or free-flowing hair style might be perfect for a beach wedding. Many brides are opting for looser, more whimsical styles over classic, tight or sleek updos. Many of the most popular updos at the moment feature loose hairs around the face, modified french twists and carefully orchestrated fly aways.

The updo style can take many forms and can make a woman look glamorous, elegant, chic and sexy. Many short hairstyles for women are contemporary and time tested styles, and you can easily adopt one of them when you spend some time thinking about what might suit you the best. It does not matter whether your hair is straight or curly as there are plenty of short hairstyles for women to choose from. Either visit a hairstylist, or do it yourself. You will amaze yourself with the possibilities.

Pictures Tags: hair updos, long hair updos, medium hair updos, short hair updos, prom hair updos, wedding hair updos, hair updos for prom, black braided hair updos, prom hairstyles updos.

We have a WINNER for the February's FREE PHOTO CONTEST! Theme: Old Barns

Sorry folks for taking so long in announcing 

who won the

February 2011's FREE PHOTO CONTEST !!

I heard from the first judge right away, but our other judges 

really dragged their feet on this one,

so we finally got all the Judge's picks and the majority decision in.

This one was tough, too.

But, we finally picked JUST ONE winner.

Drum roll.....please!!!

The winner is:

Congratulations to LINDA!!!!!

Her blog is called: "Linda's Letters".

The judges that chose the winner stated it was very creative and a good capture of another artist admiring the same view.

Linda, please leave in the comment section a little more about your winning photo for us, okay?

Honorable mentions also go to:

--Teresa

 --Nat

and

--Mistaya

Thanks to all my judges!! I know how hard it is to pick your No. one favorite and even to pick your second favorite!!! I appreciate your time so much. 

***********************************************************************

Now!

Go out there and find your March 2011 FREE PHOTO CONTEST 

entry!!

The theme is:

RED!!!!

Erin Go Bragh-less?

Well, Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!!

I'm not Irish, but, hey.... I can get in the spirit for it.

Which leads me to my dilemma:

I'm thinking I might just host(ess) a little romantic dinner for my Lad,  but I am having a little trouble planning the menu. 

Can any of ye wee  Blogger elves help me?

For instance, I know we can start out with some lime vodka. (As Charlie Sheen would say: "Well, Duhhhh!}

And the hors doeurves? 

Well, celery is green...I can stuff it with something tasty. (Hey, I didn't get an A in Home Economics in 7th grade for nothing, for crying out loud!)

But I kind of get stumped from there.  

Once, I added green food coloring to mashed potatoes to surprise my family on St. Patrick's Day.   

Let's just say the bowl was still pretty full at the end of the meal. 

And, there is only so much parsley one can put beside meat to make it look festive, you know what I mean? 

And don't tell me to do stuffed peppers. Somehow flatulence just doesn't scream "romantic" to me.  (I am funny like that).

I don't want to be boring and serve the regular corned beef hash, or a rueben.

I  suppose I could spike some green food coloring into the rolls at the dinner table, but somehow adding food coloring to them just screams Penicillin to me in some way. (Or is that just me?)

You'd think dessert would be simple.

Except I don't like Pistachio or mint, which is usually green.  

Perhaps lime sherbet?  

Ah, hell, I can just make lime vodka slushes and stick with the whole lime vodka theme...why make it difficult on myself?

Anyhoo, if any of you have any festive ideas to help my romantic St. Patrick's Day dinner along, I'd really appreciate it.

Perhaps I'll just try something else rather than the menu to get "in the mood".

Wait!!....I could go bra-less  braugh-less!!  THAT might get my Leprechaun "in the mood"!!

Or, maybe even better, I could try THIS!?:

Because in truth, I'm not really looking for menu ideas..............I'm really just after his Lucky Charms.