The Continuing Adventures of Jud

Another visit to the Childrens Education Center at the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park to test out a new camera. Managed to get a very nice profile shot of the Alligator Snapper. His head is about 3 or 4 fists in size.


Then headed over to see Lu, and caught the end of the day's program about Lu. After, Vicki, Lu's best friend, and a Park Ranger, turned the hose on him, something he loves, and at the end of that, he gave us a special display.


This is "full open" and is a threat display. Hippos eat grasses and fruits: for that, they barely part their lips. However, if another male challenges their position, they attack one another with a full open mouth, scraping each other with their big front teeth. Their bite is as powerful as that of an alligator.

Lu has "bad" teeth- they curve out and around his jaw, so they would not be very effective in such an encounter: in the wild, he would be easily defeated and probably killed. However, as a movie and TV star, he lived a pampered life and never faced such challenges.

Labels: Florida, Hippopotamus, Homosassa Spring, Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, HSWLSP, Jud, Lu

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There is a building over at the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park that is now called the Children's Education Center. Originally, it was the main entrance to the spring when it was the only thing there and people came from all over the world just to bask in its beauty and crystal clear waters. Now, it houses all sorts of activities for the children, as well as rest rooms, water fountain, educational information, and air conditioning. That is important sometimes...

It is also the home, for the moment, to a 45 or so year old Alligator Snapping Turtle! He lives in a large tank, and behind thick glass, so getting a good shot is a bit of a challenge, but it is more likely than getting a shot of, or even seeing the giant that lives in Pepper Creek, which I caught sight of only once in my ten years on that creek.

Alligator Snappers sit on the bottom, hold their mouth open and wiggle a small appendage on their tongue which fish take to be a worm. Going into feed, they never come out!

This morning, the Alligator Snapper in the CEC was reaching up to the surface and I grabbed some shots. Notice those claws!

Labels: Alligator Snapping Turtle, Homosassa Spring, Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, HSWLSP, Jud

Labels: Alligator, animals, Daktari, Florida, Fountain, Hippopotamus, homosassa, Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, HSWLSP, Jud, Wood Duck

On June 26, in the Children's Education Center building, that once was the main entrance to the Homosassa Springs, Master Bee Keeper Melody Tayler presented a fascinating and thorough introduction to the honey bee, and bee keeping. Her knowledge and enthusiasm animated her presentation and she handled the many questions with aplumb! I had a great time!

As I headed over to the site for the 1pm talk, I grabbed a shot of this wood duck. Appears to be a new one?


And up onto the overlook for a view out to the Homosassa River on this beautiful day!


At just before 1, I headed in for the show.

Melody started with the anatomy of the honey bee: four wings! With velcro! Makes it easier to fold them when grounded.


Melody also explained the various parts and functions and care of the parts of a hive as used by bee-keepers.



All in all, at the end of the hour, many of us were still getting more details, which she happily supplied. She knew her stuff! And... she had the shoes for it!


On the way out, I dropped by to see Lu, who was napping, and the gators...

Labels: bee keeping, Bees, gators, Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, Honey bee, HSWLSP, Jud, Melody Taylor, Wood Duck

On Tuesday 27 May, 2014, with special permission, I spent two hours out on Pepper Creek at the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park in Homosassa Florida. I recorded about two hours of video of the Osprey nest that sits atop a tall pine tree on its namesake island in that creek. This is edited from that video.

This is a 45 minute video: for  impatient, or non-bird-watching folks, I suggest the first and final 5 minutes.

Labels: Bird watching, Florida, Florida Birding Trail, Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, HSWLSP, Jud, Osprey, Pepper Creek

It was off and on rain here today in Homosassa. We ran the boats, but the riders on my first run out and first run back were but two.

My first trip out, I carried two ladies from Marseilles, France. One spoke a bit of English, the other, none, and alas, by knowledge of the language is limited to "How are you?" Still, I managed to share a few points of interest along the creek, including this, my favorite view, with the Red Cypress standing alone against the green in the center of the creek.


On the return trip, I passed slowly by the Weeping Bottle Brush tree and grabbed a shot.


The rain picked up a bit on the way back, and these two ladies took cover intermittently under a Pepsi-cola umbrella.


Back at the Visitors' Center dock, I grabbed a shot of the cast of an Alligator Snapping Turtle. There is a live one in the creek that is half again as large as this one. I have seen it once, beneath the surface as I neared the Fishbowl Dock. It is quite a thing! Look for the cast on the wall over the door as you enter the dock.


On my third run, as I stopped for the view of the Osprey nest, currently home to two off-spring, we were lucky enough in our timing to catch one of the adults sitting atop the nest, and if you look closely at the extreme crop, you can see another head, though whether it is the other adult or one of the chicks, I can't say. It has been long enough since I first saw the babies that it could be one of them.



Hope you enjoyed this little review of today's outing.

Labels: Bottle Brush Tree, Florida, Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, HSWLSP, Jud, Osprey, Pepper Creek, Rain, Umbrella

Sat down on the trail and watched the forest grow...

Labels: Florida, Florida Birding Trail, Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, HSWLSP, Jud, Pepper Creek Trail

Labels: Anhinga, Florida Panther, Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, HSWLSP, Jud, new panther kitten, Yuma

Labels: Anhinga, Boat ride, Florida Panther, gators, Hippopotimus, Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, HSWLSP, Jud, new panther kitten, Pepper Creek

Labels: Boat ride, gators, Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, HSWLSP, Jud, Pepper Creek