Sunday, May 17, 2015

Circle B Bar Reserve

I am linking up with   Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday   They are both fun memes to participate in...I hope you can join in with the fun  and check out some of the participating posts.

I am continuing with another post and photos from our Florida trip.  We visited the Circle B Bar Reserve located in Lakeland, Polk County. The Circle B is known as a hotspot for birding in Florida.  It is named after the cattle ranch that existed on this property. The property was acquired by Polk County and the pastures were restored back to it's natural state, the marsh land. It is now home to an impressive bird population. Nature trails, picnic areas and a beautiful Discovery center are a must see if you are near Lakeland, Florida..


Above some of the beautiful trees along the Circle B trails, Marsh land, Cormorant & Red-shouldered Hawk are seen in the mosaic.



I love the lighting on the trees and spanish moss.


One of my favorite Florida birds the Limpkin and the Common Moorhen or also known as the Common Gallinule.


Limpkin with snail



Waterway and some of the wildflowers seen along the trail..





Top row: Anhinga, aligator on trail, Blue-winged Teal
Middle row: Black Crowned Night Heron, Roseate Spoonbill, GB Heron
Bottom row: Green Heron, alligator eye, Osprey on nest


We had to wait awhile for this gator to move off the trail. I am not sure if the lady on the other side turned back and returned the way she came or not.  These are photos from our first visit to Circle B, we loved it so much we went back a second time.. I hope you enjoyed my photos.. Thank you for visiting and for all the nice comments.. Have a great day and week ahead!

I use Pic Monkey to create my mosaics, you can use Pic Monkey free or pay for an upgraded version.
I hope you can join in on our fun with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday

 Thanks to Judith our host of Mosaic Monday and to the hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy and Jennifer.  I wish everyone a happy week ahead!

103 comments:

  1. Great pics in a great park, Eileen.

    I hope Florida can do more to protect the Everglades, too. Right now, they don't seem to be doing a great job.
    ~

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  2. no way i'd be stepping past (or over) that gator. holy crap! :) love the limpkin and gallinule. beautiful color and light thru that spanish moss!

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  4. Eileen, just beautiful pictures. I love the Spanish Moss...could not imagine seeing that big critter along my pathway!

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  5. Viagem à Florida maravilhosa e rendeu muitas lindas fotos! Gostei de ver! Lindo domingo! bjs, chica

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  6. Love the Herons..fun birds to watch..Beautiful Spanish Moss..I think I would have put some distance between me and that Gator..Great pictures..

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  7. Beautiful images, and the Limpkin is my favourite, fantastic.

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  8. Hi Eileen, Great mosaics today. I love that area of Florida... Don't think I'd walk anywhere near that gator... Yipes....

    Love the Spanish Moss pictures... Gorgeous.

    Hugs,
    Betsy
    Sorry I called you Denise... She was next on my list of posts.. DUH---sorry!!!

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  9. Hi Eileen
    Beautiful pictures.
    The last one is really great.
    Best regards, Irma

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  10. Hi Eileen, Nice bird photos and that moss ... wow, that is something! Have a great day!

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  11. some absolutely stunning shots! Thanks for sharing!

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  12. Hello Eileen, spectacular photos! All them are beautifull, but if I saw a jacaré;)) I will run away! It's terrified! You have lots of courage;))!
    Have a nice sunday and good week. Hugs, Ailime

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  13. Hello Eileen!!
    Florida is a lovely place to visit!!
    Beautiful birds!!Amazing critters!!Great captures!Like the Spanish Moss!!The aligator, i would be afraid to see it!So imressive!
    I really enjoyed your post!!Have a happy week!
    Dimi...

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  14. the gator is grinning and thinking, come on down lady, i am waiting. have you ever heard a Limpkin during mating season? it is horrible they are so loud you can't sleep and it goes all day and all night. no one wants a limpkin in their yard or even close.. but they are pretty. this looks like a beautiful place. we are about 50 or 60 miles from there and have never been.

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  15. Hi Eileen, What a wonderful spot. I'll have to get there sometime. The Spoonbill is magnificent as is that 'gator! Yes, I like the Alligators. Have a super good coming week!

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  16. The gator on the way! wowow I'm not sure I'll beabke to walk in the same path even if the gayor leaves.

    The place alone is magnificent. How I love the water way and Spanish moss. All the rest are soooo beautiful too.

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  17. Love your photo of the Spanish moss tree! And the butterfly is great too! Thanks for sharing more photos from your trip.

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  18. Scary gator, I would be up a tree so fast, or find the car. Super mosaics, and that hanging moss, beautiful.

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  19. A very special mosaic because I see a wide variety of pictures and all too beautiful. The colors in the tree are beautiful birds but also dreamer itself. However, the crocodile I find scary

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  20. Beautiful shots. Love the Spanish moss.

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  21. Looks like a fun place to visit. I might have turned around if I found an alligator in my path! :-) Have a great day, Heather

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  22. Great batch of photos! I love Spanish Moss. I kind of wish we had it up this way.

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  23. HI Eileen This looks a wonderuful birding area as well as being stopped in your tracks by Gators!! Your shots areall marvellous.

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  24. Great photos and superb mosaic, Eileen!
    Have a Beautiful Day!
    Peace :)

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  25. Beautiful photos! The limpkin is very cool! The gator looks to have eaten a few limpkins! He's a biggun!

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  26. Wow, very nice ! I love the tree with the spanish moss !

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  27. What a fabulous place. That gator would have scared me to death!

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  28. Awesome Captures! Looks like a really wonderful magical place!

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  29. Gator is impressive! Great nature photography as always ~

    Happy Week to you,
    artmusedog and carol

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  30. Wow, look at that big guy sunbathing! Your bird shots are fantastic. Glad you had a great time.

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  31. What up with the gator! lol Quite a big guy!!

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  32. Ha! You caught Leroy in the same spot I did. I love Bar B. It's only a 45 min drive from my house. I should go more often.

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  33. I just loved that place ... Wanted to go back this year, but I don't think we'll have time. Beautiful mosaic and of course I love all the birds.

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  34. This is a beautiful post with all these fantastic pics of wild life and flowers. The minute I see gator, I will turn around and flee!

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  35. You share SO much, E!





    ( '>
    /))
    //""

    ALOHA from Honolulu,
    ComfortSpiral
    =^..^=

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  36. Beautiful photos.
    Oh my I've never come across an alligator on a walk. : )

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  37. Oh boy, I would definitely run the other way if I saw that gator. Lovely bird shots!

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  38. I sure did enjoy these photos...they are all so good and such interesting birds, and I love the moss hanging from the trees.

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  39. Dearest Eileen; Wow, what a great nature experience in Florida!!! I'm surprise with the alligator on the trail, haha SO scary but I wish I were with you♪
    Great series of mosaic with varieties of lives♡♡♡ The picture of the the lighting on the trees and spanish moss is fantastic♡♡♡

    Sending Lots of Love and Hugs from Japan to my Dear friend in America, xoxo Miyako*

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  40. Beautiful bird photos as always, Eileen!
    Lovely trees and wildflowers. The photo of the Spanish moss is spectacular.
    Have a great week ahead!

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  41. Eileen, every time you out do yourself. Tom The Backroads Traveller

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  42. What a magnificent collection of birds. Surprised to see a gator just lying on the trail. I would be moving fast. A gorgeous area to wander.

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  43. Love the trail through the trees and of course the roseate spoonbill. The gator? Not so much.

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  44. I'm not sure I would have lingered for long with that alligator so close by, but maybe they are slow moving. You have some wonderful photos. Hope you have a good week!

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  45. Excellent captures!!!! LOVE that Monarch!

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  46. Very nice visit and so much reminded me of my March journey to Florida to visit family. I love the Spanish Moss as well and the Anhinga were my favorite birds~

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  47. That must have been a fantastic trip, Eileen! And I love the alligator shot. Such amazing wildlife and what a great opportunity.

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  48. I just love those trees with the moss.

    NOT loving that big scary gator, lol.

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  49. Wonderful photos...love them all and especially the Spanish Moss...
    Enjoy this new week.

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  50. Love the monarch - they are my favorite. I haven't seen any here yet but I saw one in Texas when we visited there in March. The limpkin is an interesting bird. Great capture! I really like the image where the sunlight shines through the moss covered tree, too. Have a good week!
    Beth

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  51. Hi! Many beautiful photos! The spanish moss photo is very impressive. Your butterfly photo is very beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

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  52. Great photos Eileen! The bird life in Florida is phenomenal. Loved the photo with the sun shining on the Spanish Moss and your collage is super.

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  53. p.s. Alligators are fascinating but would find one on the path a bit unnerving :0

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  54. great photos, looks like a lovely place for a walk. It'a always nice too to see nature areas being reclaimed from other uses

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  55. Good plan to wait for the gator to move before going down that trail, Eileen! :))

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  56. I haven't seen an Anhinga in our neck of the woods going on two years now. I miss 'em.

    Glorious surroundings. Love the moss on the huge cypress trees.

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  57. It looks as if they've done a marvelous job of returning this land to its natural state. I think this would be great place to visit (with the possible exception of alligators on the trail!).

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  58. Eileen I adore the Spanish moss being backlit...and the Limpkin and Common Moorhen are both so unique...

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  59. really awesome critter captures!! the spanish moss is stunning!! and the butterfly, i have only seen one this year!!!!

    have a great week eileen!!!!

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  61. That Limpkin is precious, thanks for the name I wouldn't have known otherwise! I am such a fan of Spanish Moss too, and that is one cool tree of it. Great birding photos, it's truly a fabulous place.

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  62. What a beautiful series Eileen! I do hope you'll share that gorgeous butterfly with I Heart Macro this week.

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  63. Holy moly! That gator is ENORMOUS! I'm okay with them if they are in the water and I'm inland or in the kayak, but I don't like to share the same space with them. Yikes! Love the Limpkin as well.

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  64. It looks like a wonderful place to visit. All the birds are great but I would keep well away from that alligator!

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  65. love the bird with the snail and the two birds perched apart from each other - would not like to encounter an alligator

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  66. What a great place indeed!! Love the birds, but like everyone else, I would prefer not to meet up with the alligator!! Great photos as always, Eileen! And thanks, as always, for sharing the fun and the beauty with us!!

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  67. The shot of the tree with Spanish Moss is stunning and looks like a a painting. The alligator shot is so funny. I once got blocked from walking to the mailbox by a big black snake. I totally turned around.

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  68. Wow so many great things to see in both the plants and the animal kingdom.

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  69. Awesome photographs, all except for the alligator and that makes me quesy! Who is that standing way to close to it??? Yikes! Your photo's of that spanish moss, incredible! Great shots Eileen!
    Have a super week!
    Nancy

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  70. Oh my goodness - an alligator across the path! I'd be giving it a wide berth for sure! Wonderful bird shots Eileen, the butterfly too. Thank you for sharing.

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  71. Definitely a birding paradise Eileen. I am surprised to see lantana growing freely along the walkway as a wildflower.
    Thanks for linking to Mosaic Monday.

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  72. what a pretty place to visit! I love the photo of the butterfly on the lantana flowerrs :-)

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  73. I love those trees. I've run into bears and mountain lions hiking around here, but that gator would scare me.

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  74. Well, that's one thing we don't have to face here in Iowa: alligator roadblocks! Enjoyed your bird photos--and that beautiful monarch! Neat to see the trees.

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  75. Great series of pics Eileen, that alligator looks a bit scary.

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  76. A great series Eileen! Love that Spanish moss.

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  77. That croc looks comfortable! Love love the shot of the Spanish moss.

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  78. That looks such a beautiful place to visit Eileen. I agree, the Spanish Moss is simply stunning and I've never seen anything like that.

    There's a great selection of birds and as always when I see pictures of Florida and its birds I get a feeling that I'd love to see it for real. I'd love the see those huge alligators too but keep a respectable distance, even from those that look to be sleeping.

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  79. So many fantastic photos. Love the monarch butterfly.

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  80. WOW! Very beautiful pictures..

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  81. Great photo's. Love that fairytale atmosphere of a tree with spanish moss. Thanks for showing.

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  82. I don't think I would want to be that close to that alligator. Thanks for sharing the photos of your trip Eileen. That Spanish moss is wonderful. It looks like fairy land. Have a great week.

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  83. Oi Eileen, impressionante estas fotos! Lindo este parque, e o jacaré no meio da estrada foi a melhor.
    Beijos.

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  84. Wow, you have shown us many types birds!
    They are beautiful!The last photo makes me laugh.Very humorous!I like it.

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  85. Yes I too think I would be saying " Take your time, Sir" to the 'gator, Blimeeeeeee that's close!!!
    Have a lovely week
    Wren x

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  86. The moss on the trees makes it look so eerie. We get some in our trees as well, but it doesn't have that some look. - Margy

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  87. TexWisGirl's comment made me laugh. I could echo those words :) The birds extraordinary, as is the alligator eye. Wow! I would so love to be able to visit the Circle B some day. Oh, and must mention the lighting on those gorgeous trees. Just wonderful!

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  88. Wonderful photos, Eileen. Love the eery look of the Spanish moss hanging on the trees. I'd be turning around if I saw an alligator on the pathway, too! Hope you didn't have to wait too long for it to move.

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  89. so many beautiful birds. And I love the glowing moss on that tree :)

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  90. There is nothing quite so atmospheric as Spanish Moss. For me that epitomizes the south.

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  91. Beautiful shots of my favorite place! Glad you had a great time.

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  92. Eileen, I wanted to comment on your latest travel post, but got the message: Comments on this blog are restricted to team members.

    Anyway ... just wanted to ask about the picture with the holes and to say I'd never make it on that circular staircase -- a definite white knuckle ride for me!

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  93. Oh my!!
    That alligator is massive!
    How impressive but exciting to meet such a specimen!
    I love the tree with the moss hanging and the suns rays hitting it, that is pure magic :)
    Gorgeous limpkin pictures too and the other critters!!
    Keep well, I'll be back next week ;-)

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  94. Wonderful photos, Eileen! The Spanish moss is beautiful. I would have turned back too if I had found an alligator on the trail. :-)

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  95. Happy Memorial Day Eileen. Your Spanish Moss photo looks like a painting. It's beautiful. The alligator is MASSIVE! I am glad that lady saw it before getting too close to it. I would love to visit Circle B some day to watch those birds.

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  96. Looks like you enjoyed your trip to Fla. Lakeland is a lovely area!!!
    Most awesome shot of the live oaks with the spanish moss and sunlight coming through.
    We use to have a cabin on the St. Johns River, south of Lake George and loved watch the osprey fish the river!!! Messy birds!! They would use our dock to eat their fish and poop!!
    That's one well fed gator!!! Never canoe or kayak with a dog in Fla. They LOVE dogs and will climb a chain link fence to get one!!
    awesome and fun shots!!

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