Thursday, January 17, 2019

Happy Thankful Thursday

Hello and happy Thursday,

I am back from my trip to Florida, we had a great trip. It included visits to many beaches, wildlife preserves and refuges, Florida State Parks. We drove to Florida making an overnight stop in Georgia to break up the long drive. 


On January 4 we arrived in Florida and making a stop at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. The wildlife drive was open but other parts of the refuge was closed due to the shutdown. These are some of my images from the wildlife drive, lots of birds and some scenic views.

A pretty view of the sky and palm tree along the wildlife drive.


Great Egret and  Tricolored Heron.


Tricolored Heron


Roseate Spoonbill


Two Roseate Spoonbills.


A large flock of American Coots.


Blue-winged Teal


A pretty sky and view of the wildlife refuge.










I am thankful that we had a great trip to Florida and arrived home safely.
A thankful heart is a happy heart. 
am thankful for all your visits and comments. 


Thank you Michelle for hosting Thankful Thursday
Thank you to Yogi the host of   Skywatch Friday


Happy Thursday, enjoy your day!

Thanks so much for visiting and for your nice comments on my previous post. Have a happy day!

64 comments:

krishna said...

Beautiful wildlife!

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
Golly, those spoonbills are the winner for me today!!! gorgeous. YAM xx

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

The Coots must have had a conference on! Lovely images of the other birds and I especially ilke the 2 Spoonbill sleeping.

rupam sarma said...

Welcome back :) Beautiful pics.

Crafty Green Poet said...

looks like a lovely place to visit and great selection of birds, specially the roseate spoonbills

chica said...

Muito lindas tuas fotos e é sempre um prazer vir te ver! beijos praianos,chica

Bob Bushell said...

Fantastic holidays you and husband have made. I love the birds, especially Tricolored Heron, beautiful.

italiafinlandia said...

How nice you enjoyed your trip and saw a lot of unusual birds! The Tricolored heron is so cool… Thanks for sharing. Welcome back!

Francisco Manuel Carrajola Oliveira said...

Belas fotografias, gostei bastante deste trabalho e aproveito para desejar a continuação de uma boa semana.

Andarilhar
Dedais de Francisco e Idalisa
O prazer dos livros

DIMI said...

Hello Eileen!
I’m sure you enjoyed the good weather in Florida and all those beautiful birds!
Wonderful pictures and great captures of the Great Egret and the Tricolored Heron!
I like especially the photo with the two Roseate Spoonbills! Thank you for sharing!
Have a happy Thursday!
Dimi...

Tom said...

...our local National Wildlife Refuge is closed, lucky you!

Aditya Narayan Mohanty said...

Wow landscape shot . Thanks for liking my photography.

Prunella Pepperpot said...

Great trip and great photos Eileen. Love the spoonbill and tri coloured heron.
Have a wonderful Thursday :)

David M. Gascoigne, said...

I guess that no one bird is emblematic of Florida, but Roseate Spoonbill must be oretty close to it in the minds of many.

Karen thisoldhouse2.com said...

The spoonbill's colors are Beautiful!


Gayle said...

So pretty. I like the tri-colored heron.

Marie Smith said...

Love that spoonbill but all the birds are beautiful. A wonderful visit!

MadSnapper said...

welcome home. the first photo is old and new Florida and a scene that I love the most. love that spoonbill

Debbie said...

beautiful birds!!! birds "we" are thankful to see and get so close to in florida, they are so skittish here. they posed nicely for your pictures, but how do they do the one legged stand??. the first picture, the scenic drive is gorgeous....

isn't this the second time you visit a park during a government shutdown and parts were closed. i think i remember that or perhaps i made it up!! hehehehe

welcome home, i'm sure it feels good to be back!!

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

What fabulous photos! I was just saying that we haven't seen a Spoonbill in the wild in a long time...one of my favorite birds! I'm so glad you had a good time! We've had some cold days and cold nights...but not usually 2 in a row! heehee! Hope you had fun! Hugs!

RedPat said...

That is a new heron for me, Eileen!

Lea said...

Beautiful scenery and lovely birds, too!
Have a wonderful day!

Giga said...

Welcome to the great trip. The birds you saw are wonderful, I love them all. I admire the sparrow's beak. Greetings.

Meditations in Motion said...

Thank you for sharing your beautiful bird photos with us. We leave for Florida on Tuesday. I am hoping to see some good Florida birds while I am down there visiting my sister!

Irma said...

Hello Eileen,
Beautiful series of photos from your trip to Florida.
I find all photos perfectly photographed, my compliments.
The spoonbills are really great.
I hope you put my link back on Saturday, this time you forgot.
Best regards, Irma

Hootin Anni said...

Pretty, pretty, and MORE pretty!

Barbara Rogers said...

Hi Eileen...welcome back (home, and here in blog-land). Love the birds in FL. Glad you had a good time.

William Kendall said...

Terrific shots, particularly the spoonbills!

Marit said...

Hello,

Beautiful photos! I have never seen in your photos a Tricolored Heron before. Very pretty.
Have a nice day!

Michelle said...

Florida is always a welcome retreat at this time of year and I love seeing the spoonbill. Thanks for linking up today.

Small City Scenes said...

Love the Tricolored Heron---beautiful. The Spoonbills are interesting.
MB

ellen b. said...

How nice to travel to Florida and visit this beautiful preserve. Those Spoonbills are so interesting! Looks like you made the most of your time. It looks like you visited a different season...not winter. :)

Lois said...

Welcome back! You certainly got some wonderful photos. I especially like the one of the two Roseate Spoonbills standing on one leg.

Karen said...

Such a variety of beautiful birds. I like the spoonbills. So glad you got to go on your trip south. Icy weather coming here this weekend. I would like to be in Florida just now. lol

Bill said...

The spoonbills are my favorite, I have never seen one in person. Glad you had a wonderful trip.
Have a great day!

Lowcarb team member said...

Hello Eileen
Happy Thursday Wishes.
It looks as if you had a wonderful trip, the wildlife refuge looks a good place to visit.
Those Roseate Spoonbills are a fabulous pink colour.

All the best Jan

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

I love the very warm looking photographs. You captured images of a wide variety of birds. Thanks for sharing your trip!!

Out on the prairie said...

Always fun to capture some exotic birds and sights, glad you had a good trip

Mikael Bergman said...

beautiful pictures from there

Carol @Comfort Spring Station said...

Beautiful captures - I'm so glad you had a good trip and got home safely.

Author R. Mac Wheeler said...

Lovely shots.

Sorry you were impacted by the shutdown

Jocelyn said...

So glad you enjoyed your Florida trip. I love living in the sunshine state :-)

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

So glad you came to visit the sunshine state and glad you had a good visit. Wonderful birds! And great pictures of them as always. We drove the Ding Darling refuge last week and found the same thing as at yours.

This N That said...

Great pictures..Beautiful Spoonbill..Welcome back!! ??Ready for some snow??

HappyK said...

Such beautiful pictures. The Roseate Spoonbill sure so cool.

Sondra said...

Merritt is so wonderful when I visited it took me 2 days to make it around..You saw some great birds! Looking forward to more of your trip!

Spare Parts and Pics said...

A beautiful collection of photos. I really like your opening shot of the palm trees under blue skies!

Jeanie said...

Eileen, these are splendid -- it must have been a wonderful trip for you to find so many gorgeous birds. I especially love the multicolored heron. Those spoonbills are pretty fabulous too!

Elizabeth Edwards said...

sounds like fun. we are having snow fall .. not sure if it will stick ... but we will see in the AM. have a nice weekend. ( ;

Sandi said...

Lovely shots, but someone in an above comment mentioned an alligator. I'm outta here!!!

Rose said...

If these are any indication, you had a fabulous trip. I sure think that Tri-colored heron is a handsome bird.

KB said...

Beautiful birds and skies

Karen @ Beatrice Euphemie said...

Beautiful photos! Love the colors of the spoonbills! What a fun trip! x Karen

diane b said...

You managed to get some great wildlife shots even with the shutdown. Glad you had a safe and happy trip.

Jan K. alias Afanja said...

Must have been a wonderful trip.
I love that Tricolored Heron.
Wishing you a very nive weekend.

Thomas Lee said...

Beautiful wetlands

Jeevan said...

The weather looks perfect for pretty sky shots and view on birds! Stunning tricolored heron and spoonbills. Hope you enjoyed the trip

ann said...

Such a great collection of beautiful birds. I think I like the spoonbill the best. No snow here. Wishing. I ate lways enjoy seeing your bird photography because I doubt that I will ever get to your part of the world.

carol l mckenna said...

Lovely sky and feathered friends shots! Glad you had a good trip ~ ^_^

Happy Day to you,
A ShutterBug Explores
aka (A Creative Harbor)

Ana Mínguez Corella said...

Hi Eileen!! Fantastic place and birds.. Have a great weekend

DeniseinVA said...

One of the many things I about Florida was the amazing birdlife. Your photos are fantastic Eileen.

Linda W. said...

Wow, you saw a lot of cool birds! Glad you had a good trip.

Lady Fi said...

Fabulous shots of all the birds!

KL said...

Exceptional pictures. Wow! Also, it's must be amazing to know and identify all these birds.

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