Here are a couple of baby box turtles.

For some reason this entry from last week disappeared so I am re-posting.

Last weekend we went to the beach at John U. Lloyd state park. They are doing extensive dune and coastal hammock restoration and it is becoming a great place to see wildlife. It was very windy and there was a rip current warning. Some brave people were out swimming and surfing though.

Pelicans flying against the wind.





Sitting quietly on the sand, I watched the crabs come out of their burrows and make territorial gestures and dances toward each other.



The hugest cruise ship I have ever seen.

Here's a shot of Jaycob making friends with a hummingbird.

Yesterday we went to Crandon Park in Key Biscayne. It is a nice natural beach with sea grasses and an intact dune system, as well as mangroves and a tropical hammock. Saw tons of seabirds and shorebirds, but the highlight of the trip was a newly hatched baby loggerhead turtle resting in the seagrass.


Checkered Puffer, Sphoeroides testudineus


Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Caretta caretta

Yesterday there were swarms of dragonflies everywhere. Then came the barn swallows.
This one was in the back yard. He looks to be eating another dragonfly.



Yesterday morning I found this southern toad in the swimming pool. I rinsed him off with pond water and then subjected him to a photo shoot before letting him go in the garden.



In Jaycob news, he is still around. He was alarm calling this evening with the other jays and the mockingbirds and cardinals. I didnt see what it was but it was probably a snake because they kept peering down into the brush.
He still has a penchant for fishing, which is worrying.