Florida Critters

Jr, Liz, and I went to a Marlins game last Monday...our first visit to their new ballpark.  The stadium is beautiful from the outside, though it doesn't much look like a ballpark.

A look inside...Marlins vs Nats.  The stadium has a retractable roof, with windows that can open to reveal a view of the Miami skyline, though the stadium itself is not downtown...it's a mile west or so, on the site of the old Orange Bowl.  Roof was closed for our game...dry but warm and humid.  Could have been open nonetheless.

Most pics on this post will be of critters, some captive, some in their natural habitat, all but one native to Florida.  This is a great blue heron, which ranges coast to coast throughout the US.

An anhinga drying its wings on a path in Everglades NP.

Fine turtle catchin'some rays at Everglades.

A Florida gar.

This gator is a bit blurry...that's because he's in a death roll, having scooped some edible off the muddy floor of his pond.

This shark is at Mote Marine Aquarium.

Lionfish at Mote Marine Aquarium in Sarasota.  These guys are not native to Florida, but have been brought from other areas as pets.  They don't do the local ecosystem any good.

Clown fish in a tank at Mote.

Big ornery gator at Homosassa Springs SP.  He's a good 10-12 feet long.

Barred owls at Homosassa Springs.

This duck had a habit of standing on one leg, like many of his flamingo mates in his enclosure.

Whooping cranes...critically endangered for many years.  Once down to 21 birds, the population has rebounded but is still only a few hundred.

Bald eagle.  First one I ever saw was in his next at the NASA Space Center.

Caracara, native to south Florida.

Roseate spoonbill

Photogenic manatee.

This is not a Florida native.  Lu the hippo was born in the San Diego Zoo in 1960, worked in TV for four years, then came out here.

View from my condo deck at Cedar Key.  This is a little village on an island at the end of the road.  It has a long history of smuggling, lumbering, blockade running, and hurricanes, and is VERY laid back.  It's peaceful here.

Downtown Cedar Key.  With only a fifth of its 1885 population and no major sandy beaches this is Old Florida, a place that time forgot...and residents like it that way.