So to you who said it wasn't an ivory-billed - you can't tell from my picture! Gotcha! LOL However, no we didn't see it with it's wings spread. And for all of you who don't know what to think - there is about a 99.9% chance that it was indeed the pileated woodpecker. But Mike is extremely happy that through his little joke he was actually able to educate so many people! Oh, Mike sure gets his kicks in a funny way.
Now to today. Well, we're going to continue with the National Geographic theme.
Today started off with a trip to the vet for Wazzu's bi-monthly check. We were referred to this vet by a local agility competitor. They seemed very professional and very nice. While Wazzu was being checked Mike weighed the other two dogs. We do this every time and now the two young dogs think the vet is a great place to go! They walk in, get weighed, get a treat and go back to the car. Wazzu on the other hand isn't quite as happy about it. But she is an extremely good patient despite all she has been through.
After that we went to Silver River State Park. They had a few different trails that we could choose from. We decided to try the River Trail.
The sign you see in the background is warning us about Black Bears. It gave us a lot of information on what to do and what not to do if we came across a bear. It also had a little map showing the frequency of bear sightings in certain areas. This area showed frequent sightings. I told Mike I'd sure like to get a picture of one but that I didn't have the video camera so I sure hoped I didn't see him getting chased by a bear.
We seemed to be the only ones around other than quite a bit of wildlife. I was enjoying the walk until Mike pointed up in the air right over our heads and I looked up to see a very large spider. It wasn't hairy but I still wasn't happy to see it. This is the Golden Silk Spider.
After walking a while we came to a little lookout beside the river. There was a big sign there telling us to watch out for alligators. Mike had read about this on the internet before we left so this was one hike where we kept the dogs on leash. As we looked out over the river it looked like the Everglades- although it wasn't.
Shortly after we continued on down the trail I saw an unofficial little side trail that led to the river. Wazzu and I decided to follow it to the river so that I could try to get some pictures. Since it wasn't a real trail it kind of petered out. I could see that the water came right to the edge of the tree line and there were a lot of plants in the water. I was worried about the alligators so I left Wazzu on a stay about 10' back from the water. I very slowly and carefully went toward the water so I could see to get some pictures.
While I was looking out over the water I saw a bird flying by. It turned out to be an Anhinga.
I didn't notice while I was taking the picture of the bird flying by until I downloaded it back at home but there were four good size turtles sunnithemselvesves on a log in the background. See if you can spot them.
As I was taking that picture I kept hearing all these other noises. I was sure each of them was an alligator coming to get me. Most of the noise seemed to be coming from a tree next to me. Turns out it was a Cardinal.
As I turned to go back I noticed Wazzu suddenly start air scenting. I looked to see what might be around and I saw a turtle just as Wazzu started to put her nose to it. Just as Wazzu touched it the turtle abruptly pulled its head and legs in. I don't think I've ever seen Wazzu jump so high. She didn't want to go anywhere near it after that. I believe this is the Common Musk Turtle.
Another bird that we saw on the river was the Little Blue Heron. He was busy hunting and we enjoyed watching him for quite some time.
And finally we also watched a White Ibis.
Between the trail and the river were Bald Cypress trees. Believe it or not, trees breath through their roots and since this was swamp area the trees send up "knees" so the roots can breath. Here if you look closely you can see a bunch of the "knees."
It was really muggy and the dogs got really hot so we didn't hike a real long time. But we did enjoy the outing and we didn't get eaten by and bears or alligators.
Debbie
1/3/07
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