I thought I'd scroll back through the most recent pictures that you haven't seen yet and see what there is to see. I know it isn't Friday Foto Friends yet, but there are a few bear pictures to share...
This fella came by for a drink a few nights ago...
I guess he was either very tired...or, I think he was actually watching something out there in the yard or on the road...
We can't see what he was looking at, but it seems pretty intense...
Still watching...and it looks like he has a little smile on his face, like "Ha ha ha...they don't know they're being watched...if they only knew...ha ha ha...wouldn't they be surprised???"
So then he gets up to get a little closer look...
Starts meandering over there...
And then he just sits right down to watch...I wish I knew what...
Still watching very closely...
And then apparently it wasn't anything exciting enough to hang around for, so off he goes back on the trail...
Now, the next night this bigger bear comes for a drink...(maybe this is who the other bear was watching the night before????
This one is definitely a bit fatter and bigger...
He/she sniffs the ground where the other bear had been...
Still sniffing around...and off he went...Definitely MUCH bigger bear, don't you agree?
Here's a couple of recent photos of the Sand Hill Crane babies...this was last week...look how big they've gotten!!
And they can swim!!
Here they are swimming over to meet their parents on the island, where the spend the nights together:
This Pileated Woodpecker came back to our back yard, looking for that old dead holly tree that we took down a couple of weeks ago...he pecked around in the dirt and dug up a few bugs there, and then went on to bigger and better things...
This Brown Thrasher was sitting up on the tippy top of this tree, just singing his heart out! I never heard them sing before...
Mostly they are just thrashing about in the bushes on the ground, digging up bugs and worms, and I rarely see them in the trees! And they sing a lot like a Mockingbird...many different tunes! I was so surprised! But then I found out they are in the same family, so I guess that explains that!!
Spied this Red Bellied Woodpecker one morning, way up at the top of this old unused electric pole in our yard...(well, we use it, for our bear-house # sign and our flag, which wasn't up yet, and the bears use it as a scratching pole)
Here he is...must have found something interesting up there!
One afternoon as we were coming in from our walk, I noticed these two Mourning Doves sitting up in the sycamore tree, just soaking in the afternoon warm sunshine...
One sat up and took a better look at us...
The other sat there very smugly, as if she wasn't interested in us at all...or maybe they were having a disagreement about whether or not to fly away. I guess they were too comfortable to care about us...so they stayed.
Speaking of things that fly...these seaplanes flew over our house one morning.
They can land on the water or land.
Hubby said one of them was from the Coast Guard...I'm not sure which, but they were interesting to see flying over our house.
Not sure if they were headed for Big Lake Kerr, or the St. John's River, or going all the way to the ocean, which is about an hour's drive from us, but probably closer as a "crow flies"...or a plane, in this case.
Here's some thoughts for the day from our devotions this morning:
Excerpts from Psalm 33
1. "Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous!
For praise from the upright is beautiful."
4. "For the word of the Lord is right,
and all His work is done in truth.
5. He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
6. By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.
8. Let all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
9. For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.
10. The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
11. The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The plans of His heart to all generations.
12. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people He has chosen as His own inheritance.
20. Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
21. For our heart shall rejoice in Him,
Because we have trusted in His holy name.
22. Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us,
Just as we hope in You."
Amen
Amazing photos. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteIs it not dangerous having bears so close to home? Do they ever visit in day time?
God bless.
Good Morning Victor. Thank you for visiting my "wild kingdom"! Regarding the bears, yes, it could be dangerous to live with the bears so close to home. We live in the Ocala National forest, and so the bears were here first. We have found, however, that as long as we respect their "territory", and don't do anything "stupid", like leaving food outside or garbage...they seem to respect our territory as well. We are very careful about going outside after dark. We do see the bears occasionally in the daytime, but that is mostly out along the roads. I rarely ever take a walk alone, and if I do, I make plenty of noise. They tend to be just as afraid of us as we are of them. We definitely are careful to stay far away if they have cubs nearby, because that is when they will get more aggressive. So far, in our almost 7 years of living here, we have not had any serious issues beyond the bears raiding our bird feeders, which we do not leave out at night anymore, and have only in an enclosed, fenced area in the daytime...which seems to work...but we are always on the lookout. Every day is an adventure when you live close to God's amazing wild kingdom!!
DeleteThank you so much for taking the time to reply so fully, Pamela. It is much appreciated. You are very brave living so close to such big wild animals. The wildest we get in our area here in the UK are foxes which visit sometimes at night. A few years ago we had a full family in the garden; a vixen with its babies.
DeleteGod bless.
Pam, that's some big ole bear sister! WHOA! Cool that you caught them camera! Love that picture of the woodpecker. How did you manage to get such cool pics? Awesome. You out in the country too huh? Love the scriptures. One of my favs is verse 9. For He spoke, and it was done;He commanded, and it stood fast. Oh my! All our Lord has to do is SPEAK IT! Happy day to you Pam. Hugs and blessings, Cindy
ReplyDeleteHi Cindy, the bear pictures were taken with our outdoor wildlife motion sensor camera that is fastened to a tree in our front yard. Thankfully, I was inside the house sleeping while these bears were prowling around. yes, I live in the middle of the Ocala National Forest..doesn't get more country than that...LOL. I love those verses too...Yes, God spoke the word and all the worlds came into order...(from a Sandi Patti song, but based on God's Word!)
DeleteOh my, the baby cranes are getting so big!! I love seeing pictures of them. I had to laugh at the bear, it looks like he got his drink walked a few steps away and sit down. My dogs to that, they get their drink, walk a few steps away from the bowl and sit down for a rest. The woodpecker is awesome, I think I can hear him pecking away all way to Texas! God gave us so much to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteYes, these bears are "fun" to watch, from a distance. Thankfully I was inside sleeping while these pictures were being taken on our outdoor camera! I love those woodpeckers too, unless they decide to peck on our porch posts...
DeletePam, thank you for sharing what is going on in your area of the world. The baby cranes are really GROWING, so cute! The bears are so BIG...it wouldn't be good to meet up with one of them.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing some of God's amazing creation, and for sharing some of His Word too.
Blessings!
Thank you for stopping by "my area of the world". It is fun to see all the awesomeness of God's amazing creation around us. He created it all, and we are blessed to enjoy it!!
DeletePam: Those cranes are precious. Those bears are interesting. I'm glad you are careful about your being out after dark. Thank you for sharing with us. Blessings.
ReplyDeleteYes, I am very careful, and noisy too, if I have to go outside at night. I let them know I'm coming, and they go running! LOL
DeletePamela, do those bears cause you to stay in at nights? Have you ever encountered one as you returned home late at night? Do they come close to your house? You ever see any in the daytime! If you were cooking outside, would they be drawn to your house?
ReplyDeleteWow! Questions! 1. I generally don't go out after dark, unless it is to get in the car and go somewhere, which we don't do very often at night. 2. My son has seen them, but they usually just run away. I don't come home late at night...I go to bed early...LOl. 3. These bears are in our front yard, maybe 50 feet from the front door. They do have a trail that they walk alongside our house to the woods in the back. This is normally during the night, but we have seen them in the daytime too...just not very often. 4. See answer #3. 5. We've never had them show up for a bbq, but we are careful to clean the grill afterwards. We've had a opossum come and clean the drip pan on the grill before... It seems the bears prefer garbage to fresh cooked bbq on the grill. We never leave any garbage outside. We have to keep it all indoors, and then we take it to the dump ourselves. We do not have garbage pick up here in the forest because of the bears. But we can go to the local dump/recycling center every Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat. and Sunday. So that helps keep the garbage from piling up. These pictures were all taken by our outdoor wildlife camera, that is fastened to a tree in the front yard. Thankfully, I don't have to be there for it to take the pictures...it is motion sensitive. We are very careful about the bears, and if I do have to go outside at night, I make a lot of noise.
DeleteWow!!! Thank you for all those wonderful answers. I can't imagine life in the forest, but you certainly get some great pictures. Thanks.
Deletethanks, Nonnie! I told my hubby this morning after our walk that I can't imagine living anywhere else but in the forest...or on a lake, or in the mountains maybe...but there has to be wildlife wherever I am. I am definitely not a city dweller! LOL.
DeleteI am always excited and amazed to see the bears!! And now that we have seen their drinking pool in person it is even more fun!! The second one is definitely bigger than the first!! The baby cranes are really growing fast! The other day, we passed a crane family just like yours! I wished I could have snapped a photo!
ReplyDeleteIt is such fun to see what God has created here for us to enjoy (from a distance!). I'm glad you got to see this here... and also that you saw some baby cranes in your area too. They are such fun to watch. I haven't seen them too much lately...they seem to be venturing out further and further.
DeleteYou have a lot of wild life in your area!!! At least you don't seem to have any gators!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, we have gators over on the "pond", and all the lakes around here...they just aren't in our yard...however my hubby did see one walking through our yard to the woods one day...a small one...must have been really lost... LOL
DeleteI love seeing your wildlife, so different to ours.
ReplyDeleteDiana
Thank you, Diana...yes, I can imagine that your wildlife is a bit different from ours. You have all those "pre-historic" kinds of wildlife in New Zealand...I'd love to see them someday!!!
Delete"The counsel of the Lord stands forever."
ReplyDeleteDeep sigh. Yes. Thank you! It is good to remember every day.
I wonder how bears see the world? Things they can eat vs. things they can't? :)
Oh! And I am so glad to see the cranes were born and are safe and sound. Cranes 1, gators 0.
Deleteborn=hatched
DeleteI always eagerly open your comments to see what you have to say...it's always good and thought provoking! I love your comment about how the bears view the world...that could well be their life-goal...that and finding another bear to be their mate...LOL. Not a lot different from humans. LOL.. and yes, the cranes are still growing strong. The gators seem to have moved on to greener waters...
DeleteSuch stunning photos, Pamela! Isn't it amazing that when "nothing" seems to be going on, so much really is? God is so good!
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you!