Spiders, snakes, lizards, frogs, butterflies, armadillos and, of course, birds!

I'm so far behind in my blogging that I hardly know where to start. We were without Internet while in Fort Myers and I will never let that happen again! I can't believe how much I depend on something that didn't exist for most of my life!

The following pictures are from trips to Corkscrew Swamp and Babcock Webb.

I have no idea what kind of spider this is - but he's big!

Naturalists stage themselves along the boardwalk at Corkscrew so they can point out something special hiding in the trees or nestled in the weeds - especially if it is dangerous like this Water Moccasin.

You really have to look closely to see the lizard in this picture. Look how long his tail is!

The swamp lily is a native plant and we often see them growing in the swamps.

This is a tiny tree frog - only about one inch across - that was sitting quietly on a leaf. I turned the picture so he could be seen better.

A Great Egret trying to stay warm in the unusually chilly southwest Florida weather.

There were lots of pretty butterflies in the butterfly garden at Corkscrew.

These two were fun to watch as they played in the sun.

Another lizard...

This Great Blue Heron was far away but I liked the way he was framed by the trees.

Finally a hawk other than a red-shouldered! This is a Northern Harrier. We spotted it at Babcock Webb and it was a life bird for sister Beth. I took this picture through the window of Warren's van.

All the way at the far end of the Babcock Webb drive (open only during hunting season) we saw this beautiful Bald Eagle in the distance.

This was a nice surprise! We actually saw three Nine Banded Armadillos along the side of the drive.