Springtime Sights Along the Bike Path

It's been longer than I realized since my last post.  We've been keeping really busy doing RV projects, and in between, taking time out to enjoy some nice bike rides along the local bike paths.  I do have a couple of project posts in the pipeline, but in the meantime, I thought I'd share some photos from a couple of recent rides.  Spring has sprung in Central Florida, birds are singing, flowers are blooming, and my nose is running!

Yesterday Barry was finishing up a project, so I rode the West Orange Trail solo, stopping several times to take photos of birds -- and this beautiful Monarch Butterfly enjoying the lantana blooming alongside the trail in Ocoee.  Lantana is one of my favorite flowers and one I used to grow in our yard in North Carolina.  It always attracts butterflies!  

My next stop was a few blocks off the trail, Newton Park in Winter Garden, right on the shores of Lake Apopka.  This is a reliable spot for seeing shorebirds and others, and the view is so pretty.

The Purple Gallinule pair were in their usual spot just below the dock.  Such exotic birds!

And a rather large turtle was floating along, enjoying the sunshine.  There's no way to tell scale in this photo, but he was a foot or more long.

My last stop was the small pond at the west end of the Oakland Park subdivision, where I spied this Wood Stork fishing in the shallows.  Like I was on this day, he (or she) was flying solo.

The West Orange Trail is visible beyond the pond in this photo.  To me this is one of the prettiest sections of the entire trail, with lots of trees and Spanish Moss gently blowing in the breeze.

Here are a couple more bird sightings from another recent ride.  This time I pedaled west onto the South Lake/Lake Minneola Trails that traverse rather hilly (yes, in Florida!) Lake County.  

I enjoyed seeing a pair of Sandhill Cranes at a pond right beside the trail in Clermont.  Only one made it into this photo.

And farther west, on the shore of Lake Minneola, I had so much fun watching this busy "condo" building of nesting Purple Martins.  

Finally, I'll leave you with one of our recent sunsets over the campground.