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"Possibility and promise greet me each day as I walk out into my garden. My vigor is renewed when I breathe in the earthiness and feel the dirt between my fingers. My garden is a peaceful spot to refresh my soul." Meems






Welcome to my Central Florida Garden Blog where we garden combining Florida natives, Florida-Friendly plants, and tropicals.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Butterflies and Breakfast


The butterflies were out in numbers as the sunshine gave them flight. Once in a while we have a White Peacock or two drift through and it always makes me happy to capture one.

Landing on my freeze-damaged potato vine this Monarch put on an opening and closing "wing show" for us.


The hawks in our neighborhood do fascinate me with their soaring flight and pleasant shrill calls they sound. While chasing down a butterfly the wings of this hawk landing in the open grass of my next door neighbor's yard caught my eye. Hawks don't seem to be too threatened by humans so I slowly moved as close as I thought I could to take some snaps.
If you tend to be squeamish you might not want to read or view the rest of my story.

After standing there for several seconds looking around as if to stake out its territory it used its beak and talons to dig around in the grass. Poking his head a little further into the ground I couldn't see his eyes anymore.




Voila! He came up with the prize. It would be interesting to know if this was his target or if this snake was disturbed by his landing???

mmmmm... yummy... breakfast of champions! The way he snagged this snake right out of the grass made me wonder how many times I have walked over one of these slithering garden creatures without the least knowledge of it. Oh well, best not to think about that too long.




It was a matter of seconds and no apparent effort...





a couple more gulps... and ... all done. One fast food stop and he is on the go again. His next stop--- on a branch about 30 feet above. I wonder how long that meal will last him? Maybe it was just a snack. Does anyone out there know?


11 comments:

  1. As always, nice pictures. Especially like the ones of your "little guy"...he's getting so big! The hawk pictures are a little scary, but fascinate me at the same time. I am certainly not a hawk expert, but I did do some quick reading. Apparently it all depends on what type of hawk it is, the gender, and the season. Females tend to eat more than males. Just a few additions to my repertoire of random facts.

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  2. I LOVE THE HAWK! THREE CHEERS FOR THE HAWK! Was your grandson out in the grass while the snake was????? Great pics as always.

    Jane: Thanks for the hawk facts. Nice to know the lady hawks are eating so heartily! :o)

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  3. I don't know for sure about the amounts hawks eat. That snake looked like a good sized meal to me.

    Your little golfer is a cutie.

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  4. Did your grandson score a birdie? LOL!

    As always, I'm jealous of your White Peacocks.

    The hawk pics are Abfab! The snake was most assuredly his target all along. When he landed, his talons grabbed, then he looked around to make sure it was safe before eating.

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  5. Thanks for visitng my blog! We're on opposite sides of the US, probably at about the same latitude. I'm in Sunset Gardening Book's Zone 23.
    I've never been one to be squeamish so the hawk's breakfast photos were fascinating for me, especially since in my opinion the only good snake is a dead snake.

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  6. Great shots. It won't be long until that little one is taking pappa to the course and out driving him.

    The hawk shots were awesome. I agree with Sophie. That snake was most certainly his intended target when landing on the ground. Very cool getting to see a pictoral of the capture and the meal.

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  8. Hawk shots are amazing! (nothing new here :) I'd love to see a hawk landing to my backyard.
    But, are you really sure we can call its breakfast as a "snake"?
    That looked more like an earthworm to me.
    Nice post though! :)

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  9. oh, ok, I've just seen my "worm"s head, haha. Yeah, it's a small snake, but still! :)

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  10. Wow! Great photos! The hawk is awesome, your garden photos are amazingly inviting (are all those really in bloom right NOW?) and your grandson is just precious! And he really seems to have decent form...the way he's holding that club! You know, Tiger Woods got started at about that age...

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  11. Jane: I appreciate the random facts research... wouldn't you know the female eats more than the male (sigh)...

    mlm: GS was in the grass while the snake was but the snake was next door... I don't think that matters somehow since I'm certain they have roaming privileges.

    lisa: thanks... we think he's pretty adorable!

    sophie: good one! Your scenario makes sense to me. I suspected he/she knew exactly what it was after and landed accordingly.

    Willow: Thanks for visiting and welcome. I used to feel that way about snakes when we first moved here 24 years ago. It took a while but for the most part (unless one is poinsonous) I've learned to let the snakes pick off some of the other creatures that give me the willies like ... mice.

    NT: Glad you like the Hawk sequence it was really awesome to watch- you know I have 50 pics and only published 4 or was is 5?

    Ilter: eeeewwwww! - if I saw an earthworm that big it would make me run for sure.

    Kimberlee: Thanks so much for stopping by! Our little (almost 2)guy does have an impressive swing... he loves to stand there and practice swinging one after another for a very long time.

    Yes, the blooms you see in my sidebar are all blooming today. Those photos were taken Dec. 31 and Jan 1. Today I've posted my current blooms for GBBD. It is a great time to garden in my part of Florida with the cool nights and mild days... actually bearable.

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Have a blessed day,
Meems


September 2010

Back Garden: October 2010

Louise Philippe: Antique Rose

Tropical Pathway