"First Turtles of 2015!"

     Hello Everybody:
   It's been a while but I'm back to share more tidbits about the turtles we share our planet with.  For much of the country winter is a time of snow, ice, and turtles in hibernation but for Florida it's business as usual with turtles.  Oh there may be a few weeks of inactivity during the coldest part of winter, but if there's a warm day with some sunshine there should be a turtle out sunning itself somewhere.  Such is the case in early January when I visited Lake Tarpon for some pictures of winter visiting birds that might be hanging around.  Temps were in the low 60's but there was a good bit of sunlight so it looked like a good day for some birding.  While walking along a boardwalk jutting out over a swampy area leading to one corner of the lake I spied a Green Heron (Butorides viriscens) hiding from sight.  Certainly not a winter visitor but an interesting bird anyway.

     After admiring the Heron for a couple minutes while it searched for food I heard the familiar laughing call of my old pal; Woody Woodpecker.  I followed the sound as best I could (being on a boardwalk) and soon found what I was looking for, a male Pileated Woodpecker (Hylatomus pileatus) climbing vertically up a tree...right next to the boardwalk!  I was able to get a few really nice pics before moving out over the Lake's edge.

                                          

     Peering through the stands of Cypress Trees I found what I was looking for; a basking platform made of tangled reeds and branches with at least three turtles sitting on top.  They definitely were not making it easy to get any really good shots of them as their was quite a bit of cover between myself and the sunbathing turtles.  Still I managed to get off a couple pics before they figured out that somebody discovered them.  As I was taking the third shot they all bolted into the water.

     After I got home and placed the pics on the larger computer screen it was easy to identify the basking turtles.  They were Florida Red-Bellied Terrapins (Pseudemys nelsoni).  A pleasant surprise to say the least as I really like this variably patterned species.  Enjoy!