My dad joined me for a Thanksgiving afternoon walk at Oakland Nature Preserve. What better way to walk off our Thanksgiving dinners? I think it was the first day that the boardwalk was open after Hurricanes Ian and Milton. There were so many trees down along the sides of the boardwalk. Huge trees.

One of my favorite places on the boardwalk is at the very end, near the dock. That’s where Rich and I found our first Pileated Woodpeckers many years ago as the bird photography bug was catching me. Often I can find flocks of mixed warblers and blue-gray gnatcatchers in that spot too. Well, now some of those giant trees are knocked on their sides. The base of this one had to be at least 20 feet across.

We saw bits and pieces of boardwalk boards in the trees. It must have been a huge effort to get the boardwalk repaired.

As good as it was to be out, the afternoon was not particularly birdy. This Eastern Phoebe perched in the treetop calling her name to us. Phoebe, Phoebe!

We wondered at the absence of small birds. Maybe it was too early in the afternoon for much activity. Maybe the birds were off celebrating Thanksgiving. Or maybe this Red-shouldered Hawk made it known that he was monitoring the area…

Of course I am not allowed to go out with my camera and return without a turtle photo for Rich. So here’s the turtle of the day!