It's been hot lately here in Tampa with the heat index giving us temperatures over 100 degrees.  It's definitely summer and boating season is in full swing here now that Memorial day has passed.  We have taken a few trips down the Hillsborough River starting at Lowry Park boat ramp and heading through downtown and into the bay and we have done some smaller boating trips just looking for wildlife on the river here in Temple Terrace. We were  provided with sights of several different types of wildlife.  One of the first was a different type of wildlife but he did have on his vest!
 

Seriously, we did see many different types of wildlife as we cruised down the river. A red eared turtle sunning along the banks.  These remind me of all the turtles that were sold when I was a child as this was the most common that people often bought for their children.
 

The most common turtle I see on this river is the Yellow bellied turtle - here's a few of them sharing a log. These are the same type of turtle but one has a shell covered with algae and the other does not.
 

Birds can be seen along the water way looking for food, but this was the first time I saw so many of the yellow crown herons.  Typically I don't see these as much, but maybe it's the time of year. 

This appears to be a little blue heron that has not yet changed to the adult color of deep blue as there were small tints of changing feathers.
 

No trip is complete without at least one sighting, yes - the alligator. This one is about six (6) feet in length sunning on a log around the bend in the river.
 

This one however has decided that we are to close or maybe it's hungry. At about ten feet in length, it went into the dark water of the river.
 

The ospreys are busy, many have their young, yet some still seem to be building nests as they are being spotted carrying sticks that appear as large in size as the birds themselves.  This particular osprey is being taunted by a black crow (the dark object on the bottom left of this picture).
 

Until next time.