December 22, 2003 - Ocklawaha, FL

Still at Myakka State Park.  One of the main features of the air boat ride was the spotting of alligators.  No matter how many of these we've seen, and no matter how often, we both enjoy seeing them again.  Particularly when they're active like these guys were.  When we got close, they took off into the water in a hurry.  When they're going fast, they get up and run pretty well.

We like the unusual.  Even the commonplace in unusual settings is fun for us.  Like this black vulture standing in the parking lot like it was looking for a handout.  And this alligator sitting by the bridge pointing upstream with its mouth open, as if a fish was going to swim right in and the alligator wouldn't have to exert any effort to catch it.  Actually, it was waiting to eat fish being brought in by folks fishing off the observation deck/dock.

The place was full of all kinds of birds.  One of our favorites is the roseate spoonbill.  That pinkish bird.  Like the name implies, its bill isn't pointed on the end, but rather looks like a rounded spoon.  It opens its mouth, and then moves its head in a side to side motion while it walks through the water, grabbing whatever it happens to come across. There was a flock of them walking single file along the shoreline searching for food.   And there must have been some kind of vulture convention over there.  We tried to count them, but they were too active for us to get any kind of a good idea.

This sequence, taken in rapid succession, shows what happens when a hungry alligator spots a turtle.  He swam around with it in its mouth for quite a while.  Never did see it eat the hapless turtle, just kept it in its jaws while it swam around.  The capture sure did happen quick, though!

Never did quite figure out what was up with all the black vultures.  It was too early in the day for them to be roosting, there were a whole bunch over there on the beach, that one in the parking lot, and several trees full of them doing this kind of display activity.  Noisy (sounds like grunting) and flapping and carrying on.

And then just a little ways away, the quiet solitude of swamp life could be enjoyed.  Lack of wind made for pretty good reflections.

While I was looking at what was maybe a hog trap of some sort, I came across this wonderfully weird spider.  She had these reddish prongs growing from her abdomen.  Tiny little thing, no larger than the fingernail on my little finger, and not a very neat web spinner, but sure was unique.  We've seen several like this, so it wasn't just a sick growth of some kind.

Wanna see what the birds see?  Well, then, walk across this suspended bridge to the tower and climb up there.  Barb is showing me she can stand on the bridge without using the handrails.  Bully for her!  I don't do heights very well, and found the handrails quite useful, thank you very much.

Looking down on the tops of the palm trees really does give a different perspective.  And then sort of a look at the country side around us, most of which is in the park.  Mixture of palm trees, live oaks, and pine.

As we walked back down the stairs of the tower, it was fun to see the different kinds of epiphytes that were growing.  Mostly Spanish moss, but plenty of other little air plants as well.  And yeah, that's the suspension bridge we used to get over here. 

Looking up at the tower, and the plaque that explains where the money came from to build it.  Mostly government, of course.  Our recycled tax dollars.  Built mostly as a study platform for the canopy plants and animals.  Most the animals we saw up there were ants.  A few birds and a bunch of lizards, but mostly ants.

What was so special about this State Park is that it was a total surprise for us.  It was Thanksgiving day, we'd visited son Doug and his family the day before, it was too early to report for duty at the volunteer project yet, and we had a day to spend someplace.  So rather than just sit at the Elks Lodge, nice as it was, I pulled up the map of our area on Microsoft's Streets & Trips, and Barb saw almost immediately that the park was real close to us, so we just decided to go see what it was like.  It's great, and we're planning on going back after we see Key West, the Everglades National Park, and Big Cypress Swamp, as we start to mosey back north.