30 January 2018 Manatees and a Marsh

We try to pack a lot into each vacation. We like to hike. We want to see wildlife. We like to geocache. We enjoy a historical site. We even occasionally play tourists. As a result some of our days of fun end up being a little bit of this and that. Today was one of those days. We started the day trying to reach fifty finds in Sarasota County. We were having a fun walk at a nice preserve when we spotted this armadillo. They are usually quite skittish, but this one was at least a slight bit interactive. It stayed in our general area long before finally trying to burrow out of site.

We spotted swamp lilies behind Snook Haven. I'm not a big food person and don't drink, but this placed looked like a great place to stop for a meal. When we passed the restaurant, the lunch time musical act was warming up. After checking their menu, we've added it to our plans for our next visit. We missed finding the cache, but enjoyed the walk and plan for a future visit.

I needed a shirt, and I had never been to Punta Gorda so we bounced over there next. We stopped for a short walk on the water front where we saw the rehabilitation project to return oyster reefs to Charlotte Harbor.

Somehow, Ali was able to spot a Spotted Sandpiper moving through the beds. We spent a long time in the boardwalk while I tried to see what she was seeing. Eventually, there was success and a few images.

Our walk along the water's edge was chilled by a stiff wind bending the palm trees. It was a reminder that even Florida gets cold in January.

Our next stop was our third visit to Manatee Park. We had been here twice before and missed seeing manatees. This afternoon, we were ecstatic to see there were many of these amazing creatures swimming in the warm waters.

What a face

There were single manatees swimming, mothers with calves, and groups of them peacefully swimming in the area. It was an amazing moment for me.

You're not a manatee! My what big claws you have.

We didn't spend all our time at Manatee Park watching the water. We were also able to spot a pine warbler and a blue grey gnatchatcher moving among the trees.

When we left Manatee Park, we made a return visit to Harns Marsh. Harnes was the last place we stopped on our prior vacation. We were on our way to the airport and stopped to find a few caches. We were so impressed with the birding, it was a destination for this vacation. This was a short visit packed with bird sightings and a few cache finds.

A few birds

These mottled ducks were a new sighting for us.

The birds of Harns Marsh put on quite a show during our one hour visit. We left thinking of ways to find time to visit again. It was quite a January sunset and moon rise too.