22 April 2015 Estero Bay

I was in Florida for a meeting. Our plan was to spend the weekend caching in the area after the meeting. Ali flew in early to visit her aunt. I had Wednesday afternoon free and was able to visit the state park on Estero Bay with Ali.

The landscape was a little different from our usual caching adventures.

Our walk gave us a quick look at local blossoms.

We also enjoyed spotting a number of birds including white ibis and a group of immature white ibis.

This woodpecker was hunting for food in a section of burned trees.

We also were happy to see our first lizard in Florida. The one below was doing lizard push-ups on a downed log.

The real attraction for us was a chance to see a large number of fiddler crabs on the sand flats. We had to re-route our journey at one point because the trail was flooded, but the wildlife was worth the effort.

Too much water to pass through this way.

There were armies of fiddler crabs.

Some of them were doing battle with locked claws.

Some were ready to do battle with me.

Most of them just dropped in holes and hid.

It was a short, fun afternoon at Estero Bay and a sign of the weekend to come.

We also learned the official state geocache container for Florida appears to be a petling tube, ;)

I expect the occasional ammo can fairs much better when there is a wildfire in the bay.