4 February 2019 Manatee State Park

This was another park return for us.  There was a new series of caches placed in the area we had previously visited and a caches waiting to be found in an area where we had not visited.  The day offered a chance for some warm hiking while looking for wildlife and finding caches.

We are always hopeful of spotting a gopher tortoise.  This one was at the edge of a picnic area near the edge of the lake.

It's not unusual to find geocaching containers which have been through burns.  The outsides are typically rusting from lost paint while the contents have melted into an unrecognizable mass,

Palm warblers were abundant throughout our park visit.

It was a fine return for a perfect day on the trail.

3 February 2019 Myakka River State Park

Myakka River State Park has become a go to place for us.  It's a birding, wildlife, geocaching paradise.  We've been lucky to visit here before and were happy for a return on this visit.  Our first stop was at a causeway where shorebirds are usually plentiful.  They were here today, but farther  away as the water levels were very high.

The birds along the water's edge were fewer, but there were a few in the wet woods.

This large alligator was on familiar ground along the far shore.

We walked a trail we hadn't visited before.  The high water was evident here as well, but this great blue didn't seem bothered.

The water made for some interesting geocaching and the first wet socks of the vacation.

Myakka always has a share of interesting hides which fit in with the park.

The middle of the main road through the park is no place for a turtle especially on the weekend.

Even if it is an alligator snapping turtle.  Our activity around the turtle gathered others who worked to warn approaching cars while waiting for someone to have the courage to move the creature off the road.  The group effort was successful.  The stories of the jaw force of these animals is phony legend, but the shape of their mouths do permit the easy removal of a human's finger.

We moved on to a familiar trail where we had spotted a number of birds on a past visit.  The trail paid off once again with a spotting of a black crowned night heron and an anhinga eating its fishing find.

We spotted at least eight bald eagles for the day.  We made a stop to a boardwalk and viewing platform where we have twice seen a pair of eagles.  The eagles were absent as were most shorebirds, but we made a few sightings.

Alligators are amazing and powerful animals.  This one did not look good.  A park service employee confirmed that it was dying.  It was sad to see one of these powerful creatures in its last days.

We were nearing sunset, and the Sunday crowd was mostly gone.  We stopped for a return walk on the canopy bridge.  So far, it hasn't yielded wildlife wonders, but the suspension bridge is wonderful for bouncing on.

2 February 2019 Paynes Creek Historic State Park

We started our day at with a visit to the Cracker Trail Museum and Village in Zolfo Springs.  There was a virtual cache at the location and it was in a new county, Hardee, for us to visit in Florida.  It was a good thing there was a virtual to find as the Museum is not open on Saturdays.  😞  At least we were able to explore the village.

There's very little information about the history of this old Baldwin locomotive or why it is a part of the Cracker Trail Museum.

The items visible through the museum windows were interesting and would have made a good visit.  With the grounds only open for walking, we made our visit and moved on.  We did spot a Christine look alike a few blocks away.  It is amazing that 35 years later the movie is still at the top when Christine is googled.

After a stop in Zolfo Springs to locate a few benchmarks in the new county, we made our way to Paynes Creek Historical State Park for our first visit.

We stopped into the museum at the park to hunt the answers for a multi.  With those found, we made our way to the trails.  The park is the location of the old Fort  Chokonikla.  The fort is long gone, but the ground where the fort was located is maintained as open scrubland.  This was the last of our blue sky for the day.

Peaceful resting area

The rain did not chase us off the trail, but it did get muddy.

We still enjoyed our visit and walk on the trails.

1 February 2019 Starting Vacation

It was time for a wonderful week in Florida.  Our first stop after we arrived was at Manatee Park.  The crowd in the parking lot told us there were manatees in the water.  We paid our entrance and walked to the water.  Before we started spotting manatees, we were treated to an egret and a great blue heron.

There were many manatees in the water.  It is tough to capture these magnificent mammals.  They slowly move through the water surfacing only for a moment before returning into the water.  They are tough to capture, but amazing to see.

After visiting the manatees, we moved on to a first visit to Charlotte Harbor State Park.  We kicked off our visit with the first ammo can of vacation.  There were many more to come.

It seems kind of strange to think that people need to be warned about feeding or approaching alligators.  We were happy to just spot a Florida redbelly turtle.

While we were looking at the turtle we also stopped to see the pond view.

Ali noticed something across the way...

A redbelly was there to finish our last day on the trail.