Ken got up at 6 this morning, did his devotions and left Waldo at 7 to go down to the Birdwalk area to try to see his favorite birds - roseate spoonbills! He was told that some had been spotted early mornings in that area. Unfortunately, he didn't see any, but he did view some herons, egrets, and 3 crows that tried to surround and attack him, or so he said! He was back to the campsite at 8:30. I enjoyed sleeping in, only getting up at 8:15. I made us omelettes for breakfast and Ken cut up the fresh fruit. Chuck and Melissa joined us at our picnic table around 9. We sat around talking till 10:30 and then we cleaned up, packed lunches and got ready to go on a hike!
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| Love the Spanish moss around the Heron! |
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| Ken enjoyed seeing the sunrise! |
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| Another beautiful day! |
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| This is the birdwalk trail! |
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| Ken loves spotting deer! |
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| Looks like a canopy of trees with Spanish Moss. Reminds me of Jekyll Island. |
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| Ibis and Limpkin, a bird we saw for the 1st time! |
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| Ken's 1st alligator of the day! |
We drove about 1 mile down the road from our campsite, parked, and headed out on the Ranch House Road trail. In 1910, Bertha Palmer built her 19,000 acre ranch, Meadow Sweet Pastures, along the banks of the Myakka River. Over her short 8 year tenure, she purchased Brahma bulls, improving the Florida herds, built dipping vats to combat tick fever, and fenced her land - all customs unheard of in her day. We went as far as we could go and reached an area where water covered the trail. We turned around and picked up another trail that met up with the power lines and we continued on. Along our way we saw some beautiful flowers and some baby alligators. When we got back to the car we had walked almost 5 miles - a good, long hike!
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| Entrance to our hiking trail! |
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| ...and off we go! |
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| These pieces of glass, pottery, etc. were on a stump near where Bertha Palmer's house would have been. Amazing that people leave these treasures behind! |
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| Pictures of Bertha, her bulls, and her ranch foreman and his family! |
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| We weren't able to get past this wet area on the trail. |
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| Many pretty flowers along the way! |
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| We couldn't believe Ken spotted these baby alligators fairly far of the trail while we were walking. Love the striped tails and backs! |
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| Mama wasn't far away! |
From there we drove to the Birdwalk about 2 miles down the road to eat our lunches while checking out the "few" birds that were there. Not a good bird watching day! We were back to our campsites by 3:15 and all of us were tired. We showered and took naps, all except Melissa. She was busy with her blog and downloading photos, and she had only gone to sleep at 2:30 AM.
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| Eating our lunch at the Birdwalk! |
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| These flowers and their leaves where everywhere on the water at the birdwalk. I "guess" they are some kind of water lily!!!!! |
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| Leapin Lizard!!!!! |
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| A beautiful blue heron! |
We made salmon burgers and a hamburg on our grill and had salads and baked beans. Melissa brought some raw carrots and broccoli for appetizers. By about 7 each night we go indoors, for the mesquitoes get a bit nasty! We got together in Waldo to play cards. They taught us Spades, we played a game of Marble, and ended the night with Skip-Bo. It was the mens night to be victorious.
Another great day with Melissa and Chuck! The fun just keeps on happening!!!!!
That limpkin looks like the same type of bird you had on your blog the other day.....I wonder if it is?? Great pictures again, Ken. It sure sounds & looks like you are having a great time. Too bad the mosquitoes aren't cooperating. (Doloris)
ReplyDeleteChuck didn't actually like the burger did he???
ReplyDelete