December 20 - Moving South

December 20 - Moving South 

Our camp is at Myakka River State Park on December 7 - 12. This lovely park is quite literally in the middle of nowhere but has the peace and quiet of an out of the way place. The birding here is the best we have had so far and we added several to our bird list - (From the top right corner clockwise to center) ) - Ibis, Roseate Spoon Bill, Bald Eagle, Red Shouldered Hawk, Wood Stork, Black Crowned Night Heron, Anhinga, Sand Hill Cranes, Black Vulture, Great Egret and Pileated Woodpecker. We also saw White Pelicans, Great Blue Herons, Cattle Egret and hundreds of vultures overhead. 

This park also has many hiking and biking trails that we took advantage of - a  tree canopy walk with an elevated walk way; 

nature walk with lots of air plants and resurrection ferns that look dead until it rains then, in minutes, they spring back to green and healthy; 

and a bike trail that takes you into the ‘scrub lands’ or natural prairie that used to be all over Florida. 

We also took a boat tour of the Myakka Lake and saw our first alligator! Because it is the dry season the lake is only around three feet deep so the boat was limited where it can go but we were close enough to the shore to see many birds and alligators.

We visited Sarasota and the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. This is a beautiful garden internationally known for its living orchid collection and its dried specimen library from all over the world and their green houses show off many of their amazing orchids as well as tropical and subtropical plants. Since there were no children around we got to enjoyed the Children’s Rain Forest Garden teaching about the importance of rain forests. This area has hanging bridges, swings, musical instrument and many exhibits.

On December 12 we headed further south to Koreshan State Historical Park just south of Fort Myers for a week-long stay. This park was originally home of a sect of people who called themselves Koreshans and the park still has many original buildings  from the settlement  when set up a utopian society in the late 19th century. Some of their beliefs were quite strange - the earth is hollow and we live on the inside with the sun in the center -  but in other ways like equality of women, education for all, and fine arts - they were quite ahead of the times. Very strange to see exhibits  about this commune but a lovey camping park.

While in the area we walked the 2.5 mile elevated boardwalk at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. This swamp is home to the only old growth Bald Cypress Trees in the country - Cypress Trees were heavily forested  because it is rot resistant quality - and we saw huge 500 year old trees, Painted Buntings, Barred Owl, otters, turtles, and alligators. We also walked on the 1.2 mile boardwalk at  Six Mile Cypress Slough and saw birds and a Cottonmouth Snake. 

Painted Bunting

We finished the day walking at Bonita Beach enjoying the warm Gulf water and picking up lots of shells.

On December 15 we ventured into Fort Myers and visited the Edison-Ford Winter Estates. These were the winter homes of these very successful men and where Edison worked on many of his inventions but was primarily working on a source for raw rubber that would grow in the US. The homes, gardens, grounds, and laboratory was very interesting. 

In the afternoon we visited Manatee Park. The Manatees like to hang out in the heated water from the generating plant here in the winter months to stay warm. We saw a lot on Manatees and even a mother and calf. 

On Sunday we went to Lover’s Key State Park. We rode our bikes on the 4.5 mile bike trails where we saw three Gopher Tortoises and spent 3 hours on the beach enjoying the sun and shelling. 

We have been hauling our inflatable kayak in the back of the truck the entire trip and mark was able to get it out and paddled around the lagoons at the park.

On December 17 we visited Sanibel Island home of J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. After hitting the visitors center we rode our bikes on the 4 miles through the refuge on a paved road. It was a very nice easy ride and we saw many birds tidal wetlands. We rode back back to the parking lot stopping at Bowman Beach Park half way for a break. Sanibel is known for the shelling and it lived up to the reputation. We could not believe all the shells we had to choose from for our new ‘shell collection’. On the way home we stopped to see the Sanibel lighthouse and it unusual tower.

We are now camping at Collier-Seminole State near Marco Island. Mark’s parents lived here for many years so we will spend time at many old haunts on the island. More to come.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to All!!

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