Florida - Myakka River State Park

Florida - Myakka State Park, Sarasota

MUSAP at the Bird Boardwalk

I had visited Myakka State Park on a previous visit to Florida and loved it so I was eager to get back there with my cameras. While it’s nice to find new places to explore, it’s always easier to visit a place a second time when I sort of know my way around. I wasn’t sure if I’d see many alligators because it was January - but many were out enjoying the warmth of the January sun! My first stop was at a bridge over a river on the long road into the park. There were cars parked and people taking pix so I stopped to check it out. There were roseate spoonbills posing for us.

Roseate Spoonbills & Anhingas (aka Snake Birds)

There were also some great egrets and I was happily photographing them when I realized the lumps on the riverbank next to them were big alligators. Oh yeah, I’m in Florida!

pay attention - there are alligators!

Myakka Wildlife Tours offers tram tours and airboat rides - I decided to try both. Nick, the driver/guide on the tram was great - very knowledgable and he enjoyed telling us lots of fun facts about the Myakka River area.

Airboat dock at Myakka River Outpost

Here are some of the things I learned

• Sarasota area - lightning strike capital of the nation
• Hammock - group of trees ~ Oak/palm hammocks are at Myakka
• Great egret - about 40" tall
• Snowy egret, sometimes called golden slippers because of yellow feet
• Water locusts have huge thorns

water locust thorns

• Ecological burn, control palmetto these used to be called controlled burn but it controls itself so name has changed.
• Spanish Moss is an air plant that doesn’t hurt the host tree

Spanish Moss

I had a little time to relax before the Airboat ride across Upper Myakka Lake. Our captain was John. He did a good job spotting wildlife for us and maneuvering the airboat so everyone could be. We saw lots of alligators on the banks on the far side of the lake, most 10-12 ft long.

big alligators

After the boat ride I explored the area around the Outpost and captured some more photos.

snowy egret

Last stop was a bird walk on the boardwalk which was in an area of the park that I hadn’t visited before. It was quiet and peaceful at the end of the boardwalk. Across the lake I could see a herd of feral hogs. I pointed them out to 2 ladies who walked out the boardwalk and asked if I had seen anything. One of them had trouble seeing them because she was looking for pink pigs… these were black.

at the Boardwalk

On my way out the long drive a deer ran in front of my car and then stopped on the other side of the road and let me take some pix.

deer by the road

CLICK HERE to see photographs of Myakka River State Park

Spanish Moss in the sunshine

I am always looking for great blue herons to photograph. I put all my heron photos from this Florida adventure together in one album.

great blue heron

CLICK HERE to see great blue herons

young great blue heron in nest, Punta Gorda

Florida - Sarasota

MUSAP’s First Adventure of 2014 - the Gulf Coast of Florida, state #9

MUSPA checks out a palm tree

Both of my flights were delayed, but after a travel nightmare for thousands of travels in the days preceding my trip I was happy to make it out of Logan on the day I had planned!

Because of the late start on day 1 of this adventure I only did a quick photo shoot of gulls at rest stop just past Sunshine Skyway crossing Tampa Bay from St Petersburg on my way to Sarasota.

always trying to get my birds in a row

Day 2 ~ I was off to explore Florida Audubon’s Celery Fields in Sarasota.  

There wasn’t much to see from parking lot and I wasn’t sure if I had a good plan. I went up a walking path to a berm with freshly planted palm trees. There was a nice view but not much to photograph. Undaunted I kept going and came to path leading down to some water. I was rewarded by seeing lots of birds ~ vultures playing in wind currents,

turkey vulture

egrets, red winged blackbirds, ducks, a great blue heron, a little blue heron, pelicans dive bombing into the pond, a limpkin - had to look this one up,

limpkin, first time I'd seen one

sandhill cranes, a bald eagle flying overhead, and wood storks.

wood stork

As I was walking back across the berm to get back to the car I stopped to take a photo of MUSAP on top of a post. There was a bench so I sat down to enjoy the view. As I was sitting there a truck drove up and a new informational sign was installed on the post.

MUSAP - sign post before/after

Next time in the Sarasota area I will visit Celery Fields again - great place for bird watching. They have a Facebook page for sharing photos ~ https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheCeleryFields/

When I got back to the parking lot I heard the roar of big cats - my next stop was closer than I thought

CLICK HERE for more photos taken at Celery Fields.

pelicans diving for food - quite a noise when they hit the water

Big Cat Habitat in Sarasota doesn't open until 12:30 and I thought I had a short drive to get there. Then when I was getting in my car at Celery Fields I heard an unexpected noise and realized it was the roar of some big cats. The property was right next door. I wasn't sure what to expect... and it still wasn't what I expected. They have a wider variety of animals than I expected - much more than cats. There was a Kodiak bear who is massive!

Kodiak Bear weighing over 1,000 pounds

They obviously care about their mission and the animals appear very well cared for. Some of the enclosures seem small and uninteresting, but they have to stretch their dollars as far as they can. In addition to their lions and tigers they care for monkeys, bears, birds. They are a non-profit organization. They are able to get some food for the animals donated by local businesses including Whole Foods.

tiger

It was cloudy when I got there, started to rain at one point - happily I was next to a building with the big cats so I could get my camera out if the rain, then it was just cloudy again. It did get warmer.

white tiger and liger

Big Cat Habitat is operated by 9th the generation of the Rosaire family who work with big cats. Lots of family member work there. They have dedicated their lives to rescuing animals and providing them with a safe haven.

Clayton Rosaire 

I felt as though my admission fee was needed and would go towards care of the animals. There were opportunities to donate money all around the property.

Mia - a liger. Her mother is a bengal tiger and her father is a lion.

At the urging of one of the family members who work there I held a baby goat and hugged an emu. The lady was kind enough to capture the moment with my camera.

me meeting an Emu

They train some of their animals to keep them mentally stimulated. They do a free show, where they pass donation buckets and sell popcorn.

parrots

CLICK HERE for more photos of Big Cat Habitat.

Siesta Key at the end of the day

Sarasota is known for Siesta Key and the beaches there. Several people had suggested I go to Siesta Key so when I left Big Cat Habitat I headed off to explore one more place. I went to the public beach, there was a large parking lot with few cars.The beach was expansive with clean white sand, no stones, no shells. It was not inspiring for photography, but pleasant for walking. I found some birds that posed for my camera and the sun poked out before I left so I captured some shots of the beach at dusk.

Caspian tern

trivia fact ~ Sarasota has large population of Amish and Mennonite residents

CLICK HERE for photos of the beach on Siesta Key

pelican

Nevada - Valley of Fire

Thus post is way overdue... I took a tour of the Valley of Fire in Nevada last November and it is now January. Something to be said for blogging right away instead of finding reasons to put it off! Even now I am just making a quick post to save the space and keep the blog in chronological order before I start adding posts about my adventure to the gulf coast of Florida.

MUSAP checking the view

more to come...

1-23-14 - at last!
 

On my final day on Las Vegas I escaped the Strip by taking another Pink Jeep Tour. Going to The Valley of Fire State Park in the Mojave Desert outside of Las Vegas is like traveling through a time machine - being there is like being in the age of the dinosaurs. The sandstone and limestone rock formations are amazing to see - formed by wind and limited rain over millions of years.

along the entrance road

One of my favorite stops was at the Beehives. The formations were next to the road and you could get right up to them. There were lots of people climbing up on them.

MEW at The Beehives

There are petroglyphs from ancient Indian tribes at Atlatl Rock. They are scratched into the Desert Varnish on sandstone walls.

Atlatl Rock

ancient petroglyphs

At Rainbow Vista you look out over the landscape and almost expect to see dinosaurs walking by. There are fossilized footprints nearby, but the area isn’t accessible. There is concern about people going to the area and damaging things.

MEW at Rainbow Vista

We didn’t see much wildlife, but the antelope squirrels were cute… and clearly hoping for a handout!

I really wanted to see more green. Everything seemed to be in shades of brown. I’m not sure I could live in Nevada - I like the change of seasons and I need colors (other than the neon colors on the Strip)

Our last stop on the tour was at The Cabins. These were built in the 1930’s and available for campers. They were pretty amazing, but I can’t image hiking out there to go camping.

the Cabins built into the sandstone wall

The Valley of Fire is a beautiful place and I would love to go back for another visit the next time I head to Las Vegas. I am looking forward to seeing the photos that Jon & Meredith took here on their January visit.

CLICK HERE to see my photos of the Valley of Fire on Flickr.