MUSAP’s First Adventure of 2014 - the Gulf Coast of Florida, state #9
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| 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.
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| 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,
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| 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,
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| limpkin, first time I'd seen one |
sandhill cranes, a bald eagle flying overhead, and wood storks.
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| 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.
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| 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
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| 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!
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| parrots |
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| 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.
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| Caspian tern |
trivia fact ~ Sarasota has large population of Amish and Mennonite residents
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| pelican |
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