My Week at Trail Lakes Campground-Part 2

Greetings and welcome back. I couldn't resist capturing these two memes from FB. My AC is working fine keeping Winnie a comfortable 77 inside. My winter blanket away, the spring lite weight now in use.

And this from my neighbors at the River House in Peekskill. You may not be New England but I'm sure the sentiment is the same with the relentless weather serving up another round of freezing rain and ice. 

And Skunk Ape headquarters

With great anticipation, I await granddaughter, Sara, who will drive about an hour to spend hopefully, a relaxing few days with "Poppa Charlie." Being a vegetarian, she'll be bringing her own food of which one meal will be my grilling Veggie Burgers...a first. No, not for grilling, but eating a veggie burger. My report pending...

I took a walk around the pond for some photos:

Sara took a peek inside one of them.

They say the key to survival is adaptation.

From the other side of the lake toward my site...behind the clump.

Clumps like these palms keep campsites private from one another.

The bath house. The campground is within
the Big Cypress National Preserve

I love the plush flora

Think this satellite dish is serving any purpose?

While relaxing amidst warm, gentle breezes, I observed:

Why just one?

So far, every day has been a gin and tonic day
or a wine day
or a beer day.
And yes, Tony, I'm drinking water.

Friday afternoon, Sara arrived with necessary
items for a relaxing weekend--for her.

Wood...

...Wine

and Wilderness

Wood, Wine and the Wilderness; how can it get any better?

In a matter of...

...minutes, her...

...sleeping quarters were ready.

Dinner that night consisted of her homemade macaroni salad and 'veggie burgers.' Well, this new experience had to be tried before I could pass judgement. I've always said, "don't tell me you don't like it if you've never tried it." Well, it was my turn to "eat my words." I did and it passed muster...although I used ketchup and cheese. Even with more calories than beef patties, I enjoyed my meal and won't poo poo the foo foo meal. 

With temps dropping down to the mid-60s,
campfires each night were perfect. We went 
through five bundles.

Sara's keen eye spotted a Monarch

SATURDAY'S HIKE THROUGH 10,000 ISLANDS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

No problemo...we saw seven. Had we gone a bit
further along the trail we would have seen four more.

A more gentle species, the Gulf fritillary or...

Passion butterfly.

A bird watcher's dream come true. More than 360 species
have been sighted and categorized into either wading birds,
land birds or birds of prey. The numbers of swimming or wading
birds seen from the observation tower was impressive. This is
truly a "preserve" where Nature, left alone, produces magnificent
spectacles 

The Anhinga

The unique root system of the mangrove.

Observation tower for great photography

Gator No. 1

Zooming in for a closer look...

..up close and person. Side to side at the abdomen
it had to be close to 24".

A little further along, Gator No. 2...

...and just to its left, Gator No. 3

Sara passing by a couple perhaps bringing lunch to the local inhabitants.

Difficult to see but Gators Nos. 4, 5, 6, and 7 basking on the shoreline.

Gator No. 7 far right

To the left, Gator No. 6

Zoomed as much as my camera allowed.

A scene of tranquility. When sundown brings a dip in the temperature,
those basking beauties will return to the warm waters and silently swim away.

On our way back, we caught a glimpse of a 
Great Egret in our line of sight of Gator No. 2

Young mangroves dotting the surface of the "River of Grass."

A Wood Stork on the left, pelican on the right.

An Anhinga perched on a branch, ...

...posed for a dive...

  

...into his own territory to fish.

Like cormorants, their bodies are less buoyant which enhances
their diving skills and cause them to swim with most of their bodies
underwater.

We watched this one dive 6 or 7 times surfacing with a fish
in its beak more often than not.

It remained underwater several minutes each time and 
swam with its tail feathers spread open.

Evidence of an old fire.

Great White Egret

On the way home, the chance of rain forecasted began to materialize and provided some beautiful cloud formations.

 

Sara, while driving, spotted this stationary gator along with....

...two Manatees.  We made a U-turn and returned to get some shots. All I could see were two massive submerged, brownish areas in the water; they never surfaced nor did they seem to be going anywhere.

The glare of the afternoon sun prevented a better look.
The second was behind (to the left) of the first. The way they float
just below the surface, it's no wonder that boater's are their biggest danger.

BACK AT THE CAMPGROUND AND A VISIT TO THE REPTILE EXHIBIT

OUTSIDE

One of two mating pairs living on the premises...H-U-G-E

Not real

One of the other pair.

The endangered Florida panther...about 60 left.

Blink, blink...another week has just flown by. Tomorrow I'm headed for Delray Beach for another week of visiting friends and relatives. The two hour trip northeast will take me across Alligator Alley (I-75) to I-95 north. Thanks for joining me here in the Everglades. See you in Delray. Stay warm and safe.