Waculla Springs State Park

Karla and I spent the week in Florida. We explored Waculla Springs State Park—home to one of the largest springs in Florida with friends who live near Tallahassee. The first part of the river is full of cypress trees, making it look like a jungle. Several scenes of the vintage Tarzan movies were filmed there.

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Waculla Springs State Park Alligator

We saw five manatees and more than a dozen large alligators, sunning them selves along the bank or prowling the waters looking for prey.

Our friend remembered seeing a gator along side the trail during an earlier hike in another area. A newlywed couple came along and the groom told his new wife to go sit on the statue of the alligator for a memorable wedding day photo opportunity. Before she got to the gator our friend shouted, “That is not a statue! That is a real gator!” The new bride was so upset with her husband that she started hitting him with her purse.

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Cottonmouth

We also saw a poisonous Cottonmouth coiled up on a branch overlooking the river.

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Armadillo

We stopped at Manatee Springs State Park but missed out on seeing manatees in the spring. People saw them just before we got there. The park has several armadillos however—a new experience for us.

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Lone Sentinel

Next stop was Sanibel Island to spend some time on the beach. This osprey was looking for fish at sunrise.

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We saw several shore birds along with many egrets.

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Sanibel Island is known for its shells and we enjoyed shelling early in the mornings.

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Here are the results of an early morning hour’s search during the receding tide.

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Brown Pelican

We watched this brown pelican catching fish. Look closely—the fish’s shape is visible in its throat pouch.

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The most memorable part of the trip was the natural dolphin encounter.

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We saw them everyday, but the second day we were wading in the water and five of them came by us. Two came to within 12 feet of Karla while swirling around catching fish. They fished in front of us for over 30 minutes. It was exciting to see them that close.

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There was one baby in the group.

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Just at the edge of the beach was an osprey nest.

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Two of the four babies happened to fledge the day we were there.

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They flew to the edge of the beach and didn’t seem to mind our presence. One of the young ospreys was experiencing water for the first time and kept splashing around and dunking its head.

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We saw the adults bringing fish to the babies. To minimize drag, osprey will carry fish facing straightforward helping to conserve energy and reduce exertion.

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Sanibel has a lot of wildlife along with its beautiful beaches.

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