I am writing this late as we are with Colleen and Paul at their place and we have had a very enjoyable evening with the Murray Family's gracious hospitality. We not only had a lovely dinner together we also got to do our laundry here. Thank you Colleen and Paul!
Another day in paradise. It was 72 degrees when we started the day and by noon it was in 83 degrees but it was not humid so very comfortable. We left Titusville this morning AND we had managed to completely pack the trunk of this Altima so that there was only our day stuff that we carry with us in the back seat of the car. I hope we can do that again. That is one big trunk in this car. I don't know why we are renting rooms each night we could just take all of the luggage out and sleep in the trunk with room to spare...
Yesterday, at Merritt Island Visitor Center the park person asked me if I had ever visited Fort Christmas and the Orlando Wetlands. She gave me the directions which were very easy as this place is just off Highway 50 and we were going to be going by there on our way to Apopka. So as we passed the "Christmas" sign I remembered and we decided to "take a look" at the wetlands. Well you all know what "take a look" means. About an hour and a half later after walking about 2 miles we were still there. This is a lovely place with lots of birding potential and we found a pair of Mottled Ducks which we usually see in Viera but didn't yesterday. The wetlands are well done and it was very birdy. There were lots of trails and we chatted up everyone we bumped into that had either a camera or binocs. We will put this place on our list for next year and we discussed staying three days in Titusville to include a good half day or more here.
From here we took the numerous toll roads (one every five minutes) to go 30 miles on the Florida Turnpike.
Barbr and I visited Apopka last year and this year again it was hot and sunny. This is an 11 mile drive through mostly wetlands and a bit of drylands. We saw almost every wading bird that is in Florida and yes there were plenty of alligators. We had raptors (Northern Harrier and Red-shouldered Hawk) and a playful River Otter that was gamboling around on the side of the road. There was a trio of moorhens playing around also and Barbr took a photo of two of them together and it looks like they are in synchronized pairs!
This Red-bellied Woodpecker had found a choice acorn. Colleen took the Double-crested Cormorant photo as the bird was really posing for her. I took the Common Moorhen solo shot as the feet were out of the water and they are so unusual. Apopka is a wonderful place and we had a picnic by Lake Apopka where our selfie was taken today. We spent hours here driving the route and stopping when something caught our eye.
We had a great day!! We are averaging about 50 birds a day give or take and no one has had lifers...yet.
We then drove on to Lakeland where we visited the usual spots for close-up viewing of wading birds that are really tame with humans. It is always nice to visit Lakeland, it is such a unique city.
Barbs and Colleen
Another day in paradise. It was 72 degrees when we started the day and by noon it was in 83 degrees but it was not humid so very comfortable. We left Titusville this morning AND we had managed to completely pack the trunk of this Altima so that there was only our day stuff that we carry with us in the back seat of the car. I hope we can do that again. That is one big trunk in this car. I don't know why we are renting rooms each night we could just take all of the luggage out and sleep in the trunk with room to spare...
Yesterday, at Merritt Island Visitor Center the park person asked me if I had ever visited Fort Christmas and the Orlando Wetlands. She gave me the directions which were very easy as this place is just off Highway 50 and we were going to be going by there on our way to Apopka. So as we passed the "Christmas" sign I remembered and we decided to "take a look" at the wetlands. Well you all know what "take a look" means. About an hour and a half later after walking about 2 miles we were still there. This is a lovely place with lots of birding potential and we found a pair of Mottled Ducks which we usually see in Viera but didn't yesterday. The wetlands are well done and it was very birdy. There were lots of trails and we chatted up everyone we bumped into that had either a camera or binocs. We will put this place on our list for next year and we discussed staying three days in Titusville to include a good half day or more here.
From here we took the numerous toll roads (one every five minutes) to go 30 miles on the Florida Turnpike.
Barbr and I visited Apopka last year and this year again it was hot and sunny. This is an 11 mile drive through mostly wetlands and a bit of drylands. We saw almost every wading bird that is in Florida and yes there were plenty of alligators. We had raptors (Northern Harrier and Red-shouldered Hawk) and a playful River Otter that was gamboling around on the side of the road. There was a trio of moorhens playing around also and Barbr took a photo of two of them together and it looks like they are in synchronized pairs!
We then drove on to Lakeland where we visited the usual spots for close-up viewing of wading birds that are really tame with humans. It is always nice to visit Lakeland, it is such a unique city.
Barbs and Colleen
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