This really was a pretty spot. This certainly is a large lake as we couldn't begin to see any sign that there was another side to this lake. It might as well have been the ocean!
And a very cute Little Blue Heron that walked around chasing...and catching...many little fish. He was so cute to watch.
Just along the water line were a bunch of Common Moorhen. These really are very pretty birds but unfortunately they just aren't showing up well on the web for some reason. Their beaks are a brilliant red with a bit of yellow on the tip.
We also got to watch a Caspian Tern dive into the water and catch a fish. There must have been a lot of fish around this part of the lake as all the birds seem to be finding plenty to eat.
After leaving there we drove a short ways where we saw a place we could pull over and have a pretty view of the water.
Mike saw a place where the grass was all flattened down that led to the water. It turned out to be where the air boats go out into the water. On either side of the smashed down grass was the grass that hadn't been flattened. It was probably 10 - 12 feet tall. Here Mike is examining this interesting grass.
Mike thought this would be a fine place for us to be able to walk down to the water. All I could think was that this looked like the perfect place for alligators to be. Needless to say, we kept the dogs on leash!
It was very funny because I was so nervous about walking there. Instead of taking many pictures I was very busy keeping my eyes open for alligators. It didn't help when Sparkie would stop and stare into the grass - I was sure she was seeing an alligator. We could tell that Wazzu knew I was very concerned. As we were walking along my foot snapped a stick. Wazzu spun around and jumped about three feet off the ground. She is more in tune with my feelings than I am a lot of the time.
We finally made our way down to the water. We were very surprised the dogs could walk without limping as the shore was completely, and I truly mean completely, covered with shells.
Even though I was keeping a very close eye out for alligators I did manage to glance up once or twice and the scenery really was very pretty.
Just behind where we parked the car was a small very shallow pond. Here we saw a Glossy Ibis. They have an extremely long beak that is a little crooked.
We decided this really wasn't the safest of places to be walking so we drove to the formal trail they have built up on a dike that goes 110 miles all the way around the lake. It is a very nice paved trail and is open to foot traffic and cyclists. As you can probably guess, we didn't do all 110 miles! We actually didn't walk real far as the dogs were pretty hot.
But it was a beautiful walk. Off to one side was the lake while off to the other side was a very pretty canal. Pictured here is the lake side.
The canal side was much closer and was very interesting. All along the opposite of the canal were RV parks. They were all extremely pretty parks. Many of the RV sites had little docks out over the canal for fishing. There must be a lot of fish in there as there were a variety of birds along the canal. And they were numerous.
Here are some Wood Storks. Previously we had only seen these at a nature preserve.
Right along the side of the trail we saw a Cattle Egret who didn't seemed worried about us at all.
We also saw numerous pelicans but I figure you've seen enough pelican pictures! In the bushes on the lake side we saw a couple birds that looked like they were sunning themselves and drying off. We thought they were pelicans. But when we got home and looked at the pictures it was very clear they weren't pelicans. But we have no idea what kind of birds they really are.
The grass on either side of the trail was filled with stickers. After a couple trips into the grass the dogs decided the trail was the place to be. So when Sparkie heard/saw something she did a beautiful "point."
Just before we got back to the car, all three dogs thought there was something interesting in the bushes. This shot was just too good to pass up.
As you might expect - that's the end!
Debbie
2/8/07
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