Wednesday 27 February 2013

Wild Florida

Some old friends who live in rural Florida had us out to stay for a week. It was so good to see them again and VERY good to escape from the sad, stressful and depressing stuff that has been going on here.  It's so restorative, too, in a cold, dank, dark English February, to suddenly be somewhere warm and bright and full of natural life.


I'll warn you now, I'm no wildlife photographer. It's hard for me to get any pictures of any wildlife at all. In fact,  I hardly even SEE wildlife when I'm walking along in England, let alone manage to photograph it.  So I don't have fancy camera equipment or one of those long lenses. But even with my little pocket snapshooter I got some shots of Florida's wildlife. So much of it is so big that you'd have to be blind not to spot it.

So here are a pair of sandhill cranes, above....

And below, I managed to get a shot of a roseate spoonbill before it flapped away.


And, of course, there are gators galore.... most of them hastily leaped into the water as we approached but these ones decided to stay put in the sunshine and keep an eye on us.   We stopped about 30 feet away but they didn't move - just kept looking.


Later, when we canoed down the river, a big gator followed us along, but luckily we didn't know till after we got back to shore.  I had been more concerned that little A might fall out of the canoe, but if I'd realised there was an alligator following us I'd probably have fallen out of the canoe in fright myself.

 I'm no canoeist either, so I didn't take many photos while we were going along, but I did want to take a row of turtles sitting on a log, as they love to do.  They made such a lovely picture.  But - too late!  By the time I'd got my camera out, they'd taken fright.

 If you look close at the log there below, though, you might just spot the last turtle preparing to jump off that log to hide beneath the water lilies.


Last time I saw turtles in Florida, I was able to watch one laying her eggs in the sand. Fascinating.

Little A was impressed by the wild manatee. These are huge endangered mammals that live in Florida and they grow up to thirteen feet long. In the winter they often congregate.in warmer places and you can spot them easily - this shot was taken in Blue Spring State Park.


And I believe these fish below are long nosed gar, two or three feet long, I estimated (below) although there were so many huge fish swimming around that I lost track of what they all were.



I regretted not taking a better camera - or at least a polarizing filter to cut out reflections - when I watched some tilapia making their circular nests in the shallow water. Tilapia are an invasive species in Florida, but it was still fascinating to watch them swimming around the bit of river bed they had prepared, gathering up any stones and debris in their mouths and dumping it outside the circle so that the nest is perfect.

All of Central Florida was a pretty wild place till the 1970s, when D*SNEY came along....



I was amazed at how Orlando has spread and developed even in the ten years or so since I was last there, and I was very glad I didn't have to find my own way through it.

As I looked at the sprawl I found it hard to believe that it was totally rural well within living memory; I've spoken to people who remember the cattle market at then-sleepy little Kissimmee!. Although Florida has been a tourist destination for over a century now, it's important to strike the right balance between people and nature, development and wilderness.

Well, now I need to get over the jet lag and research an article about Malta by the end of the week  I'll be catching up on blogs as I go, and I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone has been up to.

48 comments:

  1. While growing up my family would take a yearly vacation to the Florida Keys every winter. The last time I went (about 15 years ago), I couldn't believe how touristy all of it has become. Made me sad to see things so crowded. But that's the way of the things in the state. Find a great place to go and, with time, it becomes a tourist trap.....

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  2. So glad you got out and about in the sunshine! How nice to slide down a stream, although if there are alligators about I would NOT be there!

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  3. I've just returned from a week in Arizona, and apart from the snow storm half way through the week we had lovely sun too, and I totally agree with you, after the weather we've been having here in the UK it really was a lovely break from the norm. Love your photos! I wish I had a good zoom lens too.

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  4. Thank you for sharing a wonderful trip
    I'm still feeling fright reading about the gater following your canoe. lol

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  5. Definitely a change of pace for you and a welcomed one I am sure. That canoe trip sounds like a blast and a bit scary. I suspect there was probably more than one alligator following your group. Seems to me that striking a balance between people and nature would be much easier if we remembered more often that we, too, are part of the ecosystem … unlike Donald Duck. :)

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  6. The sprawl is terrible in Florida. Once a treasure of nature, it became a boom to growth and pavement. Construction took over and when the economy and housing collapsed, so did many parts of Florida. Now it has had some breathing room for five years, and maybe, just maybe, the new growth will be more sensible and less greedy. I would not count on that though.

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  7. So happy to see your post this morning, and you are so right about a bright and beautiful place Florida is. Every time I step off a plane in Florida it's like I'm a little girl opening her Christmas presents and the excitement is almost too wonderful! Your photos are just perfect, and such a treat for this frozen Minnesotan that's really ready for spring! Happy hunting on your Malta post is it? I'll be back to see you! Enjoy your week!

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  8. Orlando has so many low wage employees and subsidized housing. It is really sad under all the glitter. Looks like you got a good taste of the flora and fauna, though.

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  9. I'm not sure I'd like Florida. Too much heat, too much bad beasts! :o)Living in south, I prefer to fly northward to have some change! But seeing your banner picture, I understand your search of contrast! I also know that feeling of places changing too quickly, we have the same problem here on french Riviera.

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  10. I think you did a great job with the photos. For years we thought we might retire to Florida, but every time we go there we're blown away by how many people are there. We're going down next week for a couple of days.

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  11. I'm so glad you had the opportunity to escape gray and sad (though sometimes the sad comes along) and be somewhere warm and different. Probably a good thing you didn't come to Michigan -- snow and gray here! There is nothing like a spot of sun and warm in the dregs of winter to at least lighten the spirits and remind us that spring will indeed arrive. Someday.

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  12. Enland has een a very dreary place for so long now that I am surprised not everybody has gone off to grab some sunshine somewhere else.
    A break like yours refreshes heart and soul and gives new energy to restart the daily routine.

    I am glad that you appear to be a little lighter in spirit. All the best, dear Jenny.

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  13. Going somewhere sunny when home is dark and dreary is a great tonic isn't it? I enjoyed your photos even if you felt you might have improved them. I shuddered to think of me in a canoe and alligators in the stream tho.

    Darla

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  14. How wonderful to get away to such a cheery, vibrant place. The climate and wildlife there are much like we have here in South Texas, so those pictures all had a familiar look to me!

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  15. In 1999, I spent a wonderful holiday in Florida. During a walk along a pier outside Clearwater, I saw a wild manatee scratching its back against one of the wooden poles of the pier. It was my first and only encounter in the wild with this species.

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  16. I'm delighted that you were able to escape to a warm climate for awhile. With the blizzards and frigid weather here in Texas this winter, I seem to have forgotten that warm places still exist. I like all of the photos.

    Some of my relatives live in Florida, but - ironically - this month they are visiting Paris!

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  17. Sometimes a change really is as good as a rest. Love your photos actually, they look really happy, warm and restful. It's so grey and cold (brrrrr) here in Engalnd it is most tempting to escape for some sun. Glad you enjoyed it. Minerva ~

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  18. I'm so glad you were refreshed and warmed up in the Florida sunshine for a while! It's nice to know my nation was able to provide some good things for you! As far as concrete jungles go, now you know what it's like here where I live in the sprawling Los Angeles county, At least we have the ocean nearby for some relief though!

    I would also have been very uneasy if a large alligator were following a canoe I was paddling. Happily, there are no gaters (that I know of) in my side of the USA.

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  19. OH, I remember Orlando from years ago, when there were just a few hotels along the highway outside DisneyWorld. There were lots of orange groves then and when the sun came up and the sun's rays caught those oranges hanging on the trees, it was just so beautiful!
    Wish I could have seen the manatees!

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  20. Steve heard the first of the Sandhill cranes heading back north yesterday. Our home is on their flyway. You really got to see a lot of incredible things on your short trip. I hope you came home more relaxed and A suitably impressed.

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  21. So glad to see you got some light and warmth, and that the alligators didn't get you.

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  22. We have seen such critters as these both in Florida, and here in the swamps of south Louisiana, and it is fun to watch them.

    Disney owns a huge amount of the Orlando area, and they are committed to keeping a very large percentage of it undeveloped, as a way to offset their huge operations.

    Welcome back!

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  23. I've never been to FL, but now I wanna go just to see the wildlife. Well, that and I'd love to see the sun too! It's been cold and snowy here lately, so a trip to somewhere warm would be lovely!

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  24. It is good to recharge one's batteries when winter drags on.

    Seeing what is really there instead of the tourist traps is the best way to do things. Not just the Nature, but the Urban sprawl too.

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  25. Glad to read you again, beautiful entrance full of sun and light, here we are immersed in tiniebas, snow and rain have taken over everything, but one day if we see some sun. A hug.

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  26. So happy that you had this wonderful week away Jenny in such a warm and vibrant place. The concrete jungle not so much. Your photos are brilliant! I enjoyed them very much.
    Praying things are getting more and more back to normal for you.
    (I didn't care for those 'gators though!)
    Take care Jenny...

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  27. The important thing is that you actually managed to capture the wildlife on film; it doesn't have to be a fancy camera. That and the healing warmth of the sun, made the holiday just what you needed.

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  28. I'm glad you had a chance to get away on a relaxing vacation. We traveled to Florida for many years while my parents lived there. We took our daughter to Disney about five years in a row! We saw the growth and changes, too.

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  29. You took some amazing photos! Sounds like you had an action packed trip!
    Julie

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  30. I think manatees are incredible. I'd like to see one someday. Great pics.

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  31. I can't believe you were practically in my back yard and didn't knock on my door... ;-)

    Love your pictures - and those sandhill cranes are so tall and noisy. We have them in our back yard occasionally and one time, one of them almost came up to me close enough to peck my camera.

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  32. I'm glad friends were there to give you a pick up.
    We have tilapia...so the details on the nests was interesting.

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  33. Wow! Definitely a big change from the damp greyness. Those alligators freak me out. I don't think I'd have ventured out in the canoe...best you didn't know you were being followed, certainly. Glad you got to warm you bones and change the mood and have some fun.

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  34. I have never been there Jenny, but I understand that Florida is a pretty interesting place. Lucky you for being able to go there. I would love to have seen the manatees - Dave

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  35. Glad you were able to escape the cold grey days of England Jenny - to somewhere warm and vibrant (and restorative).

    Friends are wonderful things.

    Anna :o]

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  36. I'm so pleased you've had some restorative time - you've earned it.

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  37. I wouldn't be keen on getting any closer than you did to those alligators

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  38. I'm learning to distrust my first instincts when it comes to my camera - if I think it's safe to leave my camera at home, it really isn't and I'm going to see something awesome. Still, your photos are lovely enough to tell the story. I would love to wander around the Everglades or visit my cousins in Largo.

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  39. I'm glad that you got to go to Florida and got to rest. I would have freaked out if a gator was following me. Nope not having it.

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  40. ah i so miss florida...lived there for a few years in valrico...and def what a difference the scenery makes...and to find some sun...it was sunny here yesterday and felt so good....of course today its cold and wet...smiles...we used to get gators in the lake behind our house....

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  41. Some well-fed looking gators there.

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  42. Jenny, I'm afraid of alligators! You could canoe through the gators river! I'd like to travel to Florida and to see the city of Saint Petersburg (the same name as my city), that was founded by people from Ruusia.
    Have a nice weekend!

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  43. Such a nice, gentle blog Jenny and lovely pictures too.

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  44. I think I'd rather go to India!

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  45. It is so unreal to see wild gators out and about. Seems you have to be careful when exploring out in nature.

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  46. Happy to know you went out, in a sunny place to boot!

    Love the photos you had there but couldn't help squealed *eeeek* at the gators!

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  47. Yikes, alligators 30 feet away! (or closer tailing your boat) I wonder if I'd have had the presence of mind to take the photos seeing these guys so close.

    Lovely safari you had in Florida though. I must admit, when my family went to Florida back when I was a teen, Mom wanted an excursion out into the Everglades. The rest of us couldn't get beyond Disney. I wish we had heeded my mom and had a more rewarding experience!

    You were lucky to spot the manatees. I've been to some mangrove forests in the tropics where I'm from. Never quite spotted a manatee in the water though. We did see conservationists take many turtle hatchlings away for safety (I guess the big amphibian types eat them on the beach) for release in the future.

    So glad to see you traveling around again.

    Jenny

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