Where River and Prairie Meet the Sky - Myakka River State Park

Sarasota, FL (82 degrees, blue skies, low humidity, light breeze)

The title of our blog comes from the brochure we received upon entering this beautiful park and it's a perfect description. We planned a road trip with our friends France and Tony to Myakka River State Park, one of the oldest and largest Florida parks. It was about a two hour trip from Sanibel and an easy drive.   What a perfect day!  Temperatures were cooler, low humidity, and  thankfully no rain. Much of this park is wetlands and due to the frequent heavy rain storms over the past few weeks many of the trails were flooded. Despite this fact, we had a wonderful time.  

Myakka Lake

There is a picturesque seven mile drive which winds through numerous oak and palm hammocks.  The park is remarkable and we look forward to returning for more hiking and maybe a nice kayak paddle.  

Myakka River with beautiful palm and oak hammocks

Myakka River

We tried to hike the River Walk but quickly turned around due to very muddy conditions.  Everything was so lush and green.  We saw some cute Key Deer and many Wild Turkeys as we continued our drive.  

Myakka Lake

There were water lilies, purple iris, and hyacinth blooming on the lake and river.  The most popular inhabitants are alligators.  A guide later told us there were 500-1000 hanging out here. Yikes!  In addition, there are also over 2500 wild pigs and  evidence of their destructive behavior was noted on the trails.    

Birdwalk trail

Gator Girl

We signed up for an hour long airboat tour aboard the Gator Gal. It involved a very leisurely cruise on the upper lake.  This is not your typical high speed airboat tour and travels very slowly.  It was enjoyable but the sooner you get in line the better for getting a window seat.  It was narrated by a knowledgeable park ranger and he told us a lot about alligators.  He spotted many of them and the crowd sure enjoyed seeing them.  

The park gave us a very extensive list of the birds who frequent this area especially during the winter. We did not see very many this time due to the high water.

Afterwards we ate lunch at the restaurant next to the ticket booth.  It was excellent and the menu was quite extensive.  They also rent canoes and bicycles at the out post.  

The highlight for us was the Canopy Walk and Nature Trail.  It was a short walk to tower. and then you climb up a series of steps to reach a walkway suspended 25 feet in the air.  As you walk across, the view below is spectacular.  The resurrection fern was in all it's glory and there were beautiful air plants suspended everywhere.  I could have stayed up there for a long time but your time is limited due to others wanting to go across too.  

Nature Trail

John hiking over the walkway

Ferns and Spanish Moss

Resurrection Fern

At the end of the walkway you can choose to climb a 74 foot tower to get more of a birds eye view of the area.  John was the only one brave enough to hike up to the top.  It's not for the faint of heart.  :) The kids visiting the tower were having the best time.  The rest of us walked back down and waved at John as he climbed up and up.

Click on link for our e-bird list.  

We also checked out the campground and sites were roomy with good privacy in-between.  Water and electricity were available at each site.  Big rigs could easily fit is this very nice campground.

If you are in the Sarasota area, be sure to check out the tree tops.  It's a splendid way to get another viewpoint of nature.  

John Muir once wrote "in every walk with Nature one receive far more than he seeks". 

Don't you agree?

Turtle Hatching - Sanibel Island

Sanibel, FL (95 degrees, blue skies, HOT)

A nest seen on the beach earlier in the season

One of our friends, France, volunteers with SCCF (Sanibel Captive Conservation Foundation) with the turtle patrol.  During sea turtle nesting season (May-October) over 120 volunteers monitor eighteen miles of Sanibel and Captiva daily identifying and evaluating nests and also monitoring hatches. Earlier in the season we had walked along the beaches checking out the roped off nests. Most of the nests are loggerhead turtles and the babies are now starting to hatch.  

Dan starting to dig out the sand very carefully

France invited us to watch a three day dig this morning.  This means a nest hatched three days ago and tracks were noted by a volunteer leading out to the ocean by the little hatchlings.   Two volunteers, Ann and Dan, arrived to dig up the nest and monitor it's condition.  Detailed records are kept of hatched and unhatched eggs. Sometimes hatchlings are still in the nest and confused by the whole process.  The volunteer will rescue any little turtles and put them in a bucket of sand and water.  This is covered and kept in a dark place until nighttime when the volunteer returns and releases the little ones from the same spot. This project could not exist without the dedication of these wonderful volunteers.  

The hole is very deep

A female loggerhead turtle came out to this area about 60 days ago at night and laid her eggs.  It's interesting to note this mother was born very near to this area too.  Loggerhead females swim around the the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean for 15-30 years before maturing and returning to nest.  They scoop out a large hole with their flippers and lay between 50-175 leathery ping pong ball size eggs. She can lay eggs several times during the season.  

Eggs and remnants are collected for sorting later

As of 8/2/13 there have been 471 nests noted and 75 hatches and counting  The volunteers also identify false crawls.  This is where the female comes up to the beach and starts to dig.  For some reason she decides not to lay her eggs and leaves.  It can be a challenge for a turtle patrol volunteer to determine whether is is actually nest or a false crawl.  There have been 558 identified this season. France is a volunteer who has had additional training and helps with this decision making.

A dig always draws an interested crowd (Ann is wearing the hat)

Today's nest held 58 total eggs.  Ten hatched and one died trying to get out of the egg.  The odds are even more difficult for the hatchlings.  Only one in a 1000 hatchlings lives to maturity.  Nature is tough!

Dan is sorting out the eggs

 Here are a few other interesting facts found on the SCCF website:

• Sea turtles live their entire lives in the ocean, except for the females when she come ashore to nest
• Adult loggerhead sea turtles can be more then three feet long and weight 250-400 pounds
• Female loggerheads come ashore at night to lay their nest
• Hatchlings emerge at night with the natural instinct to go to the brightest horizon.  On natural beaches this is the water reflecting the night sky 
• Sea turtles cannot reverse.  When nesting a female  encounters an obstacle (i.e. sand castles, lawn furniture) she can become entangled
• Hatchling loggerheads weigh one ounce and are two inches long

Sanderling

It was really amazing to watch this dig this morning.  We have learned so much about turtles from our friend France.  Being a turtle patrol volunteer is a great way to spend the summer in Sanibel. To play a  small part in a turtles life must be very rewarding.  

After the dig we went for a short walk on the beach.  It gets hot very quickly now on the beach.  We are sure hoping it cools off soon.  It was fun watching the shorebirds go back and forth along the shore being chased by the waves.