Birdwatching at Gatorland

Humans aren't the only visitors to Gatorland. Some of them have brilliant white plumage, and a few of those even have colorful footwear. These large white birds are called Egrets, and they love nothing more than watching the alligators in their natural habitat. 

Or even interacting with them.

There are other types of birds who hang out at Gatorland, including Turkey Vultures, and this little fellow who thinks he's a penguin from Madagascar. But then, it's the holiday season, so naturally the Egrets adopt a more welcoming mood.

This Blue Crane liked nothing better than to stand in the water and survey his surroundings like royalty. If he wore jeweled slippers beneath the water, they were hidden by his reflection.

It's not just the Egrets who have to share Gatorland with their feathered friends; Macaws also reside there. The fellow on the left loved to flap his wings, even as he was clinging to the branch. I wonder if he was happy to share his domain with the Egrets.

We certainly didn't mind spending a little time with the Macaws, admiring their colorful plumage. Or at least, until their incessant chatter overwhelmed our ears.

Nor did we mind sharing our visit with the Egrets, even if they pushed their way into shots occasionally. 

At least the gators don't seem to mind the Egrets, or the rest of their feathered visitors. While they make Gatorland seem a little crowded at times, I suppose theme parks are supposed to be crowded, right?

Dragon Dave

Dunedin’s Hammock Park

Sometimes you feel like a nut

According to the brochure, Hammock Park, located in Dunedin, Florida, “is an ancient 90-acre mixed hardwood forest with more than 300 native species of trees, shrubs, ferns, wildflowers, and small animals.  In addition, over 100 species of birds inhabit the preserve throughout the year.”  We had no concept of how the park would look when we saw its entry in our guidebook, but it sounded like a neat place to visit, and coupled with the city’s Fine Art Center, gave us another reason to spend the day there.

Volunteers decorate the trees for Christmas.

As it was during the week, we had the park mostly to ourselves.  We ate our lunch in a covered patio, enjoying the pleasant December warmth while watching the birds frolic in the trees.  A stream meandered past, just a few paces away.  Had we arrived on the weekend, we could have rented one of the kayaks locked up nearby.  While this would have reinforced the skills we learned at Brevard Zoo, we looked forward to our stroll through the park.  Over 150 years ago, a U. S. Geological Survey team defined Hammock Park as a Wet Swamp, and the city mobilizes volunteers to protect the flora and fauna that call this park “Home.” 

There were many more “attractions” we could have visited, and most visitors would have likely ignored Dunedin’s Hammock Park.  When we travel, we enjoy seeing how people live there, rather than just flocking to the highly touted attractions.  At the Fine Art Center, a volunteer told us that the city’s name was not pronounced “Dune-a-din,” as we had thought, but rather “Done Eden.”  After visiting Hammock Park, we returned to our condo in St Pete Beach with smiles on our faces.  We’d had a wonderful day, and truly felt as if we had “Done Eden.”

If the angel with the flaming sword still stands guard, I’m glad he let us in.

Dragon Dave

Related Dragon Cache entries

Learning to Kayak at Brevard Zoo

A Journey For The Birds

This guy's grabbed the spotlight.

With our annual pass for the San Diego Zoo and the Safari Park, we can visit whenever we want.  We’ve planned several visits in the last two months, but neither time have we made good on our plans.  We particularly wanted to visit the Safari Park.  Even though there’s less to see there, there’s more land for the animals to spread out in.  Also, as we were inspired by my research on The Real Herriot Way, and have vowed to start a walking regimen, we thought it would be nice to walk around there.  But all our plans came to naught.  It seemed as if there was always something more important to do.  Or we were too tired.  Or the weather wasn’t right.  Or….

This guy's a contortionist.

After studying the painting more in Treasures of Ojai: Part 1, when my wife suggested this week that we visit the Safari Park, I immediately agreed.  I loved the artist’s depiction of the birds: where better to compare her depiction of still life to that of real life.  Plus, it would be a chance to really stretch our legs.  So yesterday morning, we got in the car and actually drove there.

It was a bright and clear day, so the lighting wasn’t optimal for photography.  Still, I loved seeing all the birds in their (somewhat) natural surroundings.  And we really enjoyed walking around the park.  We don’t own a pedometer, but as our usual half-hour walk lasts 1.6 miles, and we spent two hours there, I figured three miles would be a good estimate, as we probably spent half the time taking pictures.  It’s a long way off the twelve-to-thirteen miles a day we’d need to manage for one of those walks in England.  Truth be told, given our history and ability, I’m not sure we have it in us to walk that far four or more days in a row, and enjoy it enough to call it a vacation.  But at least it’s a step in the right direction. 

This guy, well,
I'm not sure how to describe him.

I’m glad we visited the Ojai Museum and photographed that painting of the birds.  Whether or not we ever take one of those walks in England, we really enjoyed our walking tour of the San Diego Safari Park.  And to think: it was a painting that got us there!

Dragon Dave

Birdwatching Where Charlton Heston Lost His Clothes

In the original “Planet of the Apes” movie, three astronauts trek across a barren desert until they reach an oasis.  There, they discard their clothes and dive into the rock-lined pool, reveling in the cool, refreshing water.  They don’t realize that the mute, native humans of this planet are watching them until they see their clothes being stolen.  They pursue the primitives, and recover their now-shredded clothes.  While his companions are angered by the natives’ actions, Taylor (played by Charlton Heston) announces, “Cheer up, boys.  If this is a sample of the neighborhood, we can take over and live like kings!”  (Dragon Dave Paraphrase)  Unfortunately for Taylor, horns then sound, rifles fire, and the apes ride in, dashing his dream of wielding ultimate power.

After baking in the sun along the dry, dusty trails of Malibu Creek State Park, the rock pools were a nice place to sit down and relax.  We climbed over the rocks until we found a wooden picnic bench that had seen better days.  We sat down carefully, noting how the wood moved and swayed beneath our weight.  Around us, little birds searched among the rocks for food, and flitted among the branches overhead.  

My wife pointed out one particular bird that winged overhead, and I looked up between the two cliff faces that rose up above us.  A predatory bird, such as a hawk or a falcon, soared through the sky, and alighted on the top of the cliff to survey us below.  I raised my camera, extended the range to maximum zoom, and snapped his picture.  Then I magnified the image on the viewfinder so I could study his features.

A hawk or a falcon?

It was then that one of the little birds that flitted through the branches overhead reminded me of his presence.  I didn’t feel the impact, but I heard a plop.  When I looked down at my left knee, I found there proof of his disapproval.  My wife came to my rescue with a piece of tissue, and thereafter I confined my interest to the green water, in which my wife spotted several fish, and even a turtle.  We found no remnant of the astronauts’ clothes.  Perhaps the apes picked them all up.  After all, they always claimed they were more ecologically mindful than the humans.

Sorry, little bird, but the bigger birds are worthy of my interest too. 

Dragon Dave

Related Internet Links

Omega Planet