It appears that it is too cold for the gators, turtles and most snakes.  This one found a great perch near the water, off the trail, and most importantly, in the warm Georgia sun.

We have had some nice walks at Piedmont and Bond Swamp NWR and Ocmulgee NHS.

Cool weather hiking

We were specifically searching for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker who only lives in this rapidly declining long-leaf pine ecosystem.  No luck.

Kent got a great picture of some turkeys but overall critter sightings have been pretty spotty.  It is still fun looking for them so we will keep walking.

They come to life only when the river is between 59ft and 61ft above mean sea level (near flood stage).  Else, it is a pile of rocks that often has to be portaged even with kayaks.  We saw the class III whitewater.  Pretty cool.

A morning walk filled with the sounds of barred owls, sandhill cranes, wild turkey and circling hawks.

Ocala National Forest, the heart of Florida Black Bear country.  We hiked a bit and drove through the center but, no bears.   The folks at the visitor center say the females and cubs are still denning but males and young females are out and about.   We will hunt another day.

Along the shore of a black water pond the pine needles are pushed up into a pile six feet long and two feet across.   Some sort of scat is scattered across the whole pile.  Ick.  Looks a lot like a gator nest to us.  I wonder!?  It isn’t the right time of year for gator eggs in Florida but we didn’t hang around very long to see if some out of sync mama gator was watching over it.

We celebrated my Birthday with a trip to Santee National Wildlife Refuge.  A couple short walks took us along wetlands and near the lake. Kentspotted a reclusive American Bittern (it is a wading bird sort of like a heron) and we caught a glimpse of the bright colored crowns of two different little Kinglets.  Gators were basking in the sun too.  Out for dinner rounded out a relaxing, fun day.