Beautiful Myakka River State Park

We scheduled only one full day at this state park outside of Sarasota, Florida, which turns out to be way too little time to watch all the water birds, to hike and bike the trails through the palms and live oaks, to watch the enormous alligators in the river.

But the two nights we have here: these are two nights too many in this crammed-in campground with children riding their glow-in-the-dark bikes around and around the campground circle, families with a kazillion dogs and just a tent to tie them to, crying babies, and, yes, someone with an air conditioner in their tent. This place takes the cake.

Canopy Walkway and Tower

But the park itself: gorgeous!

We got up early on our one day to walk a wooden suspension bridge through the trees and to climb a tower to look over the whole park.

It’s hard to capture or describe all the life at eye level in the palms, oaks, ferns, moss. Actually, we saw a lot of squirrels and robins! But mystery birds, too. Tracy saw a blue-grey gnat catcher, a red-bellied woodpecker, a black and white warbler, among many.

The view from the top of the tower, at 75 feet, was bright and vast, not as interesting as deep among the tree tops, though.

Can you see the great egret flying way below us?

Swamp and River

It’s like another planet here.

We biked over grasslands with occasional palm trees around us, and we watched alligators slowly rise out of the water to sun themselves.

Below is a great blue heron in red, a little blue heron (or a tri-color?) in blue, and a great egret in green. While walking along the waterside, Tracy saw a reseated spoonbill, and I saw a glossy ibis, surely the same that I found the feathers of in the woods a few weeks back (thanks for the ID, Whit!).

However, right now on our second evening here we’re playing music in the tent to drown out the neighbor’s children arguing and the other neighbors complaining about the family hanging towels on the trees.

Time to go! You guys stay safe.