Hardts On The Highway: Myakka River State Park

The tour we didn't take last week while at the MDS meetings was the tour that went to Myakka River State Park (we went on the Cruise tour instead). After Gene told Forry about the tram ride and the birds he saw, we decided we needed to go on our own.

The Myakka River State Park is one of Florida's largest and most diverse natural areas. The Myakka River flows through 58 square miles of wetlands, prairies, hammocks and pinelands. The river and its two shallow lakes attract a myriad of wetland creatures. And indeed, the first thing we saw at the lake was this flotilla of American White Pelicans. Twice as large as their brown relatives, the American Whites have a nine-foot wingspan.

There were a pair of Sandhill Cranes fishing in the shallows --

These little Grackles are out on the weeds with this Glossy Ibis --

Note its large curved bill --

It was neat to see it side-by-side with a White Ibis (we wondered at first if it might be an immature White, but they have white fronts even when young and a pinkish bill.) --

Then there was this Greater Yellowlegs, dashing about (hard to tell from a Lesser, but this one was over a foot tall.) --

Its black eye, black bill and yellow legs make it a striking bird even in its winter plumage --

We tentatively identified this fellow as a Reddish Egret by its black tipped yellow bill and shaggy feathers. It was quite a ways away and wasn't moving about any, so we never saw its legs.

This Great Egret was very intent upon its fishing --

Then it was time for our hour long "Safari tram" ride --

Much of the park area is prairie that is often underwater during the summer rainy season --

Our driver talked a bit about this willow that grows among the palms and oaks --

And showed us some of its NASTY thorns that can go right through a leather boot sole! They were used as pins by the early settlers --

This large alligator strolled across the road in front of us --

We came by a little pond where six of these large Cooter Turtles were sunning --

Our driver said that these Florida Cooters were one of the favorite foods of the alligators who eat them shells and all!

This pair of Osprey were fixing up their nest on one of the power poles. There seemed to be a nest every third pole or so --

We saw this Red Shouldered Hawk perched in a tree above a small pond --

Because of the "no-burn" policy of rangers during the last century, the prairie grass has been taken over by palm and oak trees and is almost solid palmettos. They are now using controlled burns to try to return the prairie to its natural state. The old settlers said there were NO tree here a hundred years ago...

With the current controlled burn policy, native grasses such as this broom grass are once again appearing --

After our tram ride, we went to see the Myakka Canopy walkway with its 74 foot tower --

The walkway itself is 25 feet above the ground and was built to observe life in the treetops of a oak/palm hammock --

The walkway itself is 85 feet long. Completed in 2000, this structure is the first public treetop trail in North America --

From the top of the tower, you actually look down on the tops of the trees. We thought we might be able to see some of the little birds we had been hearing, but they flit into the treetops to quickly to be identified -- more of those "LBJs" -- little brown jobs.

The climb to the top is really not very scary as the side boards are over five feet tall --

And the climb is in eight step sections. You climb a bit to a wide platform, turn a corner and climb another eight steps...

After we left the Canopy Tower, we drove around the north end of the lake. We spotted some of the wild pigs that bedevil the park, but they were skittish and quickly moved off. I only got a shot of their rears... (The non-native pigs tear up the forest floor rooting for acorns. They have up to three litters of 6-12 babies a year, so even though trappers catch 1200-1500 of them per year, the park is still over-run.)