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| santa fe river - from suspension bridge |
last saturday we did an overnighter at O'Leno State Park. weather was perfect.
30's at night. sunny and in the 60's during the day. great sleeping & hiking weather.
(quick side note: we left kitties at home. sam built a kitty door.
before we left, neighborhood cats started showing up. emo slyly chased them away.
hmmmmm. we think they were early...not supposed to show up 'til we were gone.
oh well. at least they cleaned up before we got home sunday.
no furballs, signs of food fights, piles of poop or puke, or dragged in frogs or lizards.
good kitties.)
anyway...some of these pic's aren't the best. hiking early on sunday morning...
the sun was BRIGHT and so some of my pic's look kind of washed out.
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| santa fe river sink |
in O'Leno, 900 million gallons of water per day flows underground
at Santa Fe River Sink...flowing into a complex aquatic cave system...
and reappearing 3 miles away at Santa Fe River Rise.
(at River Rise, the Santa Fe flows for another 35 miles until it reaches the Suwannee River.)
at the river sink...all that gunky green algae stuff collects & coats just about everything!
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| weeeeeeeee! get ready for take-off! |
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| and the creature from the green lagoon rises from the swamp... |
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| native wild azaleas grow all along the river |
back to the woodsy part of the trails...
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| Buckeye butterfly |
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| Red-shouldered Hawk |
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| i am fairly certain...pretty sure...that this is a Palamedes Swallowtail. (right? wrong?) (or Black Swallowtail?) |
if you know me...then you know i like to ID SCAT & TRACKS.
so here's a pile o' pOOp along the trail. BIG pile. scratch marks around it.
Coyote scat! of this i'm certain.
finally, eh?
the end.
the moon, saturday night from the campground.
life's a journey. enjoy the ride.
be cool. be safe.
laura
Looks like you had a fun camping trip! And the kitties were able to party at home while you were gone, what fun! I love the turtles, gator, butterflies and the deer. Pretty moon shot! Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteExcept for the gators, I'd LOVE to be there. ;))
ReplyDeleteduckweed everywhere! love the 'wheee!' turtle shot! glad the kitty party was a non-issue. :)
ReplyDeleteWow, where do I begin such beautiful captures, adorable critters, and camping with temperatures like a good Minnesota spring adventure. We've booked our Mother's Day camping weekend already, and it's a good thing, nearly every spot gone! Hard to believe, but I guess everyone is itching to get camping again.
ReplyDeleteWonderful! It's always such a treat for me to see your critters - critters I will probably never see in the wild. Well I have seen deer in Canada, but the only deer I see here are those my son-in-law has shot...
ReplyDeleteAnyways - all that green is yucky but fascinating - the hawk is beautiful, and the butterflies. Have a relaxing Easter break :)
Great set of critters, laura, and congrats to the kitties!
ReplyDelete~
I like the turtles...that gator not so much!
ReplyDeleteTHANKS everyone for wandering the trails...and taking the time to leave a note!! seeya!! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun camping trip! If there were cat parties while you were gone, glad they cleaned up before you got home--LOL! ;) Not sure I've even seen quite that much algae! I love how turtles splay their legs out to warm themselves--so cute. Always nice to go traveling with you...poop and all :)
ReplyDeleteLooks like a wonderful camping trip . . .
ReplyDeleteGood algae stuff, gotta show my hubs!
Perfect butterfly catches . . .
Brilliant images Laura, but the second from bottom, it is a new laid turd.
ReplyDeleteyes, bob! a fresh turd! don't kick it!! :) (coyote turd)
DeleteFunny look the turtles with green algae on it. Beautiful butterflies, birds and animals on land. Regards.
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking us along Laura, enjoyed a lot.. Made me Smile with the kitty adventures :) Looks like I've been adopted by two abandoned kitties, good thing I already have a cat flap!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you had a very nice time away and saw so many critters! amazing and got wonderful photos of them. So glad your kitties did well why you were away.
ReplyDeleteReally beautiful pics. Hope you are cool and safe too.
ReplyDeletejust wanted to say THANKS again to all those who stopped by!! have a good day!
ReplyDeleteCame via Magaly's Pagan Culture, so pleased I did, you have such an amazing collection of photos and enjoyed getting up close with the natural flora and fauna that you captured :)
ReplyDeleteshelle, thanks for stopping by...and for your kind words *blush*blush*. it's always nice to see new faces around here! :)
DeleteGorgeous place, I even love the river monsters from the green lagoon. And so interesting to know how different that river is with its sinks .....fascinating.
ReplyDeleteTHANKS again to all of u who stopped by...and left a note! hope you have a good day :)
ReplyDelete