Myakka River State Park is also suffering from hurricane damage. The park has no potable water but the ranger station has free 1 gallon jugs of drinking water. The famous canopy walk and bird boardwalk are damaged and undergoing repair. We did not let this stop us from enjoying the park. Myakka is know for its population of American Alligators. We were able to kayak a bit, but the water level and the wind kept us from exploring too far. The Myakka river is feed by rain water and not springs so with Florida being in a drought, as well as it being the end of the dry season the water levels are exceptionally low. We rode our bikes all over the park. The trees were especially beautiful. The way the live oaks and the palm trees intertwined and leaned made for some really good wide angle photos. The squirrels in the campground were crazy too.
The park was really busy the weekend we were there for a geocaching event, so we headed out to explore the surrounding area and visited The Celery Fields, went to an art fair in downtown Sarasota, drove along the beach (Lido Key, Longboat Key, Bradenton Beach), hiked Perico Preserve, and checked out the Venice Rookery, which has been on Wayne’s bucket list for years.
Wildlife Sightings: Alligators, Little Blue Heron, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Black Racer, Crow, Spoonbill, Blue-winged Teal, American Kestrel, Gopher Tortoise, Mullet, Coronet fish, Crab, Osprey, Ibis, Greater Yellowlegs, Cormorant, Black Vultures, Turkey Vultures, Killdeer, Snowey Egret, Limpkin, Boat-tailed Grackle, Bald Eagle, White Pelicans, Prairie Warbler, Sandhill Crane, Glossy Ibis, Caracara, Wild Hog, Turkey, White-tailed Deer, Anhinga, Northern Shovler, Pied-billed Grebe, American Coot, Grey-headed Swamphen, Least Bittern, Tri-colored Heron, Cattle Egret, Northern Harrier, Tree Swallow, Red-shouldered Hawk, Nanday Parakeet, Common Moorhen
Wayne had a really good portrait session with a hawk.
Note: All photos and videos unless otherwise stated are property of Wayne and Margaret Shoemake. If you would like to use any of them please email us at [email protected].