Wednesday December 22nd 2021

Mother Nature looked at the calendar and decided to cool things down. The first full day of winter was the first day in December with a high temperature in the sixties for the Sarasota FL area. There was also a constant fifteen to twenty mile per hour breeze out of the north east. An overnight low in the forties is anticipated.

Walking around the state park today there were more people and fewer animals. Most of the Alligators were in the water with their heads above the surface. Only a few were taking the sun on the river bank. The birds were hunkered down of puffed up to ward off the chilly breeze. The increase in people as the holiday approaches is visible by the steady flow of cars on the park roads and the full parking areas near all of the wildlife viewing spots. The kids have been out of school since last Friday in this area, but most of the visitors seem to be adults from northern states based on the license plates on the cars.

The campground seems to be behaving differently than the overall park. There have been empty sites the last couple of nights. The online reservation system shows the park completely full. Most of the sites in this section seem to be occupied by people staying only a night or two. Other years I think there have been a lot more longer stays. Let’s call it confusing.

Landscapes

Alligators

Birds

Sunset