Sunday March 31st 2024

Each day since the cold front passed through the area the number of clouds in the sky has increased. Today there were longer periods of time that the sun was blocked by clouds, but the temperature still made it into the low eighties.

Myakka River State Park was very poplar with local families this weekend. Yesterday there were a lot of people using the picnic tables and pavilions. Today there were even more. In addition to the picnic tables people were spreading blankets in the open areas and putting up beach umbrellas. The parking lots were full and the roads were backed up with traffic. In addition to the cars there were lots of multiple bicycle groups and walking groups.

Of course everybody had to stop at the park road bridge over the Myakka River to see the alligators. The parking areas and road on both sides of the bridge were filled with cars. Crossing the bridge was more or less a one lane affair. So many people were lining both sides of the bridge to look at the gators and birds. Of course many of the people are oblivious to the automobiles crossing the bridge at about 2mph to avoid hitting anyone.

The amazing thing is how quickly everything emptied out. I walked the three quarters of a mile from the campground to the bridge about 7PM and there was nobody there when I arrived. A few people came and went while I was watching the birds and gators. Earlier in the day there were hundreds.

I got my walks in today and managed to roast a pork loin and some potatoes with onions for dinner. It was a good meal with plenty of leftovers for future meals. The only down side was the cleanup that followed.

Saturday March 30th 2024

Add a few clouds and a little less wind to yesterday’s weather and you get today’s weather. It was a beautiful weather day with a high temperature in the low eighties.

I really got a slow start to the day. It was afternoon before I left my RV home. I expected to find a very busy state park and that is more or less what I found. The nature of the activity in the park was what surprised me. There weren’t as many cars going up and down the main road or flooding the parking lots at the turnouts, but there were plenty of people gathered in the picnic areas and pavilions. The big pavilion near the front of the park was even setup for something fancy. The picnic tables were all moved aside and rented round tables complete with white table cloths and chairs setup in there place. There weren’t a lot of people around, so I don’t have any idea what was going to happen. More significantly it was already 3PM when I saw the setup. Who knows when the event was happening. Maybe it’s tomorrow.

The alligators were more active today. There were a few taking the sun on the river bank, but there were also more gators than usual swimming at a good pace in the river. Seeing an alligator head in the water watching the shoreline is common, but watching an alligator reposition up or down river at a good pace is a more unusual sight. Today I watched a big gator come down river right to where I was standing safely on the bank. It stopped and watched a space on the bank just a little down river from my location. What it expected to find is a mystery. I’m confident it wasn’t me.

Today was a day for great blue heron sightings. I saw at least six today. Usually I don’t see more than one or two. All of the great blue heron are in their matting plumage. A few extra feathers and colors make them an even more interesting bird to take pictures of.

Friday March 29th 2024

After the cold front cleared the area late yesterday, the humidity has dropped way down. It was a bright sunny day without a cloud in the sky all day. The temperature was a little cooler than the norm for this time of year. It peaked right around the eighty degree mark. The wind was still a factor, but nowhere near the strenght of Thursday’s wind.

The state park was very busy today. The holiday weekend is getting off to a fast start. All of the parking turnouts at the attractions and trailheads were full to overflowing. People were parking on the paved surface of the park road. It was very narrow in areas as I drove deeper into the park this morning. When I left the park this afternoon the line at the guard station to enter was ten cars or more long. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as bad by late in the afternoon. I suspect tomorrow will be even worse.

There weren’t as many alligators on the river bank today. A lot of gators were half in and half out of the water, while others were swimming with only their noses out of the water. The birds seem to be little more numerous today. I even saw a couple of deer today.

Thursday March 28th 2024

I expected to wake up to rain this morning, but it was just a cloudy start to the day. All signs were the storm front had passed through overnight. I was getting ready for my first walk of the day at 10AM when the sky opened up. For the next hour several waves of heavy rain passed through the area. The front didn’t go through earlier than forecast. It went through a little later than expected. By noon the sun was shinning bright, the humidity was down and the wind was up.

Walking in the woods along the river bank was a little dangerous, but the birds and gator sightings were worth it. The heavy wind and gusts was causing things to fall out of the trees. Later in the day I noticed a few downed tree limbs in another area. This evening the wind has subsided and the overnight temperature is forecast to be below normal in the fifties.

This afternoon I managed to get my time with the washing machine and dryer. The dryer was in use when I loaded the washer and the washer was in use when I removed my stuff from the dryer, so the machines are getting rather constant use. This set of machines were cheep at $1.50 a cycle, but that didn’t allow any flexibility. My clothes were not completely dry after the dryer cycle. Since I didn’t want to spend another forty minutes and $1.50, some of my clothes are now scattered around my RV home to finish drying.

The weekend seems to have started today based on the turnover in the park and the party nature of some of the new arrivals. People may have Good Friday off. Comments on the TV news indicate that some of the schools are off tomorrow.

Wednesday March 27th 2024

Another weather transition began today. It was much more humid. The day began with more cloud cover than the pervious couple of days and it just got thicker as the day progressed. The temperature peaked in the low eighties again, but because of the humidity it was a less comfortable day than the previous low eighties days. Rain has begun as I am writing this blog entry in the evening.

I intended to get some laundry done today, but alligator and bird viewing got in the way. There is one set of machines at each of the two bathhouses in the campground. Catching them available is the challenge. I had the laundry bag full and ready to go. Each time I checked the machines they were in use. I decided to take a short walk to the river while I waited for a machine to become available. The short walk turned into a long walk. By the time I got back someone else was using the machines. The pattern repeated with lunch taking the place of a walk to the river. It will get done eventually. I just have to keep checking.

On today’s walk I spotted a log with three small alligators. Each alligator was about two feet long. The log was in the same area that I saw a group of young alligators last year. That group was about a foot long. Alligators are supposed to grow about a foot a year, so I’d like to think these are the same alligators I saw last year.

Today was also the day of the Limpkin. It seemed everywhere I walked there was a limpkin or two on the river bank. I think only one has been in my area of observation on this trip until today. They aren’t a particularly pretty bird, but they are very vocal and interesting to watch.

Tuesday March 26th 2024

Today’s wind was out of the south instead of the east, but otherwise it was a clone of Monday. It was a windy day with fluffy clouds and a high temperature in the low eighties.

In a previous blog entry I commented on not seeing any turkeys or turtles on this visit to Myakka Rive State Park. That deficiency was rectified today. I drove along the park road to the northern side of the park this afternoon. My destination was the boardwalk into Lake Myakka for bird watching. The boardwalk wasn’t open on my last two visits. It was damaged in September of 2022 by hurricane Ian. The first section of boardwalk was destroyed by tree damage near the shore. The temporary solution was to provide a path along the ground to temporary stairs onto the remaining boardwalk. Unfortunately, that path was flooded last fall. Today it was home to a turkey and a turtle.

The turkey was out of place hiding behind trees and bushes to stay away from the people using the boardwalk path. The turtle on the other and was oblivious to people walking by within a couple of feet. The Florida Softshell turtle was digging a nest for her eggs. A state park volunteer was guarding the reptile while she did her thing. I don’t usually see softshell turtles out of the water. Most of the turtles I see are Cooters taking the sun on logs along rivers and lakes. Today was my day to see softshell turtles. Driving back to my RV home along the park road I saw another one along the side of the road. Later I saw one stick its head out of the river before diving deep.

This was also a day that a few more bird species made appearances. Wood storks and Rosetta Spoonbills were among the new arrivals. They seem to have no problem hanging out with the alligators enjoying the sun.

Monday March 25th 2024

The wind was howling out of the east today. It was a real hold on to your hat kind of day. There were lots of big clouds in the sky, but the sun managed to shine around them most of the day. The temperature still managed to climb into the low eighties.

Probably because of the wind, the birds were in different locations today. Some of the long necked birds were really leaning into it. The new locations made it easier to take pictures of some of them. The great blue herons were particularly visible today.

My chief accomplishment of the day was restocking the refrigerator. I made a run to Walmart this afternoon. Since I didn’t want to be away from the alligators and birds for long, I chose to go to the nearest Walmart. It is not a purpose built Walmart. The building was something else before it became a Walmart. Consequently, they don’t have the same amount of space and things are organized much differently. The building has far more roof support columns than more modern buildings. It seems like every aisle has a post or two in the middle of the usable space.

Despite the unusual layout I got everything I wanted. The fact that I’ve been there before has a lot to do with my success. The other Walmart stores in the area are fifteen to twenty miles further away. There are a couple of Publix grocery stores nearer, but my purchasing is oriented to Walmart. The prices of the same or similar items at Publix always seems to be more expensive. If I was structuring my purchases around Publix stock, Walmart might seem to be the more expensive option. Next weeks grocery run will probably be to one of the newer Walmarts.

My second and final walk of the day to check on the alligators and birds was just before sunset. Everything was still as expected. Other years, this late hike was often an opportunity to spot other animals. I’ve seen deer, turkeys and wild hogs during my late walk other years. So far this year I haven’t seen anything but birds and gators. I have about ten days to go.

Sunday March 24th 2024

Weekends in this state park are very busy. Today’s great weather with high temperatures around eighty seemed to bring even more people out. They come to see the alligators and maybe take hike or boat ride. Traffic on the main park road is very heavy and all of the turnouts near trail heads or wildlife viewing areas are overflowing with cars. The speed on the park road is defined as 15 mph. The stop and go nature of the ride with everyone pausing to look at real and imagined wildlife is frustrating. When you try to walk or ride a bicycle you just seem to become part of the problem. It is far better near evening when most people have departed or during the week when crowds are lower.

In the last couple of blog entries I talked about the water level in the Myakka River. Today I walked over to the river level gauge and it read 10.6 feet. I compared that reading with a picture I took of the gauge last September. It was 14.3 at that time. The river level is about four feet lower today than it was in September. Last April when I was here it read 9.3 feet. Thus, the water is a little over a foot higher this year. The grass along the shore is probably a couple of feet higher too.

The alligators seemed to be a little more shy today. There weren’t as many taking the sun on the river bank. There were still plenty of heads poking above the surface of the water. Every set of fishermen along the park road bridge seemed to have a gator or two watching their action. If they hook a fish the race is on to see who actually gets the catch.

Saturday March 23rd 2024

Yesterday’s storm was over by the time I got up this morning. It was a beautiful sunny day with a high temperature around eighty. The back side of the front brought strong winds, but the bulk of the storms were off to the east.

I spent the day getting settled in at Myakka River State Park. The last time I was here in late September to early October the water level was near flood stage and the park was still working on some damage from hurricane Ian nearly a year before. Now the cabin repairs have been completed and other areas have been reopened. The trails I couldn’t walk because of high water are usable again.

The one issue that continues is a concern with the drinking water. Since last May there has been a don’t drink the water order in place for the state park. I knew about this before I came last fall and this time, so I came with a full tank of water. They are also providing drinking water by the gallon for campers at the ranger station.

The water level is well within the banks of the river now. I think the high water level persisted well into the fall. The grasses along the banks are very high and in some areas it looks like water only receded recently. On one to the trails that I couldn’t walk last fall there are a number of trees down across the path. It is necessary to climb over or under them to follow the trail. The park staff really needs to get out with a chainsaw.

The alligators were out on the river banks today. At one of the popular viewing areas a group was counting them. They seemed to see twenty in that location. I think it may have been some creative counting, but there were a lot of them. At the park road bridge over the river the alligators were harder to count. Many were in the water.

Initially, I did see as many water birds as I expected. Out along the banks of Lake Myakka there are usually lots of birds feeding along the bank. The trees on the far side of the river have been filled with roosting birds in the past. This morning I saw one bird along the lake shore. Later in the day, along some of the trails along the river away from all the tourists I started to see birds. There are probably as many birds around in different areas than I’m used to looking.

Friday March 22nd 2024

It was a rainy day today, but the frightening forecast for severe weather didn’t materialize. The bulk of the severe storms moved south of here and even there the severity diminished from the forecast level. It started to rain at a moderate level some time in the early morning and continued into the waking hours. It continued off and on until about noon.

I got a little wet finishing up my travel preparations this morning. My raincoat probably saved me from having to change clothes before traveling. My thirty five mile drive and setup at my new location was accomplished between showers. As the afternoon progressed and evening arrived the frequency of showers increased into a steady rain shortly after nightfall. The current forecast calls for the rain to end at breakfast time tomorrow.

My drive to Myakka River State Park wasn’t without its traffic issues. The on ramp to Interstate 75 south was plugged with traffic. The interstate in that area wouldn’t take anymore vehicles. Being familiar with the area it was easy for me to continue beyond the interstate and take a surface street south to the next on ramp at FL 70. From the traffic, I guess a few other people took the same detour. I was able to get on the interstate beyond the blocked traffic. The density of cars was still very high, but traffic moved with only a few slow downs. I’m glad it wasn’t raining.

I’ll be at Myakka River State Park for two weeks. The last time I was here, at the end of September to the start of October, the water level in the river was high. On first inspection it seems to be lower, but still higher than normal. Hopefully the trails along the river will be usable. There seem to be plenty of alligators around.