Friday April 15th 2022

The weather trend of the last few days continued today. The overnight clouds cleared shortly after daybreak to be replaced by bright sunny and fluffy clouds most of the day. As sunset approached the clouds increased. Some of the clouds were threatening, but no rain or heavy wind resulted from the threat. The temperature peaked a few degrees above yesterday around ninety degrees.

This is my last full day at Myakka River State Park for this season. I have reservations to return in December and I am still trying to get another set of reservations for next March. This visit has been a fun visit. Most days the alligators have been around in large numbers. Some days they are out on the river banks and others they are pretending to be logs in the river. The second most common wildlife I’ve observed is the Limkins. These screeching birds really know how to make there presence known. Surprisingly I haven’t seen many egrets on this visit and the herons were less plentiful as well.

On my second walk of the day I came across one Great Blue Heron that didn’t seem to mind me getting fairly close. He was busy preening and allowed me to move slowly and quietly move along the river bank taking pictures from many angles. The setting sun got in the way of some of the pictures, but I got a few good ones too.

I’ve completed most of my outside preparation tasks for tomorrows move. I am targeting a departure between noon and the 1PM checkout time. My stop for the next week is back at Lake Louisa State Park in Clermont Florida. It is about one hundred and twenty five miles away. Unfortunately, the route is one of the worst traffic wise that I experience in Florida. Interstate 75 in the Sarasota and Bradenton area is the first hurdle followed by 75 in the suburbs of Tampa. Then I have to cross half the state on Interstate 4. The Lakeland area is the first problem on that route followed by the slowdown as you approach Orlando. Needless to say I’m not looking forward to the journey. At least the construction should be a non issue on a holiday weekend.

Thursday April 14th 2022

It was a mostly sunny day with the peak temperature in the upper eighties. Overall the weather was very similar to Wednesday. Why were the alligators behaving so differently?

On Wednesday the alligators were staying in the water with only their heads above water. Today they were lining the banks of the Myakka River, but not in their usual spots. Most of the alligators were on the downriver side of the bridge and were on the opposite bank from their normal hang out. The few that were left on the upriver side of the bridge were also on the opposite bank. Do they know a full moon is coming?

Wednesday April 13th 2022

The temperature and humidity continue to climb. The day started with bright sunshine which transitioned into high clouds as the day went by. The result was a high temperature in the upper eighties, that might have been even higher if the clouds didn’t move in.

There weren’t as many alligators out of the river this morning. Only a couple were fully out of the water. A state park volunteer was at the bridge over the river providing information about the alligators. He had quite a few people listening to his commentary. In the group was one little girl that was very disappointed that the creatures were not crocodiles. The park volunteer proceeded to convince the little girl the alligators were so much better than crocodiles. I think it was the personal attention that convinced her rather than his “facts”. He could have just as easily claimed the crocodiles narrow pointed snout was better than the broad stubby snout on the alligator. The point is the guy was good with people particularly children.

While the gators were staying in the water today, the turtles seem to be out on the logs taking the sun. I have to be careful walking along the river bank not to disturb the turtles before I get a picture. Turtles seem to be very concerned about activity on the bank and often slip into the water before you even see them. Alligators on the other hand aren’t as concerned about land activity, but will sink into the water at the approach of a kayak or canoe. The turtles just let the water based intruders paddle by.

The alligators were out on the bank more during my second walk of the day. Unfortunately there didn’t seem to be much other activity in the early evening.

Tuesday April 12th 2022

The temperature and humidity continued a slow climb. Today was on the upper side of the middle eighties and the humidity was a little muggier than Monday. The wind moved from the east to the southeast and south.

I had a very lazy start to the day. Breakfast and my morning internet reading dragged into the lunch hour. The remainder of the day was spent away from my RV home getting frustrated with traffic and other tasks. I don’t have much to write about this evening.

Monday April 11th 2022

The wind has moved from the north to the east, but a clear sunny sky remained the dominant feature of today’s weather. The temperature climbed from the overnight low around sixty to a high in the mid eighties with a little more humidity than the weekend days.

I drove up to the concession area on Upper Lake Myakka to start my adventures today. The group of Rosetta Spoonbills are still huddled in the tree near were the old weir was recently removed. A few vultures, an egret or two and a tricolor heron were also hanging around with the spoonbills. This area looks so different with the weir removed. It will be interesting to see what it looks like when the water level is higher.

My second walk of the day was along the river near the park entrance off route 70. There were quite a few alligators taking the sun on the bank. As the water level get lower the alligators start to congregate near the deeper water. Based on one of the water level gauges in the park the water level has gone down almost a foot in the last week. Typically the dry season ends in June, so there is likely to be lower levels to come.

Thursday April 7th 2022

I woke this morning to a bright white sky. The sun was blocked by a layer of clouds, but they were thin enough that a lot of light came through. The other prime element of the days weather was the humidity. The moisture in the air needed to be cut just to walk through it. The weather was the main influence on the overall day.

The animal life in the park was hiding from the weather. All of the alligators were in the water. A few were swimming, but most of the visible gators only had their eyes and snout above the surface. The bird life was not out in the open area. The trees and tall grass provided a little more shelter from the strong wind than the open river bank. The only animal life I saw on the river bank was a single turtle that had used its limited energy to climb onto a log.

Midway through the afternoon the cold front arrived. I was driving in downtown Sarasota at the time. Conditions were not ideal. The rain fell sideways from the wind, visibility was poor and traffic was heavy. The storm front lasted for a little over two hours. On the other side of the front, the temperature was ten to fifteen degrees lower, the wind let up and the humidity was gone.

Back at the campground this evening there were plenty of big puddles and a few downed clumps of leaves. Overall it was much more comfortable weather. The next few days are forecast to be in the seventies with plenty of sunshine and lower humidity.

Wednesday April 6th 2022

It was another warm day with high humidity and wind out of the south. The clouds were thick enough to hide the sun more often than they allow the sunshine to reach the ground. The temperature peaked around ninety degrees. The cold front with the potential for severe weather arrives tomorrow.

Perhaps it was the heat and humidity or just my mood, but it was hard to get motivated today. I spent extra time finishing my breakfast coffee and catching up on my internet reading. My quasi plan to make a grocery run was abandoned for today. I started my first walk of the day well after the noon hour. The alligators and wading birds may have been in a similar mood. They were few and far between today. I think the absence of continues bright sun kept the alligators off the river bank and in the more constant temperature of the river water.

It is interesting to listen to people’s reactions to the alligators they see. In particular they can’t seem to get a handle on size. I am clearly not an alligator expert, but I have picked up a few facts from trusted sources over the years. What I would consider average gators are often exclaimed as big or huge by other people. When a truly big gator is in view they often declare it’s length to be eight or nine feet. In my view most of the full grown gators in the river are seven to nine feet long and some of the big ones are near twelve feet long. The small, young ones, don’t seem to hang out in the river with the big ones. This is the start of mating season, so the big males won’t tolerate the smaller males well. They can get aggressive.