As we close out our winter stay in Port St. Lucie, we visited several local wildlife areas. Near the RV Park we walked daily to the Wood Stork Trail, finding different birds and wildlife every day. This Great Egret did a close fly-by over the crosswalk.
This Cuban Tree Frog was discovered in a Catclaw Acacia Tree, almost hidden until a few leaves were moved to photograph it.
This Green Heron is a "reflection" of the numerous herons and egrets encountered along the trail's wetland.
A visit to Hutchinson Island resulted in some beautiful shell collecting for us as well as this Willet doing his own collecting in the surf.
Royal Terns rested on the beach after diving for fish in the surf. We drove the island from Fort Pierce to Jensen Beach.
We took the River Lilly Cruise up the northern branch of the St. Lucie River. When we were in Maine at Acadia National Park at one of the campgrounds, we met the couple that give this guided nature tour. Our family and friends joined us - the three kids especially loved all the alligators - 16 in all.
Small world note: We met this family at the RV Park from Wisconsin, when we told them we had worked and lived at the Wildlife Sanctuary in Green Bay for 40 years, Jessie asks, "Are you Daryl Baumann's brother?" She had Daryl for a teacher at the Baptist school in Antigo. Her husband is working on the pipeline in West Palm Beach. We were able to get everybody together for some fun and visiting.
The rare find of the day was this 5 foot long Red Rat Snake (to the right) - some of the people in the boat didn't even want to look.
Because it was a sunny day, all the reptiles were basking in the warmth. Even this Soft-shelled Turtle stayed above the water as the boat drifted by.
We took day trips to the Oxbow Eco-Center, Savannah Preserve, Allopattah Flats and the east side of Lake Okeechobee. We heard and saw Limpkins in 3 out of 4 of these places. This one found a nice sized Apple Snail for lunch.
Next blog will include our Disney Animal Kingdom adventure with Troy & Carmen who vacationed in Orlando for Valentine's Week. Plus Ty's upcoming mission's trip to Haiti with Daryl. Please pray for their safety and good health on this three day trip.
Love & Prayer's
Ty & Ida Baumann
Hi Ida! Oh-you are having so much fun on the road. I am so tickled that you and Ty are able to enjoy these moments after retiring. I hope you love Animal Kingdom as much as we did. We saw a Mama Hippo just after giving birth to a baby in the canal. She was cleaning him all up. What a special thing to see.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it funny how small the world is when you run into people that you would never imagine seeing? Blessings to you. We will pray for a safe trip and ministry in Haiti. Hugs- Diana Kosmoski
Ida- Do you know you have double word verification on? It makes it hard for people to leave you a comment. Let me know if you want to take it off and I will shoot you the instructions-