Kissimmee Prairie
Kristin and I went “glamping” at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park in Okeechobee Florida. This is supposed to be the darkest place in Florida, good for star gazing and such. The park also has nature trails, bird watching and other things to do.
We were staying in a big canvas tent, complete with microwave, refrigerator, and air conditioning - so, not exactly roughing it. The map below shows the campground, with a red arrow pointing to our tent.
On the day we arrived we set out on a hike of about 4 to 5 miles. I didn’t see as many birds as I had hoped for, but I did get some pictures. Again, the red arrow points to our tent, the white line with dots is the trail which makes a circle and lies west of our tent.
I have never seen a Crested Caracara before. This bird is a large raptor which feeds on lizards and snakes. It is found in the South, so don’t bother looking for one in New England.
Other than that, the only pics I could get were of some crows. Although, I did see a hawk, but he flew off before I could get a pic.
In the evening we went back out on the trail, not too far from camp to get some sunset photos of the prairies. A lot of the trees around here have fire damage.
After it got dark we headed to the Astronomy Pad. I had pictures in my head of dozens of scientists feverishly working to find alien life or something like that. Needless to say, I was sorely disappointed. The “Astronomy Pad” is a grassy area with a few parking spots. There were a few normal looking people doing not much at all. I actually got better pictures on the walk to the pad than at the pad itself.
It is dark in this park, but not nearly as dark as you might think. You cannot see the Milky Way as was advertised. I have been to places in Maine that are a lot darker and where you can actually see the Milky Way quite clearly.
After a good night’s sleep in our plush, air-conditioned tent, I went out to get some early morning pictures.
As I was walking along the trail, I spotted this deer resting in the shade just about 20 feet off the trail.
Another deer joined the party.
I don’t know what kind of bird this is
There is a Red-shouldered Hawk that lives near the camp-site. He loves to perch on fence posts - very convenient.
This Mockingbird was harassing the hawk all morning, although the hawk didn’t seem too phased by the Mockingbird’s aggressive displays.
We only spent one night, so after taking the photos of the hawk, we packed up and headed back to our condo in Melbourne.