Birds Etc.

I'm sorry I don't have a better camera. We're planning on buying a nice SLR camera, but it's not in the budget until next month. So I had to make due with the little Canon we've had for several months. It's fine on most things, but telephoto shots come out really grainy. Thus, the quality of some of my photos are pretty lousy. But I did my best.

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The headsprings of Wakulla Spring. In the background on the far left you can see the diving platform where I did my jumps. The water in the center background is over 300 feet deep, making this the deepest known first magnitude freshwater spring on Earth.

The first thing we saw as we approached the spring was this Suwannee Cooter laying eggs in a patch of sand. There's nothing there to gauge size, but this turtle was enormous. Over two feet long, easily.

These birds were the most common on the spring run. This one didn't seem to like our proximity and was letting us know it. Basically, they quack like a duck.

A tri-colored heron who was fishing in a patch of vegetation.

Plenty of turtles.

Another one of those common birds. They seemed to be everywhere we looked.

An anhinga who was perched on a snag high above in a dead cypress. By the time we leave for Yellowstone, I hope to have a good SLR camera with a good telephoto lens.

This bird turned its head just as I snapped the shot. Not very cooperative!

Some kind of duck or drake?

This was the biggest alligator we saw all day. It was HUGE! And look at those teeth!

I took this for one reason: Two Johnny Weismuller Tarzan movies were filmed here. They say this was his favorite tree to climb on and jump from. I don't think it's alive anymore, but it was in his day. Yeah, yeah. Make yer penis jokes.

A brown snake in a wax myrtle as we floated past.

Take my word for it...this was an enormous gar. Probably six feet long, at least.

Mrs. Cooter lays her eggie-weggs.