Florida 2013 Day 5

It's reached the point of vacation where I no longer know what day of the week it is ~ and that's not a bad thing.  Today was day 5 of getting out and about with my camera and 2nd day with Blair. Having a photography companion can be fun. Blair and I work well together because of similar interests, he also keeps my pace slow so I see things that I might otherwise miss. Blair has limitations on his walking so I will sometimes leave him to rest in the shade and explore a little on my own. It's also nice heading out with a local driving - Blair finds his way around the area without having to listen to a gps and he also knows of local spots that I probably wouldn't have discovered on my own.

Our first stop was the Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium in Ft Myers. I really enjoyed it and wrote a Trip Advisor review for them. They had a nice collection of animals on display - from frogs to snakes to birds to a feral hog. There were about 10 raptors that were is a rehab aviary - sad to think of these powerful birds unable to fly free. Their butterfly aviary didn't have any butterflies - staff member told us they were having trouble with lizards. There were 2 short loop trails about 1/2 mile in length - Blair and I walked the swamp trail, it was a boardwalk so easy going. When we got back to the Nature Center Blair was ready to sit in the shade - I headed out on their longer trail - about 1.3 miles. Came across a tall tall pine tree with sap dripping into stalactites - great photo op. There were only a few other people at the Nature Center and no one else on the long trail.We didn't go to the planetarium show. We spent about 3 hours at Calusa Nature Center exploring and photographing. CLICK for pix.

Next we headed back to Cape Coral. Blair remembered there were places where we might be able to view burrowing owls. Once we were over there we saw signs telling us that the Cape Coral Burrowing Owl Festival is on Saturday! Decided we were happy to be looking for them the day before the festival. We located a nesting site along a residential street and next to a sports complex ball field. On of the sites had a pair of little owls that we quite cooperative as photo subjects. I love them. CLICK for burrowing owl pix. I could have deleted some of these because they are similar.

We went back to Miceli's on Matlacha for a late lunch by the canal. It was nice to sit in the shade and eat lunch outdoors in February. The weather has been perfect this week - I have been tempted to complain about being hot! I haven't needed any of the warm clothes that I packed because temps have been in the 80's every day.

Last stop of the day was the Four Mile Cove Ecological Preserve also on Cape Coral. We didn't get there until 5 and the park closes at sunset. There is a long boardwalk trail through a mangrove forest. We walked all 1.25 miles of it - a very very long walk for Blair! He stopped at every bench to rest his aching feet. It was after sunset by the time we got back to the parking lot and the park ranger was waiting so he could lock the gate. Again there were few other people around but it's near a main road so the sound a traffic was always audible. There are several monuments to veterans as park of the park - seemed like a strange place for them. CLICK for pix.

One more full day in Florida before heading home. Looks like the storm forecast for Sunday has been downgraded a bit so I should be able to get home as planned.