MUD SPRINGS

In between storms on Wednesday, we decided to go to a State Park nearby that Bill and I hadn't been to but Matthew had  been several years ago.  The paths were well packed and pretty easy to traverse as long as you were careful of roots!

There was so much to photograph but the boys set the pace and it was much faster than my usual meander!  Isn't this unusual?  There are three native moth caterpillars that make a 'restaurant' at the tip of a fern frond to avoid being eaten themselves!

We saw several clumps of this plant which was new to me.  They were not very tall-about 6-7" is all and it the plant was not in bloom, I wouldn't notice it at all. After a quick Google search, I found it is the  “Orange milkwort”, Polygala lutea, and the root of this little flower smells like wintergreen!  Very cool!

After a mile and a half to reach the Springs itself.  It is really this beautiful turquoise color!

The bottom is farther away than it looks (about 7-8') and the Spring pumps out about a 1.4 milliion gallons daily into the St Johns River.  The water is 72F all the time-no matter the season!

We didn't swim this time but we will the next time we go!

This was fun to look at and note the many birds we see on a weekly basis,

The water cycle of Florida.

We saw this guy on the walk back to the truck.

These vines has grown together in a very tight braid!  

This soft-shell turtle was also spotted!  She is large and came up from the water level to lay her eggs.

She has a very flat shell that is not made of the hard sections of her cousins.  She measured about 20" across--very large!

The forest has seen some fire damage--

most likely from a lightening strike several years ago, going from the undergrowth recovery.

What an amazing excursion!