A morning hike

Our next outdoor trip was a very quick and simple one. Sometimes it's good to just take a walk and save some money. :) So we headed to the Tibet- Butler Nature Preserve on the Butler chain of Lakes in Windermere, FL. There are certainly no shortage of lakes here!

It's a smaller, 438 preserve surrounded by parks and homes on many sides. Thank goodness it's there! It's hard to find much of the natural world around Orlando anymore. The Vera Carter Environmental Center at the beginning of the walk was lovely. There was a little garden outside complete with native turtles and engraved plaques describing the plants. I'm still trying very hard to learn more about Fla plants! The inside was small, but full of intrepretive and interactive exhibits. Outside the building, there were a myriad of trails snaking through the park. We took the Osprey Landing Trail since it ended in an overlook. It was nice to take a simple walk in the woods again. We saw mostly bugs, but near the end, we heard a great commotion and squeaking. Suddenly a black racer (snake) darted at full speed across the path, followed closely by an angrily squeaking wood rat. It was kinda cool. ;-)

We came to a boardwalk at the end of the trail. It started in the pine forest, but when we turned the corner, we were suddenly in the midst of a gorgeous cypress hamock. The trees were so straight, tall and smooth and draped in spanish moss. The reflection in the water beneath them made it all the more perfect. I wish I could find the photos we took, but they are nowhere to be found! Sometimes digital pictures aren't a good thing.

At the very end of the path was an overlook over the water. Despite lots of searching, the only thing I managed to get a glimpse of was my first green winged teal through our binoculars. I was glad though because most of our ducks are only here for the winter. This one was a very impressive male.. My cousin Heather would have loved this beautiful little duck. I can't even begin to describe it, so hopefully the photo does it enough justice.

Then it got hot, so we went home. The end. ;-)