For one, it was on the way from central Florida, west out to Alabama. We don't like driving much more than 3 hours a day and there it was, just the right location. Sopchoppy, Fl. Seriously.
Sounded interesting; on a river. We have never camped or glamped for that matter on a river. When I booked on line I tried for a water site. I am getting darn good at site picks from a distance. This number 19 (now you know) is perfect...best in the park. I'm sitting at my desk, which is also the dining table and also the center of our Lark universe and can look out the back window at the water. How cool is that. A little nervous last night as we had torrential rains for 6 hours. Maybe we were too close to the water.
Red-cockaded Woodpecker (2)
Anyway, the real reason? The Red-cockaded Woodpecker, of course. This park is in a southern pine flatwoods, the perfect spot for a Red-cockaded. The global population of this bird is estimated at only 11,000 individuals and shows significant signs of decline. The current evaluation of the bird is "Vulnerable". That's not too good. (in birder language).
The park is known for several unusual animals. There is one, and only one, piebald deer. It is a rare white/spotted coloration. Haven't seen him. There are also white squirrels. The squirrels are leucistic.. a gene anomaly, they are not albino. Birds are often leucistic, white color variations. I have seen leucistic robins in Ohio. OMG, I'm sounding like PBS. Say it three times and it's in your vocabulary.
I knew when Ed ventured out this AM, a very chilly morning, he was destined to find the cocaded. My plan was to stay in and cuddle Eze in the warmth of the Lark with coffee. When he did not return for several hours I figured he had the find. Sure enough, a good sighting and great pictures. That, however, does not count for my life list (as he knows), so he took me right to the spot in the woods and I got my sighting this afternoon. He has a special gift....send him out for a rare bird and he finds it. Amazing.
A second delight: We were sitting at our table and Ed was reading about Eastern Towhees, one of our fav birds and read there is a sub species around here with yellow eyes. I said, "don't look now, but there are two males and a female jumping around our site." Sure enough, they had yellow eyes. Got great pictures. Sometimes birding is easy peasy.
Tomorrow we head back to the Gulf Coast beach. St. Andrews State Park for 10 days. Sand and Gulf waters, can't beat the combo.
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