The Real Florida: Blue Springs State Park

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Those dark forms are manatees. Excuse please, this is an iPOD picture..

Yes, it is still there..at least that's what it said on a sign outside Blue Springs State Park, in Orange City Florida. Spanish Moss (not a moss, but a lichen) , palmettos, cypress forests, alligators, manatees, not malls. Abundant bird life, not indistinguishable subdivisions. The real world beyond Disney World.

Blue Springs State Park is a dedicated Manatee Refuge
and winter home to a growing number of West Indian Manatees

Hello!

Gar hang out there too.

So do alligators.

And non-native Tilapia. This is a male, fanning out a nest space.

Blue Spring is the largest spring on the St. John's River. St. John's River cruises are offered..or you can launch your own canoe or kayak. These pictures are from the cruise boat.

Early spring on the St. Johns.

Great Blue Heron..of course!

A super sighting of an American Bittern!

Mistletoe in the trees. A hemiparasite.

A baby alligator..

Mom not far away..

The obligatory Anhinga drying it's wings.
Poor birds do not have waterproofed feathers.

A young Cypress forest.
The original was cut down for it's high-quality wood.

White Ibises in the trees.

A juvenile.

What are you looking at?
Osprey, beautiful "Fish Hawk"

We are enjoying the sun..

Spanish Moss and Spadderdock.
Tick, tock, time to head to the dock,
back to the other Florida..

Florida Springs will not protect themselves; those who know and love them must protect them~ Jim Stenvenson, Florida Department of Environmental Protection.