It was a bird and nature day today. We traveled a little ways south this morning to the George C. McGough Nature Park, a relatively small park and environmental education center run by the City of Largo.
Th park is situated in a shaded oak canopy setting with palmetto plants underneath along with dense mangroves along the shore of the intercoastal waterway at the Largo Narrows. There is a loop trail through the park and walkway out into the waterway. The park is also known locally as "the turtle park" for its abundant aquatic turtle population.
There is also a nature center in the park which houses live animal exhibits and hands-on activities for children. The park also offers several environmental education programs. The center additionally takes in a few injured raptors, nurses them through recovery, and houses them if they are unable to return to the wild due to their various injuries. While we were there today volunteers from the center had several different birds on tethers outside while talking to visitors regarding the birds, their injuries and what the center does to help them. We saw three different types of owls,a red-shouldered hawk and a redtail hawk up close and got some great pictures of them. The park and nature center is a hidden jewel in a mostly urban center and was well worth the visit.
We then crossed over the causeway and drove about 4 miles south along the coast to visit the Seacoast Seabird Sanctuary. The sanctuary is the largest non-profit avian hospital and sanctuary in the U.S. We have visited the sanctuary several times in the past and always look forward to visiting it again while we are here. Injured seabirds are brought to the sanctuary and are treated by the organization's medical staff and volunteers. Their mission is to return the birds to their natural environment, but often some birds, depending on their injuries, remain at the sanctuary as permanent residents. They have treated up to 8,000 birds a year and at any given time there is an excess of 600 birds residing at the sanctuary.
After our visit, we traveled up the coast and had lunch at the Columbia Restaurant in Sand Key. It has a Cuban/Spanish theme and it is one of our favorite restaurants in the area. We had a great late lunch and drove back to the RV by way of Clearwater Beach.
The beach area activity here has picked-up quite a bit. Spring Break is in full swing and the warm weather and concentration of visitors and winter snow birds from points north has resulted in a busy vacation season right now with lots of extra traffic
Tomorrow we are going on a guided nature walk at Honeymoon State Park in the morning then up to Tarpon Springs for Greek food for lunch. We may also take a sunset cruise tomorrow evening, depending how we feel and if we can get a reservation.
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