Over, Under and Beside the Water

We took  a supper picnic down to the lighthouse on Sunday. It was a beautiful day and only the pesky sand gnats marred the fun.

Here is a sampling of what we saw:

This large yellow-bellied slider sunning on a stump.

Two phantom shots:

The first is one of two very large soft-shelled turtles that were gliding through the relatively clear water. Only the eye was above the surface.

The second was of some gars.

We met up with a couple of women from Montana who wanted to see alligators. We stopped and pointed out this one that was in the seven foot range. The camera they were using was only good for what we call “alligator pictures” because that is what we used to say when there was an alligator in the picture…somewhere…. we were sure there really was an alligator in there but you couldn’t find it in the picture.

So I took this one and emailed it to them.

After we left them, we went for a hike down to the East River. Along the way, we noticed bobcat tracks coming and going down the skinny path. At the end, was this print in the mud.

I love the tail print where it had whipped around.

Here is B’s boot for size comparison.

So, fairly recently, an alligator had been sunning on that small bit of shore. As we were the only humans around, it may have left only as we arrived.

Our son said it is the St. Mark’s version of a snow angel.