The park is on both sides of AIA near Marineland. One side is the visitor's center and formal gardens, situated on the Matanzas River.
I was standing on the bank of the river, taking some pics when I heard a rustling by my left foot. I looked down, and there he was - about 6 inches from my shoe. FC, you would have been SO proud, I didn't even scream. I moved away, (rather quickly) and shooed him. He kind of looked at me with a mild annoyance, and then proceeded to try and climb this tree:
Some park patrons noticed me taking pictures of him, and insisted he was an indigo. Correct me if I'm wrong, FC, but I believe he's just a black snake. Indigos don't have white chins, do they? Anyway, I tried to tell them he wasn't an indigo, but they knew for sure, so I just gave up and agreed with them :) Washington Oaks is a lot of things, and one of them is SNAKE HEAVEN. We saw snakes everywhere we walked - sunning in the weeds, swimming in the ponds. I think this one is a Florida banded water snake:
After we saw all there was to see, we went to the beach side. It's a beautiful place.
We sat on the rocks and watched
I was standing on the bank of the river, taking some pics when I heard a rustling by my left foot. I looked down, and there he was - about 6 inches from my shoe. FC, you would have been SO proud, I didn't even scream. I moved away, (rather quickly) and shooed him. He kind of looked at me with a mild annoyance, and then proceeded to try and climb this tree:
Some park patrons noticed me taking pictures of him, and insisted he was an indigo. Correct me if I'm wrong, FC, but I believe he's just a black snake. Indigos don't have white chins, do they? Anyway, I tried to tell them he wasn't an indigo, but they knew for sure, so I just gave up and agreed with them :) Washington Oaks is a lot of things, and one of them is SNAKE HEAVEN. We saw snakes everywhere we walked - sunning in the weeds, swimming in the ponds. I think this one is a Florida banded water snake:After we saw all there was to see, we went to the beach side. It's a beautiful place.
There were some very interesting coquina rock formations. :)
We sat on the rocks and watched
The moon come up...
and the sun go down.
I am looking forward to going back when everything is in bloom. After the park, we went to dinner at a fairly new restaurant near us. It was AMAZING! All in all, a great day :)
I took so many pictures, I filled up my 2gb card. You can see more Here :)
19 comments:
Very nice - R and I went back in the Fall - Glad to say we did not see any snakes - I told him I wanted to go back in the Spring when everything was in bloom - but after seeing all the snakes you took-I'm not so sure. R said it looks like and indigo to him. All your pictures are beautiful as usual, except for the snakes, I just can't call them beautiful.
It definitely could be, I am lots of things, but "snake expert" is definitely not one!!! LOL. I googled indigo and all the pictures I see don't show any white, but one article said they could have cream color on the chin. Seeing so many definitely kept me on my toes! I should have known when I walked into the visitor center and it smelled like moth balls.
The white chin is a characteristic of the black racer. He doesn't look indigoey to me, so I go with black racer.
Good for you both for passing each other with no harm done.
Beautiful pics, you should be proud!
So where is Cobblestones?
Thanks FC :) Cobblestones is on Racetrack, excellent food. Pricey, but good for a special occasion!
Erin and I stopped briefly at WO park a couple of years ago in late March, but not much was blooming yet then either. Didn't make it over to the beach side though - will have to do that. I'm sure the rose garden is lovely when in bloom.
I've been to the Cobblestones near Queen's Harbor for lunch - it was quite good indeed. Now that our favorite French place is closed (ack!) maybe I'll take Erin there for dinner on our anniversary...
Yes, Erin told me about the French place. :( I told her you should definitely go to Cobblestones for your anniversary, her birthday, something! :)
lovely shots, not a bad one in the bunch!
Snakes are amazing, glad you took pictures of them
Glad you guys had such a great time. (posting from my hunny's computer) - Melissa
Nice place, except for the snakes. I had a run-in with an Indigo at Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales. I knew he was an Indigo because there were a couple of them that are residents. That one was HUGE! I didn't hand around long enough to figure out if he had a white chin or not. Yuck!
I really enjoyed seeing these pictures this morning, I'm sat here with a cup of tea at 07.13.. and I'm in awe at you moon shot.. loved the snakes, something I don't get to see over here. We have them but I've never seen them.
All in all I great set of pictures from an amazing day.
Gorgeous pictures! What a wonderful way to celebrate!
Thanks for those pictures, they are lovely. I've only seen a snake in the wild on one occasion. Was that poisonous? Hope not.
Well! what can I say Sharon just beautiful collection of photos.Wish i had been there too.
What amazing photos. I feel like I've been there now ....
You find the most interesting places to visit! I looked at all of the pictures and they are beautiful. One day...if I ever get to move back to Florida...I'll have to visit that place.
what a lovely day and shots. I really like the shot with the three gulls flying.
I love the fractal reflections on the water surface.
Very beautiful photos. If you see a snake in a grassy park here, you can almost guarantee it will be very poisonous. But they tend to avoid humans.
I liked everything except the snakes. Yikes! You are very brave to stand there taking pictures.
The first shot, out the doorway, is especially beautiful, as is the moon.
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