Monday, January 18, 2010

Paynes Prairie - LaChua Trail


Today was to be a chance to see Spanish horses and buffalo but the closest we came was about a mile away.  This is a BIG wet prairie, probably 50 sq. miles.  The 3 mile walk was a good one.  All told we saw maybe 100 gators ranging from 1' to 10' in length, about the same amount of turtles, hundreds of Ibis, Black Headed Buzzards, as well a substantial number of  rails, sandhill cranes, herons and other wetland birds.  The highlights were a rare American Bittern, four Whooping Cranes, and a Lesser Heron.  The suprise we didn't see was a poisonous Cottonmouth in a coiled position just of the trail. A volunteer was motioning walkers to the left of the 6' wide trail to avoid it.  They hide rather well as we didn't see it. This trail is a must do again but first we need to hit several other trails in the park.


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