Apri 01, 2010 - Long-awaited spring shows its colorsSUFFOLKTIMES.COM I APRIL 1, 2010 1 9A
Long-awaited spring shows its colors
The day was perfect to do some exploring, so we
headed for the Palma Sola Botanical Park here in
Florida. We had visited this little jewel once before -
It's a small, well-kept park that boasts lovely gar-
dens and unique trees along with shallow lakes and
freshwater wetlands.
That this unique 10 -acre site, which once served
as the Manatee County Nursery, was saved by lo-
cal citizens and interested groups for all to enjoy
shows what people can do_ A foundation was cre-
ated to preserve the site as a valuable green space
and park. And what a great park it is Today it is
available for educa-
FOCUS ON NATURE tionalpro grams,pas-
Si recreation and
public events in the
midst of all its natural
beauty-
We had brought
our lunch and decid-
ed to relax and eat on
FA ST0UTFi%d U H one of the benches
that border the pond.
No sooner had we gotten settled when Barbara
spotted a colorful male wood duck sitting on a
wood duck box that had been placed in the pond
"Now, there's an interesting ot Barbara said colorful wood ducks can be found he fro m to to Canada They nest in hollow trees oraAman-made boxes often
g P o,"
as she reached for her camera and took off. That placed in ponds
put a stop to the idea of lunch for the moment
Later, as we sat eating, we noticed something big 3:
moving slowly in the water, and as the movement ,. S l r
got closer, we could tell there were three large Florida * ° c�7° /r
softshell turtles. These big turtles range in size from
6 to 24 inches The females are larger than the males,
the males being only half the size of the females The
ones we were seeing were large females
Softshell turtles have a long neck, an elongated �t
head and a long snorkel -like nose. They feed on�'� �1
fish, snails, insects and amphibians In captivity
they have been known to live 10 or more years.
f� K
They are shy around humans but will bite with
their strong jaws when threatened. So beware. !-
As the turtles came close to shore and we contin-
ued to watch them, we noticed hundreds of small
fish feeding in the area We were told there had
been two mishaps in the pond: a summertime fishx
krill caused by the lack of oxygen with all the heat i
and the winter kill that took the big fish due to the
record - breaking cold winter. We were happy to see f \
all the young fish in the pond t
We sat enjoying the beautiful day we had chosen
for our visit; the temperature was in the 70s As we R
sat there we saw an anhinga, or snakebird, fly over
the pond and light in a nearby tree, where it stayed
with wings outstretched to dry ofl: [l d
On the other side of the parles buildings, near
the picnic area and children's recreation area,
we spotted a common moorhen, known also
as a common gallinule, a relative of the purple
gallinule. These long -toed dwellers of freshwater
n.
marshes ca often be seen walking on lily pads
or oatrng ebrrs.
Spring was showing itself everywhere we
looked Right alongside where we sat was a huge
bottlebrush shrub in full bloom. The name surely
describes it well, for it matches almost perfectly an
old bottle brush that hangs out in my garage.
By now spring is slowly showing its colors on the
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Left The red bottlebrush shrub is one of many varieties
of bottlebrushes. Despite its color, the flower looks ex-
actly like a bottle brush youd use at the kitchen sink-
Above: The Florida softshelt turtle ranges north to South
Carolina, Georgia and Alabama but is found mostly in
Florida. If threatened, it can give you a nasty bite.
North Fork I'm sure the clump of snowdrops has
begun to appear along my woods. Each year they
can be counted on — whether there be ice, snow,
rain or a sunny day, they are one of the first to
welcome spring. Then the daffodils and tulips fol-
low and, of course, by now there are the old reliable
ospreys back to repair their nests for a new spring.
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