The pictures in this gallery post were taken along the La Chua Trail on the north side of the Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, an amazing wilderness on the southern edge of Gainesville, Florida. Click once on a thumbnail to open it in a separate window. Maximum dimension is 600 pixels.
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- We saw many different birds, large and small.
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- This alligator was about 20 feet from the trail, the minimum recommended distance on land.
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- Paynes Prairie is an enchanting place.
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- High clouds made for bright light without harsh contrast.
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- Great Blue Heron.
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- We think this was a Green Heron.
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- The La Chua Trail leads to a sinkhole that feeds the water into the Florida aquifer.
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- Great Blue Heron.
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- Great Blue Heron.
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- The largest alligators were 12 feet long.
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- We counted 54 alligators on our walk along La Chua Trail.
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- Egret and Great Blue Heron
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- Even the squirrels posed for photos.
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- A half-dozen of the alligators were along the edge of the dike, 10 to 30 feet from the trail.
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- Amazing, almost prehistoric, creatures.
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- A Great Egret.
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- These little birds were about 4 inches long and accompanied us along the trail.
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- Little Blue Heron.
