Lake Kissimmee State Park

Over the weekend Ellen and I went for a short backpacking trip at Lake Kissimmee State Park in Lake Whales, FL. The weather was great, the birds cooperative, and the park was a unique experience. We traveled back into the 1870's to the park's "Cow Camp" an authentic Florida cracker cow hunters camp where a cow pen and an original "Florida cracker." The thing is, these aren't your average beef cows or milk cows that you see everywhere on the sides of the interstate travelling through the state... these are scrub cows. 'Whats a scrub cow' you ask? Well the Keys are known for thier little deer, we also have little bovine. These "cracker" cattle, as they were also known, are smaller shorter horned bretheren of the Texas longhorn, that evolved into a smaller breed due to the fact that they were feral and needed to survive in the upland scrublands of Florida. History lesson aside, these are cool little cows and they are a unique part of our states past and present.
From the cow camp we set a bearing for the north loop trail. Along the trail we were suprised and slightly startled by the piercing call of a sandhill crane. I stopped in my tracks to take pictures as this bird was within a few feet of me and I feared I might never get the chance to get a shot this close ever again. Much to my surprise this magnificent bird turned to walk right across my path, close enough to touch! I followed her around for a few minutes and took my fill of shots before I decided to leave her alone. We later found out that this bird was distracting us from the rest of her family and chicks which were hiding nearby in the tall grass.
A ways down the trail we saw some deer in a field of tall grass, we moved as close as we could to take pictures before they ran off when one of the does started kicking any deer that would get in front of her, it was an odd behavior to witness but according to a hunting page I found online this doe must have been the dominant fmale of the group.
Our stay was quite nice as the temperature seemed to get down into the 60's overnight and proved cool and comfortable. We got several pictures of birds and landscape as well as a few of us goofing around. Here are a few of some birds and of Ellen. To see Ellens versions of the weekend check out her pics when she gets around to posting them :)