We finally got our state park pass. Andrews is not a state park, but I plan on doing monthly field trips to local state parks, which are mostly springs. We hiked for 3.5 miles, at the Andrews Wildlife Management Area, yesterday, looking for birds. We didn't get a lot of pictures of birds, but we saw tons especially in this one area. The Suwannee River is high, from all the rain north of here, and will probably stay high through the spring once the snow starts to melt. So, we will be visiting springs on the Santa Fe River, which currently at least is not flooded. If the water is high, at the springs it is OK, but a lot of time the water gets brown out conditions where you can't see the clear water, and swimming is not advised. We were able to identify a lot of the birds we saw, but some we could not, they were too far away, even with binoculars. We saw about six Feral Hogs, but they were scared of us, and wanted no part of being close to us. Even though there are hiking trails, this area also allows hunting, so you do have to be very careful what time of year you go, and lucky for us none of our kids were quiet, lol. DJ saw a big cat when we first got there, unfortunately I did not so I can't say what it was, but we did find tracks for it. No gators, too chilly. After I had to take DJ up the road to Fanning Springs, for his volunteer day, and that springs did have brown out conditions. The ranger said there were manatees in there, but that we wouldn't see them. Of course we had to go check, and not only did we see one, but got a picture of it. DJ told me later, that he saw three more, in the hour he was there, but that the camera on his phone would not work. The weather was beautiful, and no bugs, awesome~! We are at the end of our second quarter, and will be finishing up testing Monday, to see where we are in Math and Writing.
