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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- A half-dozen of the alligators were along the edge of the dike, 10 to 30 feet from the trail.
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- Little Blue Heron.
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- The largest alligators were 12 feet long.
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- Great Blue Heron.
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- Amazing, almost prehistoric, creatures.
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- A Great Egret.
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- Even the squirrels posed for photos.
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- We counted 54 alligators on our walk along La Chua Trail.
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- This alligator was about 20 feet from the trail, the minimum recommended distance on land.
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- We saw many different birds, large and small.
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- High clouds made for bright light without harsh contrast.
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- Great Blue Heron.
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- Paynes Prairie is an enchanting place.
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- The La Chua Trail leads to a sinkhole that feeds the water into the Florida aquifer.
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- These little birds were about 4 inches long and accompanied us along the trail.
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- Egret and Great Blue Heron
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- We think this was a Green Heron.
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- Great Blue Heron.
