Once again we found a campground that is absolutely fantastic!! We have stayed in a couple of Corps of Engineer parks and they are always really something! Clean, well located and always on water. This particular campground is again located on the Caloosahatchee River, but further East from the Ft Myers area. Located in an area of beef ranches where we are occasionally serenaded by the cattle in some of the adjacent fields. There is quite a variety of wild life which I try to take pictures whenever we can. Below is hawk that must have staked out his territory just across the street from our campsite. Not sure what kind but large and fun to watch every morning.
Turtles seem to be everywhere and some are quite sizable for fresh water turtles. This one was probably 15" across and just one of many that seem to be congregating around the locks and in the still backwaters nearby. I know the fisherman get upset with them because they tend to go after the live bait being used.
There is an otter family that has chosen to make the locks their home and each morning you can see them nonchalantly moving about, aware of the people around, but not too worried about anything. These are relatively large animals and amazing to watch. I have only seen them in the wild once before while traversing Highway 41 in the Everglades.
I took this picture because it shows our friendly Alligator at the bottom of the picture resting and soaking up the sun directly across from our campsite. That's our motorhome with the flag flying in the near distance
Not really sure what was going on in this photo. The picture was taken at dusk when the bugs, which are an issue here, come out. There were a lot of swallows or purple martins flying about over the water obviously feeding on insects. I assume that there must have been a hatch of insects of some kind coming off the water, and at a tremendous rate, as the birds were swarming above and in the water causing it to appear to be almost boiling. The picture was taken at a distance but you can see the swarm of birds.
This last picture is our friend the alligator that has staked the area near us as his own. When not sunning himself on the rocks out front, he snuggles down into the water hyacinth waiting for a meal to come along.
Ortona is really quite a distance from any major civilization and that has to be the reason there is so much wildlife. Others in the campground have seen a Bobcat with two cubs, Sand Hill Cranes and the campground host even has a snake living in a palm tree next to their camper....Marge is not too please to hear that though. We are here until the 15th, Then on to Collier Seminole State Park which is just south of Naples.
