Savannah Recreation Area, Heathcote Gardens

Last Friday, I drove down to the Port St Lucie Savannah Recreational Area, a municipal park along the St Lucie river.  The rest of our crew were shopping and doing other non-photographic things...

The city set aside some natural savannah [swamp] lands that included a campground, many small water canals [ditches], and my first alligator sighting in Port St Lucie since we're here.  He's probably only four feet long, and mostly submerged in this picture.

They do blend into the landscape don't they?  Savannahs are flat, very flat; the high point might be only one metre or so above sea level.  Here are a few scenes to give you some idea of this important eco-system.

Of course, egrets seem to be almost everywhere when you get away from people.  This cattle egret captured my interest because he's got flaps down etc. for a landing.

After my few hours walking in the area, I moved on to Heathcote Gardens, a private garden at the north end of the municipal park.

This is a little oasis of chosen plants set up in discrete areas as if they were separate rooms; well worth a visit.

Here's one of many subtle sculptures scattered around the gardens.

Sometimes, the sun decides to highlight plants that are fairly common down here.

Next is a little gecko that is trying to attract and impress a new mate. I've seen this a few times before: their throats can be quite a few different very bright colours. It's quite a sight, but it only lasts a couple of seconds.

Next are two butterflies spotted from the butterfly garden.  The first is about 2.5 inches wide, the second is a much larger swallowtail, about 4 inches or more.

The garden included a small clump of rather beautiful blue bamboo.

Of course, Mother Nature sometimes assigns some design work to a kindergarten class, with stunning results.

The delicate caladium plants do very well in the Florida dampness,   growing into fairly lush carpets of gorgeous leaves.

And here are two more pictures taken yesterday, Monday, of our swarm of bees.  It was a little warmer and the bees were much more active.  The pictures are from opposite sides of the swarm which is about the size of a basketball.

Overnight, the swarm suffered a catastrophic fall: the tree-limb fell to the ground!  Authorities have been notified and we expect that the swarm will be removed soon since it could be very dangerous for the few people that walk there.  Right now the bees are very active and I don't think making a picture would be worth the risk... Maybe later.