Final visit to Merritt Island

Friday
Our last day today before crossing to the west coast of Florida to Anna Maria Island tomorrow, and we reverted to our pattern of the first couple of days, driving the wildlife loop in the morning, then going to the National seashore in the afternoon. The morning started clear and sunny, as you can see in my landscape shot top right, but the clouds soon rolled in. We didn’t see many alligators this morning, but we were surprised to see three wild pigs bottom right. The two stars of my collage are the male and female Anhinga. They are often seen on branches overhanging the water, with their wings spread out to dry. When they are preening, they seem like contortionists, their long S-shaped necks twisting quite remarkably. The third bird is a Cowbird, helping himself to some bird seed someone had left in the parking area. The sun came out again very late in the afternoon, so we spent a little extra time, enjoying the near empty beach.
Step count: 11,398