Celery Fields in Sarasota, FL And More

We stopped at Celery Fields in Sarasota, FL to see some more water birds.  We were pleasantly surprised to find something else. 

 

We took this boardwalk which led to a viewing deck over the water.

Right after stepping onto the boardwalk, eagle-eye Lon spotted this turtle coming up from its nest.

After seeing lots of birds at The Rookery in Venice, I totally focused on this turtle.  My friend, Beth, informed me that this is a "gopherus polyphemous," an ancient gopher tortoise.  It lives in a den that will shelter other critters too.  The eggs require 100 days to incubate.  Thanks, Beth, for the awesome info.

Of course, if one picture is nice, a few more is even nicer. 

Awesome!

Back at the condo on the balcony, I zoomed in to get a closer look at this boat crossing the gulf.

Unexpectedly, we had a visitor.  I held my breath as I shot this photo from only a few feet away.

I love this trio of palm trees that live in the sea grass within our gulf view.

I spotted this bird in a tree-lined parking lot.  (Sorry, this photo is stuck here out of order.  I tried to relocate it but it's happy here).  :) 

This is back on the balcony.



Jared often has luck fishing on this pier at The Crow's Nest restaurant.  While we wait for our dinner table, this is where we hang out.

Poor guy, me and my camera just won't let him be.

The minute Jared turns his back, I'm at it again!! 

Give me an inch and I take a mile.  Actually, he's learned not to mind. 

This monster was parked alongside the dock at the Crow's Nest.  To give you an idea of its size, we watched this boat lift a small motor boat from the water and store it somewhere on board.   

After dinner we came out on the pier again.

How about that eye!!  Kinda spooky.

On that note, we left the pier and made our way back to Siesta Key to finish out our day.