#51 - Moss Park Campground - Narcoossee, FL March 8-11, 2012

Our Campsite - #28

This is one of our favorite parks for camping. It's only about 52 miles from our house, so it's a great place for a quick weekend get away. The campground is well maintained and a majority of the campsites are large and secluded. 

We always see a lot of wildlife at Moss Park. It is one of few parks that does not allow dogs, and we think that has a lot to do with why there is always a lot wildlife viewing. As much as I love dogs, they can scare the wild critters and birds, and we enjoy seeing the wildlife.

One of the reasons we went camping here at this time of year, is there are usually baby Sandhill Cranes walking around with their protective parents. But, not this year, the Campground Host told us there had been four babies born late last month, but something had gotten a hold of every one of them, probably a raccoon.  Sad. 

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However, we did see many turkeys over the weekend.

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This is Resurrection Fern after having no rain for many days. 
   Looks dead, doesn't it?

         Well it's not...this is Resurrection Fern after it rained Friday night.                    You can see how this fern got its name!  So pretty!

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We always see deer at this park. This doe really wanted
 those tender new buds on this tree.  See the doe in the 
background watching me?

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A beautiful Black Swallowtail butterfly

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This is the elusive Fox Squirrel. This is the only campground where I have ever seen this type of squirrel. I have tried many times to get photos of one of them and this was the first time I was able to get somewhat close enough to photograph one. They are larger than the common Gray Squirrel and have some really unique markings and coloration.

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I thought this was so comical how these Sandhill Cranes were both standing on one leg in the middle of the road, while preening their feathers.

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Did you know that a group of Turkey Vultures, or I guess any kind of vulture, is called a "venue"? So the next time I see a bunch of vultures

eating something dead on the side of the road, I can say, "Hey, look at 

that venue of vultures"...hmmm, maybe not, that just sounds too sophisticated of a description for a bunch of birds that just eat dead things.

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Unbeknownst to us, the Park was hosting a triathlon on Saturday and Sunday. We were up early Saturday morning to watch the events.

The first leg of the triathlon was swimming 750 meters
 (a little less than 1/2 mile) in Lake Mary Jane.

The awaiting chariots

 The second leg consisted of biking 12.4 miles.

The last leg was running 2.8 miles. The course took
 the runners right by our campsite, twice! 
The race started at 7:00am and the last runner 

went by our campsite around 11:00am.
 I admire the participants' stamina and dedication.

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We built a campfire Saturday night, even
 though we had the AC on in the camper :-)

We even cooked our gourmet dinner over the campfire!

 Watching a campfire is so mesmerizing.

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A few parting shots...

Fly softly, and carry a big stick.

"Will you walk into my parlour?" said the Crab Spider to the fly.

This is the waterway that connects Lake Mary Jane and Lake Hart, 
the two lakes that border Moss Park. Frequently, there are 
kayakers, crew rowers and  jon boaters using this waterway.