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And Turtles:

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And Birds of all Kinds:

~Snowy Egret

~Pied-Billed Grebe

~Anhinga

~Great Egret

~Great Blue Heron

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And the colors were beautiful!

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But what made the day special were the manatees.  Last year, for the first year ever, 12 manatees spent the winter in the Wakulla River.  At present are at least 18 manatees in the river and everyone at the park is hoping they stay for the winter again!  Today, there were 9 of them - playing right by where the boats launch!  They rolled and played and put on quite a show.  It's very frustrating trying to get pictures because they move so fast and their face is only out of the water long enough for a quick breath.

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You can see fresh wounds on the one below - no doubt from one of the many boats on the river,  In the State Park, the river is protected for about 7 miles and there is no boat traffic, but the lower part of the river has a lot of boat traffic and the manatees have to cross that to get into the protected park.  (Actually, there is boat traffic - the first 1 and 1/2 of the river is where the tour boats go - but believe, the rangers keep very, very close eyes out for the manatees!) 

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This guy popped up right where I was standing, but I had my big lens on and there was no way I could back up far enough fast enough to get a good clear shot...I almost fell in the water trying to get this one!

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And then the mom and baby came to the surface.  He was so small....but don't let him fool you!  They say he was born in the river back in the April and then he and his mom disappeared.  Finally, they were spotted all the way down at Crystal River.  Don't know how far that is by river, but by car it's almost 4 hours.  They snagged mom and put a radio transmitter on her and followed her back to the Wakulla - they arrived back in September.  That's a lot of miles for such a little thing!

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How I would have loved to have been able to capture that sweet little face - but all I got was the tiny nostrils!

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I just didn't think the day could possibly be any better, but them something happened that I have waited 3 years for - a mama gator with a baby on top of her!  I have wanted to see this for so long and wow....it was really something!

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He was just the tiniest little thing - no more than 10 inches and probably just born in the last 2 weeks!

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If you look above him to the left, you'll see another.  We think there were 4-5 total, but they were deep in the weeds and hard to see.  I felt extremely lucky to get these shots!

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It was another totally awesome day on the Wakulla River!!