It doesn’t get much better than standing in a huge open field of yellow flowers. The pictures would have popped more if I had a blue sky but the clouds kept the heat down as I hiked out into the field. It was quiet and I was early enough that there wasn’t many people around, just a few others farther down the field.
I hiked down a side trail along the tickseed fields hoping to see some critters but this was all I got at the end of the trail. A big pond without a bird or critter around. 
I drove to the boat ramp and got out and walked towards the big lake. I had to walk down worn paths through more tickseed. All of this area was under water at one time but the lake had been losing a lot of water over the years and keeps getting smaller.
I was walking along the edge of the lake but kept my distance from the water, keeping my eye out for alligators. This area may be under water right now during the rainy season but in mid-May when I was here we hadn’t had much rain for a while.
Another trail takes you where the water turns into the river and you can see the other side closely. This is where the alligators tend to hang out. The area closest to the water here is roped off for obvious reasons. I was using my 100mm-400mm lens to get these shots of the alligators napping on the other side. I love seeing them from far away.
The water was shallow here and you can clearly see them laying in the water. There were so many of them in this corner of the park. I counted 22 along the river area.
There were some interesting tiny critters along this trail as well.
As I stood and watched the alligators sleeping a black bellied whistling duck flew by.
There are some really cool old trees here. I took the above with my phone on the wide angle setting.
Some vultures were hanging out in the parking lot.
I always stop at this one area for a quick walk before leaving. You can see the river farther down but the trail is short. This is what old Florida looks like. I wish this park was closer to me. It’s almost 2 hours to get home with traffic during the day.
It’s so beautiful, and it looks so peaceful. Lovely photos!
We seem to always find something special at Myakka. Flowers and birds are sometimes incredible and just viewing all the old trees and more than a few ‘gators makes it a worthwhile trip.
Beautiful photos. Fun to see those napping gators!
Wonderful photos. We don’t get such huge expanses of tickseed here and I love the luxurience of it all. And 22 gators, wow. I bet there were a few more that were looking at you that you couldn’t see.
A park like that is a treasure.
To me alligator are quite scary.