After Juniper Springs/Fern Hammock Springs we headed a bit north, still in the Ocala National Forest, to Bear Swamp Trail in the Salt Springs Recreation Area. The park ranger at the pay station seemed surprised that we were there just for the trail. Camping, boating and swimming are the main attractions.

The trail is fairly short, a 1.3 mile loop, with a nice boardwalk on the far side. The mosquitoes were pretty bad. I had on my new permethrin jacket. I think it may help a little, but impenetrable force field against mosquitoes it is not. And although the jacket is made from a lightweight mesh material, I think it was still keeping me warmer than I otherwise would have been and I ended up getting dehydrated. So Mike took all of the pictures on this trail, using the Sony Cybershot.

red bellied woodpecker

bess beetle

southeastern lubber grasshopper

southern pearly-eye butterfly

After recovering (with sweet tea), we headed up to Ocean Pond (lots of parks!) with the intent of watching the sunset. It ended up being too overcast for any pretty colors. There was a black couple fishing from the public dock. The man had a lovely North Florida accent, thick enough that I couldn’t understand a lot of what he said to Mike. But he called dragonflies mosquito hawks.

A blue dasher

pond cypress balls (cones)

floating hearts

narrow-leaved sunflower