Lyonia Preserve is another rare instance of the once-common Florida scrub habitat. And unlike the other scrub areas we’ve visited on this journey, it actually had scrub jays. But first, a photo of its general character. (Photo by zanna.)

And now the Florida scrub jays. These curious and inquisitive birds are only found in Florida, and are endangered. (Photos by quoderat.)

Here’s a few more of Blue Spring State Park, with better weather. Some manatees were in the spring run the last day we visited. (Photo by zanna.)

The water has a much different character in the sunlight. (Photo by quoderat.)

The weather lately has been rainy and a bit cool, so we haven’t been spending quite as much time outside.

This is Blue Spring State Park. (Photo by quoderat.)

The land on which this park sits has had many uses over the past few thousand years: a native American settlement; a steamboat stop; a private residence; a railroad stop; a tourist destination and even an orange grove. Now the palms and oaks have initiated their revanche. (Photo by quoderat.)

Today we visited Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. The park is zoo-like, but not quite a zoo. It contains an odd mix of truly wild/uncaged and captive animals. Many of the wild animals are Florida natives or regular migratory visitors lured in by free food and the relative safety of the enclosures, while other parts of the park have cages with red wolves, birds in an aviary, and even a hippopotamus.

One of our favorite parts of the park was the underwater viewing area that just teems with fish. These are wild, non-captive fish that swim up into the spring. (Photo by quoderat.)

The day was grey and it rained a little as we were leaving. This is a shot of the Homosassa River. (Photo by zanna.)

The park had a flock of flamingoes with other birds flamingling in. (Photo by quoderat.)

And here’s Lu the hippopotamus. (Photo by zanna.)

Apparently the pelicans feel safe enough here to make a small rookery. It’s the first time we’ve ever seen a brown pelican chick. (Photo by quoderat.)

We saw a caracara. (Photo by quoderat.)

And a burrowing owl. (Photo by quoderat.)

This bobcat was pacing its cage. (Photo by quoderat.)

These wood ducks (female and male) are migratory visitors and are not caged. (Photo by quoderat.)

Like many state parks in Florida, Jonathan Dickinson conducts prescribed burns to preserve the habitat as closely as possible to how it evolved; without these periodic controlled conflagrations, oaks would take over the landscape, dominating and crowding out the pines which depend on fire for their survival.

Here is what the landscape looks like after a burn. The small fire-denuded palms in the photo are still alive and will grow back fine in a few months. They are made for fire. (Photo by quoderat.)

We also climbed a mountain today. Well, what passes for a mountain in South Florida. Hobe Mountain rises all of 86 feet (no, that’s not a typo) above the landscape and is the highest naturally-occurring, uh, summit in South Florida. We barely made it up such an intimidating ascent, let me tell you.

Here is a photo of the picturesque boardwalk leading to the observation tower. (Photo by zanna.)

The smoke from prescribed burns can be seen lingering. (Photo by zanna.)

Florida’s undifferentiated horizon. The horizon in this photo is approximately 13 miles away.