Morning walk

Wednesday October 26
We got a fairly early start this morning, and got out for a walk at Robinson Preserve. We have visited before, but never at this time of year, and we were struck by the expanses of pink/purple grasses, shown in the lower right of my collage. We have seen them in places, used as ornamental grasses, but not in such an expanse. I had to Google it to find out more, and I discovered it is Muhly grass, and it is naturally found in Florida’s pine flat woods, coastal uplands and even along its highways, but these days it is also a popular choice in home and commercial landscapes. We also saw an Osprey on a branch with its breakfast - quite a large fish - and quite a number of Ibis, the one in my collage putting on quite a show. We walked for about an hour, then headed back and went to the beach, where I think the birds outnumbered the people (see extra). Since it was Laura’s last day before returning this evening, she had asked if we could have a late lunch at the Sandbar restaurant on the beach, before heading to the airport. Although she flew into Sarasota, she was returning from Tampa, so about an hours drive away. We enjoyed a lovely lunch - I had Fish tacos - outside but in the shade, looking out onto the beach. Our journey up to Tampa was a bit slow in places, but we had allowed sufficient time, so we didn’t have to worry. And then there were two! When we got back, the return being a bit faster, we headed to the beach again to watch the sunset ( see extras).
Step count: 13,508