Paynes Prairie Field Trip
Story and photos by Ron Buskirk
On Saturday, January 15th, several members of our club participated in a field trip to Paynes Prairie. ( http://www.floridastateparks.org/paynesprairie/default.cfm)
The official field trip was planned for members to meet at CFCC at 9:00 am and car pool to the park. I kept thinking about the great light that would be missed by getting there that late, so I decided to drive there myself a little early.
I arrived at the park entrance on US 441 at just past 8:00 and decided to check out the boat ramp before driving to the observation tower parking lot. The morning light was good, but I didn’t find much subject matter to shoot. I took a few frames of the lake anyway and headed to the parking lot. I was leaving my car for the short hike to the tower as Jay drove up (another early bird). We hiked back to the tower and set up to wait for the amazing wildlife and the beautiful morning light in which to shoot it. Jay had decided to pack light, so shortly after we got to the tower, he was headed back to the car for more gear.
We shot some flocks of birds in the distance and some general landscapes. Jay concentrated on making a panoramic image of the prairie. We saw two other photographers way off in the prairie and thought that it looked like a likely place to find club member John Roach, but these guys were wearing hats, and since John doesn’t typically wear a hat, we figured it was not him. This was confirmed later.
Well, other members began to arrive and everyone hauled their gear to the observation tower and started shooting landscapes. Before long, JM announced that we were moving to the north side of the prairie where she knew there would be more wildlife to photograph. We all discussed how to get there and car pooled to Gainesville.
JM was right. This side of the prairie was loaded with alligators. There were some birds as well. Glenn spent some time photographing a blue heron, and we all got many photos of the gators. 
I mostly got photos of people getting photos of gators. Everyone dispersed into smaller groups. Some groups spent more time just inside the park with the alligators. Others ventured deeper into the park looking for the “perfect image.” I left one group to walk farther up the trail towards the observation deck. Just before approaching the deck I found the others from our group that had come this far.
We watched Harrier Hawks hunting for prey in the prairie until we noticed that the wet weather which was predicted for the afternoon was on the horizon and heading our way. We made some informal bets as to whether we would get back to the cars without getting drenched as we started back. It was just starting to drizzle as we reached the parking lot.
I will put up an Event Gallery of images taken from those of you that were on the field trip if you send them to me following the instructions on the Gallery Prep page.
Thank you Kimberly for arranging the outing !