About two miles into Myakka Prairie, before 9 a.m., it was already getting warm. But the birds were still active — with a red-shouldered hawk on the move above the prairie, and a sandhill crane and yellow-crowned night heron wading one of the small marshes.
We headed out for a Christmas Day afternoon hike along Tiger Bay State Forest's pine ridge.
This preserve has five-plus miles of lowcountry hiking trails through longleaf and tall slash pines.
One of the fire-break trails at Victoria Bluff Heritage Preserve/Wildlife Management Area.
Tall pines line the interior of Pickney Island National Wildlife Refuge.
The above photo was taken a quarter-mile in where the pines shade the double-track gravel and grass Shell Point trail.
When I reached the small trail bridge the weather started to change. The wind kicked up and the rain came down steadily.
Here is an aerial GPS map that shows the fast singletrack switchbacks in the southwestern corner of Virginia Key’s North Point trails. 
We wanted to try somewhere new, a hike that we didn’t have to drive to far to get to. So we headed out to Hypolouxo Scrub Natural Area. It turned out to be a nice late-afternoon hike through the flatwoods.
Getting air on Oleta State Park’s Volunteer Trail:
Greg defies gravity on Volunteer Trail
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Local bird sightings as reported to eBird:
“In wildness is the preservation of the world.” — Henry David Thoreau.
