I love this place! Ever since my first visit back in 2007, right through to the present day I have found Lake Alice, Gainesville, Florida to be a great place to visit. It is amazing that such a beauty spot with its diverse wildlife could be incorporated within the grounds of the university in Gainesville. Of course, the University of Florida is one of the reasons that Lake Alice is so wonderful, they manage to keep that difficult balance between keeping the place tidy and maintained and taking care of the animal life, but at the same time allowing the wildness to do its own thing.
Over the years I have managed to capture some great shots of Lake Alice and its animal life.
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| Lake Alice, Gainesville FL, in the daytime |
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| Lake alice, Gainesville FL, in the evening |
At the southwest end of Lake Alice is the Baughman Center, it’s kind of a secular all purpose functions building. At one point, Abby and I toyed with the idea of having some sort of wedding event there.
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| The Baughman Center on the southwest bank |
I love the wildlife that you find at Lake Alice. There are some big old turtles there.
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| Big turtle at Lake Alice, Gainesville. They have such funny little faces with long snouts! |
Plenty of bird life.
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| Heron from a distance at Lake Alice |
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| This bird was behaving peculiarly, I don't know what was up with him! |
Bats who occupy the bat houses, which are built and maintained by the University of Florida. The bats emerge at sundown each evening and it’s a great sight to see.
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| The Bat Houses near Lake Alice - I have tried on numerous occasions to get a good photo of the bats emerging at sundown, but it is difficult as obviously the light conditions are poor and the bats move very fast, so all I end up with is a blurry swarm that looks more like a mist or cloud than bats! |
But my favourite, of course, is the alligators (see more of my alligator pictures). Abby (my wife) and I count how many that we see, each time that we visit.
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| The first alligator I ever saw at Lake Alice, Gainesville, FL. You may recognize it as I used the image on the banner at the top of this blog (with a little help from Mr Photoshop!) |
looks pretty, I have a park near me with a lake, and go there to read, take pics, and reflect, everyone should get back to natureas often as they can, Kevin
ReplyDeleteBeautiful...just hopefully not too many mosquitoes :) But all that wildlife, too cool!
ReplyDeleteLooks nice, but I'm scared of those animals, so I will enjoy this on screen.
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@ Kevin Yes, the wildlife is great here! I don't know why people bother going to Disney World when they come to Florida! haha!
ReplyDelete@ Texa Too many mosquitoes unfortunately! I don't stop itching from the bites! lol The first time I came to Florida, I got an allergic reaction, at least that's stopped now! :-)
I love this place too, and of course the enjoyment factor for me is amplified by your company combined with the fact that is a low-cost, eco-friendly activity. :-)
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@Xysea - Yes, the old adage really is often true: The best things in life really are often free and I am glad to include Lake Alice, Gainesville in that! :-)
ReplyDeleteLove herons and cranes and all sorts of water birds. Lakes and wetlands have very cool creatures - and some freaky looking bugs!
ReplyDeleteFirst time on your blog.. liked this post.. i lived in gainesville for a very short time and enjoyed this aligator's paradise.. enjoy your stay there :)
ReplyDeletewould like to take my kids. how much?
ReplyDeleteLake Alice is free, as is the parking. There are a couple of parking places I normally use on Museum Road not far from the bat house.
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