March 30, 2009 - Today we are sitting on the bank of the Otona Locks in the Otona Lock South Campground. The locks are on the Okeechobee waterway that runs from the Gulf Coast to Lake Okeechobee and then to International Coastal Waterway on the Atlantic side of Florida. This is a very nice park with a nice variety of wildlife. Last night we walked down to the fishing pier and watched a turtle, an Otter with 2 babies, 2 women fishing and catching Redfish - more commonly known as Red Drum. They had 4 good size fish in their bucket and were going to take them home for dinner. I checked online for regulations later and Redfish must be between 18 and 27 inches and the bag limit is 1 per person per day. Oops - they are lucky the game warden wasn't around. We also saw whooping cranes on the way down here from Daytona - they are magnificent birds and huge!! Spotted a hawk swooping down on something but couldn't see what it caught. Today Ken went for a walk to watch a beautiful yacht go through the locks and saw a bald eagle across the canal on a tree. A person that volunteers to count manatees in the waterway said there is a pair of eagles with eglets in a nest not too far from here. Also, according to the volunteer person, there are usually 20 plus manatees that go through the canal daily but the counts have been down this year. I will be happy to see just one! We are off to visit with friends later today and tomorrow but while we are here we will be watching the watercraft go by and enjoying the sunshine.