Florida: Bunche Beach, Port Richey, and Epilogue, Feb 8, 2019

The 8th and final photography stop on our Florida trip (see here) was Bunche Beach. This post describes that stop, my visit with in-laws in Port Richey, and an epilogue of our trip.

Bunche Beach

We had a couple of hours on Friday morning for one last photography stop before taking Fr. Charlie and Mark to the airport for their 5:05 PM flight. We talked to some people at JN Ding Darling NP who said Bunche Beach was a nice spot (another option was Eagle Lakes Community Park). They were right! We enjoyed our time at Bunche Beach. I think the highlight was the Red-shouldered Hawk, which was roosting right on the path and sat for closeup photographs.

After the beach, we made the 2 hour drive to the airport to drop off Fr. Charlie and Mark. My next stop was Elaine’s in Port Richey.

Elaine’s house in Port Richey

My mother-in-law (Mary Grace’s mom), Elaine, lives in Port Richey, which is just north of Tampa. Three of Mary’s sisters, Franci, Jeannine, and Maureen also live in the area. I planned to stay an extra day to visit. Elaine invited me to spend the night at her house, and she planned a family get together on Friday night. We had a great dinner, and a fun time visiting afterwards. With Elaine’s kids, grand children, great grand children, and spouses, there were 15 in attendance, and it was great to see them all. There were some nieces and nephews there that I have never met before. Thanks, Elaine, for your hospitality, and to everybody for coming to the party!

Florida trip epilogue

We had a great photography trip to Florida! I was apprehensive when planning the trip that we might be doing too much, with two photography stops each day. But I think it worked out well – we got a nice sampling of the diversity of the west side of Central Florida. Our photography was mostly of birds, and Florida didn’t disappoint us. I photographed 21 species of birds that I haven’t seen before.

Thanks to my friends and traveling partners, Father Charlie and Mark! I really enjoyed their company on the trip, and, as a bonus, I picked up some photography tips from them!