With the beautiful fall weather we’ve been having in North Florida it was a perfect day to visit Paynes Prairie and to also go for a long bike ride. Work is still being completed on the sheet flow restoration project so walking very far out onto the prairie via the LaChua Trail wasn’t possible. However, a roundtrip ride east towards Hawthorne made up for it. I was able to get close enough to photograph a few birds, gators and a plethora of butterflies on the prairie before riding through the open uplands and sheltered hammock.