Shirley and I prefer Everglades National Park but we get push back from those who associate the Everglades with "The Swamp." They are concerned about things like bugs, alligators, and snakes. Especially snakes.
Why would anyone go to The Swamp, they wonder, when they could go to Disney World or South Beach? Perhaps these pictures will help you understand why we think that a few weeks or a month or so in the Everglades is a wonderful destination in winter--or the "dry season" as Floridians say.
Summer is the "wet season." It rains every afternoon. It is hot and sticky. You can't breathe without inhaling seven pounds of mosquitoes with every breath. Camping is free in Everglades National Park in the summer because no sane person wants to be there. Even the park staff doesn't want to be there so all of the seasonal help goes someplace else for the summer.
The "dry season" (AKA winter) is a totally different story. Temperatures are mild and, with few exceptions, mosquitoes are not an issue. Camping or RVing in The Swamp is delightful. The weather is great and the chance to see wildlife is phenomenal. That's because, during the dry season, water levels drop and the birds and other animals are forced to seek out the few deeper pockets of water. They become much more tolerant of people because they have no choice. They have to have water and they have to have food.
Shirley and I stay at Long Pine Key Campground and walk the Anhinga Trail virtually every day we are there. Sometimes twice. Anhingas, by the way, are diving birds quite similar to cormorants except they have sharp beaks that stab their prey, usually fish, whereas cormorants have curved beaks that grasp their prey. But there are many other bird species there as well. Turtles and gators too. Even snakes. But don't get all worked up about snakes. Trust us. Visit just once and you'll wonder what all your serpentophobia was about.
The paved Anhinga Trail begins at the Royal Palm Visitor Center
and continues along Taylor Slough on an elevated boardwalk.
The purple gallinule is Shirley's favorite Florida bird.
A little pied bill grebe.
There are way more vultures in the Everglades than you would believe.
An unusual cold front killed thousands of fish. The vultures cleaned things up in a hurry.
The gallinule's long toes enable it to walk on lily pads.
If you are lucky, you might see a water moccasin.
But you probably won't.
For that matter, you probably won't even see a little garter snake.
Of course, there is no luck required to see a gator.
When a gator roars or bellows, the vibrations make water dance on its back.
Bellowing attracts mates and tells other male gators to stay away.
Sometimes it is taken as a challenge and results in a great gator rumble.
Vultures came to call dibs on the loser.
Swamp lilies
Florida gar
Green heron
Juvenile wood stork.
Adult
Watching an osprey hover then dive for fresh seafood is impressive.
There are quite a few ospreys there during the nesting season.
Two chicks in this nest.
Just one here.
There are lots of hawks, too.
Great blue heron with a takeout catfish dinner.
Little blue heron
Limpet
Soft shelled turtle
Roseate spoonbill
An American bittern can be hard to spot even when you are looking directly at it.
The snowy egret is identified by its "golden slippers."
Mama gator and her children.
Even bugs can be beautiful.
Mockingbirds imitate the songs of half a dozen other birds.
Tri-colored heron
Grove of dwarf bald cypress...
...that breath through their "knees."
The river of grass is many miles wide and a few inches deep. Shallow water flows very slowly from Lake Okeechobee to the Gulf of Florida.
White ibis
Juvenile ibises
Glossy ibis
Manatee
Or sea cow
Early sailors at sea for a long, long time said "Oh, look, mermaids!"
Black necked stilt
Little green herons perch on low branches overhanging the water and just lean forward to catch fish.
Anhinga chicks grow as big as their parents before they get real feathers.
c
There must be lunch in there.
Hormonal changes during the breeding season turn anhinga eyes bright blue.
Anhingas' feathers, cormorants' too, have no water-proofing oil. This allows them to swim long distances under water. But it also means they have to dry their feathers in the sun.
Baby gator caught a sunfish too big to swallow.
There are often a couple dozen or more gators at what we call the Wisconsin Hole because of volunteers from UW who were down in there clearing out invasive plants. A ranger stood guard with a long pole to bonk gators that became a little to curious about all the activity.
Rufous sided towhee
An anole extending his neck pouch or dewlap in a breeding or territorial display.
Black crowned night heron
Great white egret
The great white egret has green on its beak during the breeding season.
Cormorants swim underwater to capture fish with their hooked beaks. You may have seen them on Lake Erie.
Some have learned to bring their catch up on the boardwalk so the crowd of humans will prevent larger birds from stealing it.
The kingfisher perches above the water and dives straight down to get small fish.
No comments:
Post a Comment