Everglades National Park - Anhinga Trail

Waves, Swamps, & Bayous: Southeastern Waters - Part 6

Wednesday, 14 November 2018

Just before sunset, we walked the Anhinga Trail at Royal Palm in the Everglades National Park.

We encountered a cottonmouth water moccasin on the road.

As per the namesake, there were a number of anhingas along the Anhinga Trail. The female (left) has a different coloration than the male (right).

A great blue heron was sitting in a tree, drying its wings.

A great egret was stalking prey in the swamp.

An aligator in the open water near the Royal Palm Visitor Center.

John Pennecamp Coral Reef State Park

Waves, Swamps, & Bayous: Southeastern Waters - Part 5

Wednesday, 14 November 2018

This morning we had a snorkeling tour of the coral reef off Key Largo, Florida.

We had a 2 1/2 hour snorkeling tour in the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. It took about 45 minutes each way to get to our snorkeling site, near the Key Largo Dry Rocks.

The 2-foot waves were the roughest seas I’ve snorkeled in. It took about 15 minutes to get accustomed to the waves, but the water temperature was a very comfortable 82°F (28°C).

There quite a few fish, but the wavy coral sea fans were what attracted me the most.

Our snorkeling site was very near the underwater statue of “Christ of the Abyss", put there about 50 years ago (1961).

St. Augustine

Waves, Swamps, & Bayous: Southeastern Waters - Part 4

Tuesday, 13 November 2018

Lon grew up in south Georgia and made many visits to north Florida, but I’d never been to St. Augustine. So on our way to south Florida we stopped at St. Augustine. Because it was part of the Spanish New World, it does not get its due recognition as the oldest settlement in the US (1565). As a northerner, I learned about Jamestown (1607) and the Pilgrims in Massachusetts (1620), but not a peep about the Spanish in Florida, Texas, or Mexico

The Castillo de San Marco is one of (if not the) the major tourist sites in St.Augustine. It’s an old Spanish fort that was never overtaken by force, although it did change hands numerous times through treaties and alliances. It’s now run by the National Park Service as a National Monument.

Defensive cannons on the roof.

This special furnace was used to head cannonballs to about 1500°F -- hot enough to start a fire on an attacking ship.

The dry moat around the castillo.

A view of the cathedral roof from the castillo.

The castillo was made of “coquina”, a young (geologically speaking) loose limestone comprised of tiny shells. The stone absorbs the shock of incoming cannon and atillery shells without cracking or crumbling. The photo above shows what’s left of the quarry where this stone was mined. The floor has filled with a few feet of sand and clay. Today it’s part of Anastasia State Park.

A trail leading out of the quarry at Anastasia State Park. This park, on Anastasia Island just outside St. Augistine, has a nice beach and a large campground.

Okefenokee Swamp

Waves, Swamps, & Bayous: Southeastern Waters - Part 3

Monday, 12 November 2018

It’s been a long time, but we’ve been to the Okefenokee before. This is the first time we got “up close and personal” in a kayak. We entered the Okefenokee through the National Wildlife Refuge on the eastern side of the swamp. Fortunately, this time of year, the mosquitoes are not bad!

The main canal on the east side of the Okefenokee.

A cypress draped in Spanish moss.

Yaupon hollies were common in the swamp.

We saw a number of ‘gators,

Sue in her kayak as we started the last leg of our tour

The canoe/kayak trails are well-marked. There are back-country campsites on platforms for travelers who want to spend a night (or two or three) in the Okefenokee.

Insectivorous Plants

A number of “carnivorous” plants live in the Okefenokee. They digest insects to supplement the food they make with photosynthesis.

The flower of a bladderwort (Utricularia spp.). This plant catches insects in submerged bladders.

The sundew (Drosera spp) traps insects on its sticky leaves.

Pitcher plants (Sarracenia spp) collect insects in their tubes.

Birds

We saw lots of birds in the swamp. Here are two of the easier-to-photograph.

Red-shouldered hawk

Anhinga

Upland Areas

After our kayak tour, we also drove the Swamp Island Drive and walked the boardwalk to the observation tower.

Panoramic view from the observation tower.

Much of the “uplands” are managed for longleaf pine and red-cockaded woodpeckers. Trees with holes for potential woodpecker nests are marked with white paint bands.

Congaree National Park

Waves, Swamps, & Bayous: Southeastern Waters - Part 2

Sunday, 11 November 2018

Congaree National Park is a small national park near Columbia, South Carolina, that is noted for its stands of virgin timber. It has a large number of “champion” trees (the largest of their species in the state/US/world). Many of the trees are 120 to 130 ft (40 m) tall. While not as impressive as the redwoods and sequoias of the west coast, these are some of the tallest trees in the eastern US.

Most of the park is swamp along the Congaree River.

Cypress knees sometimes look like an army of forest gnomes.

The crown canopy of the champion loblolly pine.

These loblolly pines near the loblolly champion are over 190 ft (58 m) tall.

Lon is standing next to this large oak to give some idea of its size.

Looking up into the canopy of the big oak.

Wise Lake

More swamp

A nice collection of mushrooms growing under the bark of a dying beech tree.

At Congaree the “mosquito meter” was at the low end. When we were on Ocracoke, I would have rated it somewhere between “Ruthless” and “War Zone”.

The Outer Banks

Waves, Swamps, & Bayous: Southeastern Waters - Part 1

Friday, 9 November 2018

We started our most recent trip on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

The three iconic lighthouses of the Outer Banks. From left to right: Bodie Island, Cape Hatteras, and Ocracoke. Several generations of Rollinsons and Fulchers were keepers of the Hatteras lighthouse.

An offshore storm was making for heavy surf on the Atlantic side.

Huge flocks of birds (cormorants??) were following the waves.

Brown pelicans flying low overhead.

A bird (willet?) wading in the surf.

Brilliantly colored driftwood (cypress?).

Ocracoke Island is accessible only via ferry from Hatteras Island or the mainland.

Pamlico Sound is very shallow, and lots of birds congregate on sandbars. The waters were much calmer than the Atlantic.

Another bird-covered sandbar and lots of dead trees caught in the shallow water.

A sunset view of Pamlico Sound.

The moon was just barely a crescent -- two days past new moon. We had spectacularly dark skies at our Ocracoke campground and the Milky Way was prominently displayed.