Birds, Birds, Birds: J. N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge

Waves, Swamps, & Bayous: Southeastern Waters - Part 11

Saturday, 17 November 2018

Before we left Sanibel, we took an afternoon drive through the J. N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge. What we thought would be a quick 4-mile drive turned into a 2-hour drive and walk with spectacular views of water fowl -- and they were just beginning to arrive for the winter.

The Refuge is on the north side of Sanibel Island, the non-Gulf side. It is filled with tidal pools and ponds.

White Ibis

A white ibis meets success when fishing.

White pelicans congregating on a sandbar.

Little Blue Heron

Tricolor Heron

Reddish Egret

An anhinga drying its wings. When sitting in a tree, anhingas look like a “basic black” bird, but when they spread their wings they reveal beautiful black-and-white patterns.

Two roseate spoonbills refuse to strike a good pose for photography!

A mix of birds: White ibises,  a glossy ibis, white egrets, and a roseate spoonbill.

Sanibel Island

Waves, Swamps, & Bayous: Southeastern Waters - Part 10

Saturday, 17 November 2018

After camping for the night at Collier-Seminole State Park, we drove up the Gulf Coast to Sanibel Island, famous for its seashells.

All the Florida State Parks featured this “Share the Road” sign -- watch out for turtles and golf carts! Golf carts are to Florida what Chevy Suburbans are to Texas and Subarus are to West Virginia.

The beach on Sanibel Island was filled with small crushed shells -- not good for walking barefoot! In places the shells looked like they had been bulldozed into large piles, but this was done with just the action of the waves.

The waves had created a trench along the beach.

Another piece of bright red driftwood.

A shore bird (sanderling?) was poking its bill into the sand where the waves had just departed.

Another view of the bird (sanderling?). I have little experience identifying shore birds.

Sunset at Everglades City

Waves, Swamps, & Bayous: Southeastern Waters - Part 9

Friday, 16 November 2018

We finished the day by watching the sun set behind the waters off Everglades City on the west side of the Everglades National Park.

A great blue heron waited patiently on the side of a small island.

On the mainland, a red-shouldered hawk glowed red in the light of the setting sun.

And flocks of birds flew across the sky.

The entire small island just off the shore.

Sunset.

Without clouds, the sky glowed orange.

The moon has become considerably larger since our night on the Outer Banks.

Kayaking on the Turner River

Waves, Swamps, & Bayous: Southeastern Waters - Part 8

Friday, 16 November 2018

Today we had a mid-day 4-hour kayak tour on the Turner River in the Big Cypress National Preserve, one of the preserved areas adjacent to the Everglades National Park. Our tour started in the freshwater swamp along the Tamiami Trail (US 41), and we went a little ways into the red mangroves that at this time of year are still freshwater, not saltwater.

We saw quite a few birds along the way, including this great blue heron.

Aligators were also present. This one is “Shy”, a ‘gator that prefers to stay mostly hidden.

Larger ‘gators seem to know that they won’t be disturbed, and don’t make much effort to conceal themselves.

The area has much stunning flora. This is swamp lily.

Bladderwort is an insectivorous plant, which we also saw in the Okefenokee.

There are a number of orchids here including the night-scented orchid.

The red mangroves became the dominant tree species as we went further into the swamp towards the coast.

The mangrove “tunnels” were so narrow and low-hanging that we had to take our kayak paddles apart and use only one half as a canoe paddle. In a number of places we just used our hands to pull ourselves through the mangroves.

Key West

Waves, Swamps, & Bayous: Southeastern Waters - Part 7

Thursday, 15 November 2018

Today we drove from our camp at Long Pine Key in the Everglades National Park to Key West and back. I’d never been to Key West, and now I can say that I’ve been there and had a margarita and a Key Lime pie on Key West. While there are a number of historical sites to see, mostly (as far as I could tell) it was all about alcohol and raunchy T-shirts (mostly prominently featuring the “f-word”). Parking was also ridiculous: $4/hr if you can find on-street parking; $10/hr in off-street parking lots. Been there, done that.

Key West is literally the end of the road.

It's also the southernmost point of the US (outside of Hawaii).

There are a number of naval installations around Key West. This one is right next to the photo above.

Fishing trawlers off Key West.

Forget pigeons. In the Florida Keys, it’s anhingas hanging out on the power lines.

As we approached the mainland on our return trip, the clouds were impressive.

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).