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| An Everglades regular: juvenile Great Blue Heron |
Ever since I started my quest to visit as many National Parks as I could (OK, to visit them all), I have been a bit on the fence about the Everglades.
I vividly remember my family driving through the Everglades when I was a small child, but I didn't remember doing much there. Perhaps, we just drove past it. I didn't think I should count it even though I had technically been there. So, I rectified the situation.
Everglades City
I started in Everglades City, which is the eastern portal to the Everglades. It is an adorable little boating/fishing town and a site for boat tours into the "Thousand Islands" area of intercoastal waters and mangroves. This side of the Park goes out to the Gulf of Mexico (the other side is on the Atlantic Ocean).
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| It's a part of the Everglades you don't hear about often |
I took a trip, where we saw Osprey ...
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| Nesting on a channel marker (and, it appears, eating some fish) |
Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins that were feeding nearby ...
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| A lot of activity |
... and then came to check out our boat ...
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| A close encounter |
Brown Pelicans ...
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| This one is in full breeding plumage |
... and a wide variety of Gulls and Terns ...
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| Royal Terns on a sandbar |
Plus a Magnificent Frigatebird flying very high ...
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| While it is magnificent, the word is actually part of its name |
Two Parks in One
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| Plus Biscayne NP is nearby |
Everglades National Park is intermingled with the Big Cypress National Preserve. So, upon leaving Everglades City, you enter Big Cypress. I drove through on highway 41 and saw lots of cypress trees and prairies. At the first Visitor Center, there is a boardwalk by a small inlet, where I saw five Manatees (easy to see, hard to photograph) ...
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| Three Manatees |
At another stop, I saw American Alligators ...
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| Just chillin' |
and Florida Gar ...
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| These are fairly small ones |
Back into the Everglades National Park, I went to Shark Valley, which has no Sharks and probably isn't even a valley. It is named for the Shark River, which feeds the wide plain with water. It is called Shark River because saltwater Sharks have their young at the mouth of the river.
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| Shark River |
I went on an excellent tram tour through the "river of grass" to an observation tower.
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| The road to the tower and the view from the tower |
We saw so many animals!
Baby Gators ...
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| The five remaining alive from 20 hatched last year |
Big Gators that cool themselves in culverts or wait by the road ...
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| A really handsome Alligator |
Killdeers ...
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| The red eye-ring really stands out |
More Roseate Spoonbills ...
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| A tour guide told me that they don't see as many as they used to |
A pair of Sandhill Cranes ...
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| These are large birds |
Anhingas, both adults and chicks ...
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| A breeding male and a check |
More Gators ...
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| Lying in the drainage ditch |
Turtles ...
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| Florida Softshell Turtle |
... and lots of Herons ...
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| Great Blue Heron |
The Great Blue being the most common ...
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| A take-off and a landing |
We also saw some swamp orchids, lovely white flowers that grow in the "River of Grass."
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| The local flower |
Things I Learned
Among the things I learned on the tram tour:
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| A "hiding" Gator |
All Alligators are black, but water and dirt make them look brown, gray or green at times.
Alligator moms don't feed their babies, but do watch over and defend them for several years.
Mortality rates for Alligators are very high.
There have been no documented Alligator attacks in the Everglades.
I also saw Sandhill Cranes (I never heard of them when I lived in Florida!), which I learned mate for life.
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| Maybe this is a couple |
The Everglades are overrun with Burmese Pythons, released or escaped from pet owners; these invasive species have eaten about 96 percent of small mammals, creating an environmental disaster; because they live in swamps and mangroves, they are very difficult to eradicate.
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| Photo: NPS |
February is peak bird season.
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| Left, a Great Blue Heron and Great Egret take off; right, a Great Blue Heron dries its wings |
Loop Road
After the tram tour, I drove the 26-mile loop road. It is primarily unpaved, but in very good condition. It was dusty, but I understand it's pretty rough in the rainy season. I didn't see many animals, but there were lots and lots of birds.
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| The Black Vultures in the road were a little bit spooky |
As I drove past the many Vultures sitting in the road, I saw one that looked a bit different. It was a Red-shouldered Hawk guarding some prey.
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| A new bird for me (actually, I had probably seen many but didn't know it) |
I must have spooked it, because it flew to a tree and stared me down for awhile.
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| I think I aggravated it |
The Loop area was very pretty, especially the many airplants.
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| These plants are everywhere |
After the drive, I went on to Florida City, an agricultural area west of Miami where I spent the night to get ready for the next day.
Flamingo
Continuing on my adventure, I arose early and drove to the Flamingo Visitor Center at the end of the east road into the Everglades.
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| Everglades National Park is large and dispersed |
I always debate: stop to look at sights along the way or on the way back?
Since the Coe Visitor Center at the beginning of the road wasn't open yet, I opted for plan B. There was no one else on the road on the way down and very few cars at the lot. I arrived just as the Visitor Center opened.
Previously, Flamingo was a hub of Everglades activity, with a lodge and restaurant along with the Visitor Center, campground and marina.
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| Near the campground |
But a series of hurricanes, culminating with Wilma, damaged the area so much that the lodge and restaurant closed permanently. The Visitor Center reflects the name of the area.
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| The Flamingo Visitor Center is, appropriately, pink |
It fronts Florida Bay, which leads to the Atlantic. When I arrived it was very windy - a blessing because Flamingo is known for bugs! The area is pretty and not exactly what you expect from the Everglades. It was a bit steamy, but with the breeze, not too bad.
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| Looking out toward the Atlantic |
The only real activity at the end of the line is a boat tour out of the marina. The day I was there, the only tour was into the mangroves up the buttonwood canal.
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| Buttonwood Canal |
This canal was dug by the NPS to aid boat patrols by dramatically lessening the amount of time it would take to get from Flamingo to Whitewater Bay, the second largest inland body of water in Florida.
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| Wildlife suffers when we interfere |
Unfortunately, the canal changed the ecodynamics of the area by allowing saltwater to move directly into fresh (rather than meandering) at high tide and then draining nutrients at low tide.
Twenty-five years later, they built a concrete dam to fix it that they call "the plug." The area is returning to its former eco balance.
We saw two American Crocodiles ...
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| I always thought there were no Crocs in North America! |
I didn't know there were crocodiles in North America, but they live in very southern Florida. The ones we saw were small. The boat driver said some large ones hang out around "the plug." But, they weren't there when I was (neither were the manatees that often hang there as well).
One of the highlights of the tour was a couple of up-close encounters with Osprey ...
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| We got a close eye-level view |
... including one with a fish ...
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| Lunch! |
We also got good view of mangroves, which look ancient, but are actually new regrowth after the decimation of hurricane Andrew. The route has three types - red, white and black.
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| This is why the Pythons get away |
It also has deadly manchineel tree -- one of the most deadly plants in North America. The bark and leaves cause rashes and blisters and the "apples" are toxic.
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| It looks innocent |
Standing beneath the tree during rain will cause blistering of the skin and burning the tree may cause blindness if the smoke reaches the eyes. The Caribs used the sap to poison their arrows and would tie captives to the trunk of the tree, ensuring a slow and painful death.
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| Drawing: U.S. History Images |
Spanish Explorer (an Native American Oppressor) Ponce de León was struck by an arrow that had been poisoned with Manchineel sap during battle with the Calusa in Florida, dying shortly thereafter.
The Park Service has removed most of the manchineels, leaving a few on the Buttonwood Canal.
Rookery
After the boat tour, I started the drive back, stopping along the way. One interesting stop was Paurotis Pond, where both Roseate Spoonbills and Wood Storks are nesting.
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| Wood Storks coming into the rookery |
The noise was deafening from the chirping and squawking birds. I couldn't see the Spoonbills (the must nest inside the branches), but I could see the Storks.
Storks are interesting in both how the fly and how they land.
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| What a weird-looking bird |
Next stop, a little hike at Mahogany Hammock, a hardword hammock (raised area) that is thick with trees. Among the most interesting were the strangler fig, which strangles its host tree, and the red gumbo-limbo with its bright red bark.
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| Strangler fig, left, and gumbo-limbo, middle and right |
Anhinga Trail
Next stop, the Anhinga Trail at Royal Palm, which everyone says is the biggest "must see." It did not disappoint.
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| Interesting flowers along the trail |
The trail winds past a bayou, which you can visit via a series of boardwalks.
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| View from the boardwalk |
It is quite popular and was the busiest place I visited. The trail is named for the Anhinga bird and is home to lots of birds, Including, of course, its namesake ...
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| Female Anhingas |
Plus, Double-crested Cormorants ..
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| This is a juvenile |
Herons ...
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| A Tri-colored Heron |
Common Gallinules ...
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| A Gallinule on patrol |
... and lots and lots of Gators ...
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| This one has a fish |
... lots ...
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| I was amazed at how many Alligator I saw |
I also visited Biscayne National Park, but only walked a shoreline trail. The park is 90 percent water and can't be visited very well without a boat. And, the "season" was over, so there were no boat tours!
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| Farewell, Florida |
Trip date: April 24 - May 3, 2014
