Walks on boardwalks in several different Everglade Parks and Preserves followed by swimming in the pool and walks on the beach.
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It was going to be a cloudy day here at the beach so we all decided to head to the Everglades.
Our first stop was the boardwalk trail in the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park. In previous visit here in past years we have always seen many alligators and wading birds but not this year. Nonetheless it was a pleasant walk.
As we mentioned when writing about our visit to the Audubon Corkscrew swamp two weeks ago this year the water level in these areas is very high. We can blame El Nino. This means that birds that prefer to wade through shallow water in search of fish have abandon their usual haunts. The alligators that similarly like to hang around sunning themselves in areas of shallow water have also slithered away.
Our first stop was the boardwalk trail in the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park. In previous visit here in past years we have always seen many alligators and wading birds but not this year. Nonetheless it was a pleasant walk.
As we mentioned when writing about our visit to the Audubon Corkscrew swamp two weeks ago this year the water level in these areas is very high. We can blame El Nino. This means that birds that prefer to wade through shallow water in search of fish have abandon their usual haunts. The alligators that similarly like to hang around sunning themselves in areas of shallow water have also slithered away.
After a stop at the Big Cypress National Preserve visitor’s center were we also didn’t see the manatees that usually frequent the nearby pond we headed down the road to the Kirby Storter area for a picnic lunch and then walked their boardwalk where the only bird we saw was an anhinga sunning itself in a tree. It was interested to see an area we have always visited in dry conditions be filled with water. It was a completely different scene.
At the end of our walk we joined an already in progress guided ranger tour. The ranger was very informative and entertaining. Although it’s coloring served as camouflage in the grasses an American Bittern sauntered close enough to the boardwalk to be sighted and posed accommodatingly for photos.
Once we got back to the condo mid-afternoon Harry and I had a nice swim in the pool while Linda and Dan walked on the beach.
This evening, another great sunset, augmented by a DJI Phantom drone filming the sunset.
This evening, another great sunset, augmented by a DJI Phantom drone filming the sunset.