Wednesday 1/21/16

I cooked hearty breakfast of eggs, sausages, tortillas and hash browns. Birds were visiting our campsite throughout the morning. I spotted a bright red cardinal through the green and brown branches.

The weather was the warmest and most beautiful we’ve had during our our whole trip. One layer of clothing would be perfect for the day.

Good walking shoes, a hat and camera in tow were the main requirements for the day.

After visiting the tourist welcome center we realized we would not be able to do any of the scheduled tours. Most need several days advance reservations. But we could still take any of the self guided tours. There was a small observation deck behind the center. Kyleigh was able to spot the first alligator sighting of the day. It was hidden in the tall grasses, after zooming in with my camera, it was indeed an alligator.

Starting with Anhinga trail, we parked in the public parking lot. All of the cars were covered with blue tarps, strange sight for a public parking lot. It turns out that the vultures here like to pull off black rubber trim from vehicles. Parts like window seals and windshield wipers. Since we have two kayaks and a bicycle on top, there is no way we could wrap a tarp over the van, so we would just have to take our chances.

Once on the Anhinga trail, we saw some unique birds right away. Sharing the trail with other visitors, everyone took turns taking photos. Here are a few from the first trail.

Towards the back side of the trail we came upon another alligator laying on the sun. He looked to be about 8-9 feet long, but it did not appear to be breathing. He looked  fake, as we were deciding if it was a park statue, since it was conveniently right next to the fence in easy view. Other tourists went ahead saying it was a hunk of plastic. As we were only inches away…its nostrils flared and its eyes opened! It continued to lay motionless other than breathing and blinking, we were able to get some good pictures of it.

Next trail on the list was the Mahogany Hammock. This was not nearly as exciting as the others. We saw some interesting trees and plant life, but in the first two minutes I smacked four mosquitoes that were starting to feast on me. I quickly strolled through, not taking time to read each sign.

The last trail, Pa-Hay-Okee, which means “grassy rivers” in native Seminole, is said to have the best sunset views. Sunset was still a few hours away and we did not want to stay there that long. At this point we were only 14 miles from the southernmost point area of the park, called Flamingo. So we carried on through the park till we reached the Gulf of Mexico. The park rangers said you can typically see manatee, dolphin, and alligators right from the dock, but the cold weather is keeping much of the wildlife hidden. After a tour of the Flamingo visitor center, we drove back to the last trail on our list.

Each of the trails were under one mile and built with easy to walk on composite decks. This deck led to a higher platform than the others, lending itself to the best sunset view. As we reached the top, we heard an owl call from within a tree right next to us. We moved closer to the call and peered deep into the thick green leaves and spotted this beautiful creature. Perched on the branch frequently calling to its mate who was calling back from the other side of trail. As I peered into the tree with my zoom lens he looked up at me directly into my camera and posed for a portrait.  Definitely a highlight of the day for all of us.

We stayed until the sun set and cast reflections of pink and purple into the low waters puddled at the bottom of the bald cypress trees. Bald cypress trees appear to be dead, but only because they do not produce any leaves, they store their water internally for survival. This makes for a beautiful monochromatic scene in the woods.

As the sun was setting our little owl friend climbed to the top of the tree and flew across the trail to meet its mate. The mosquitoes began swarming around us, I did not want to be eaten for dinner  so we hurried to the van. As we looked back over our shoulders, we saw the pair of owls in silhouette side by side on the tallest branch in sight. It was a sweet picture to behold. Thinking of how so many animals and species are made to be with their mate.