My arrival was t- 1.5 hours ago and I'm envious of my cat who is curled up in a ball at the end of the bed...do I need to do the same! Driving back wore us both out! I recently listened to my friend Mike talk about a trip where he drove 4000 miles throughout Mexico and I thought "how nuts!" Well never say never cause that's just about the distance we clocked on this trip as well!
Anyway all that aside it was great to explore that part of the country. My first half hour in our campground in the Keys I saw two life birds...and cool ones at that...there were a pair of soaring magnificent frigate birds at the edge of the water and white ibis poking around the campground for food.
Staying at our campground were alot of farmers from the Midwest and Canada...its nice to see they get to take a break when they can, and are serious about fishing... the campground had a marina and they all seemed to have boats. We brought one too...(one without an engine so to those guys it really didn't qualify) and it was fun to paddle along the mangroves.
Those of you who have been lucky enough to drive along the Tamiani trail (route 41) across Florida know the place is full of wildlife in a gully just to the right of the road created by removing the fill to make the road. Its now filled with water and cypress trees. Alligators abound,,,along with awesome wading birds for miles and miles. The road has no shoulder so the most dangerous thing was trying to avoid the tourists who pull over to view the animals along this road.
All of these gawkers should have really gone inside the park where the viewing is safer and you can park your car and walk. The ranger at the north entrance of the everglades told us that there is danger here created by tourists as well and that his biggest problem is protecting the gators from people who get too close. The gators don't move too much unless they really have to...and I guess this makes them seems safe to some. One young guy we walked by had his kids close to one mama who was lying across the road, separated from her 15 or so small babies...to me it seemed like he must have had too many of his own children and was trying to rid himself of one of them. Anyway they are the coolest but scary looking creatures ever....kayaking in ponds where they lie on the banks of the river makes one not relax too much and spend too much time getting to the other side.
Other most memorable birding highlights ( for those of you who are not birding enthusiasts you may want to stop reading here!) were gathering flocks of my favorite bird, the black skimmer (who i anxiously await each year at home around June when the arrive for a few months), at the south end of the park...there were thousands and they flew in waves back and forth over the mudflats. It was magical. We traveled about half a day to get to see a reddish egret at Sanibel island up the coast a bit. We got a great chance to see one of these egrets submerged in the water up to its head just slowly wading around....kind of what we as humans might do if we weren't swimming. It had to have been the strangest bird bath I ever witnessed. He had head feathers he was fluffing that looked more like a mane and was in this pose for about 15 minutes or so. At that point I knew this bird was special. He went on to entertain. I'm used to seeing egrets that hunt slowly and methodically, moving no faster than a slow motion speed. This bird instead runs and chases its prey through the water flapping its wings to scare them up as it moves along. A great show ....and a real comedian...an unforgettable bird! Copy and paste this address into your browser window to view video of a reddish egret if you want to see this great bird in action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTSvvEk4_H4
Other life birds for me were the wood stork...saw the first one behind our hotel in Virginia in a small man made pond. His head is bald so i knew immediately what he was. We saw the endangered snail kite. This bird only eats a particular fresh water snail which is also endangered so its fate is unknown. Roseate spoonbills were cool and the fresh water Anhinga...similar to a cormorant but much more spectacular...both the storks and the Anhinga were nesting in the Everglades.
Got to snorkel in the Dry Tortugas...we had been staying in the Keys for a few days and the weather was cool and windy.....was up nights worrying our tent would blow away. To escape the wind and cold booked this all day trip on a fast catamaran out to these islands on which is located an old military fort. The weather was great and we got to spend some time in the water and some time snorkeling. I met a great naturalist who educated me on the nesting of frigates and sooty terns in the next island. We were lucky enough to see their mating behavior and some nests through a scope she provided. The terns love to fly. They mate in the air and sleep on the wing. Amazing! Here is the website of the company that took us out there. I left my camera at home and there photos are much better than any I would take! I was too busy snorkeling anyway! http://www.yankeefreedom.com/national-park-photos.htm
Its good to be home. Camping was cool but upon arrival at home and finding a fork by simply opening my utensil drawer was a new pleasure .... We tried to be organized but without bringing a kitchen and bathroom and drawers in a moving truck, stuff tended to be a bit disorganized. Some of the sites had no hot water but cold water showers outside. Soaping up and having a polite conversation with someone new was good for the camaraderie in the campground but I'd rather have a conversation over a beer instead!
Hope to talk to you all soon. Love Lisa
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