Sunday, March 19, 2017

Animal Encounters

When we first arrived at Highlands Hammock State Park, this little guy was just a couple campsites away from ours.  So while Bill got the trailer parked and leveled and such, we spent time communing with nature.  You know, taking pictures.  This was our very first spotting of an armadillo, so we were very excited.  This was also not our last encounter with his kind, which was equally awesome.                
As we were headed out of Highlands Hammock, just across from the dump station, J pointed out this beauty.  He was hanging out on the volleyball net pole, just waiting for us to observe him.  He hung out for quite a while, too, just letting us take pictures of him and such.                  
We were very excited to get a chance to see a gator or two at the state park.  My, but we were inexperienced.  Everglades National Park opened our eyes.                      
It was hard to capture the vast number of gators at this one location.  Along the Anhinga Trail, down the boardwalk, there is a sunny location that the gators gather for some sunning.  The first day we visited this trail, we counted more than 20 (there were differing accounts of how many gators there were, but we all agreed there were more than 20).  And that's just the number we saw at this one spot.  There were plenty more gators throughout the walk, some in the water, some just a short distance off the trail.              
In addition to alligators, the Everglades are also home to the American Crocodile.  We went to the marina every day we were in the Everglades in the hopes of seeing these guys, but it took until our final morning there for us to see this guy.  We saw another, but he was hiding, so I was far more fascinated with this one.  There was quite the gathering at the dock to view the croc.  I'm glad we got to see one.                
Also at the marina (though inconveniently located far from the croc dock), we spotted manatees!  Every morning we saw one or two, but our last morning there, we spotted a whole bunch.  Now, normally you'll see a manatee surface once or twice, then they're down underwater for 15-20 minutes.  Not great spotting conditions, if you've only got one or two manatees.  Our final morning, I must have spent 20 minutes just watching the manatees surfacing.  When I started watching, I was alone on the docks.  The crowd was pretty big by the time I left.  Manatees still are hard to snap a picture of, though.  They only surface for a few seconds at a time, and they don't necessarily resurface where they've been before.  Sometimes they make a huge mud cloud when they surface, sometimes they don't.  Sometimes they make a mud cloud but don't break the surface.  But they're fun to hang out with, just because you don't often get to see these animals.    
We've gotten to see many osprey on our journey across this great land of ours.  Once again, on our way out (in the car, pulling out of the visitors' center, towing our trailer out of the park), we spotted this fascinating look at nature.  I even managed to get video of the beastie eating his breakfast.  This was our first time watching an osprey eat.                
Cormorants have become Bill's favorite bird.  They have webbed feet, but they'll park themselves in trees with no hesitation.  They're just gorgeous flying, they dive beautifully, and the ones on the Anghinga Trail simply aren't afraid to pose for pictures.  I love the water running off this guy's back.  He just lets it all roll off his back.  Hahaha.                
I love all the herons around Florida.  Just love them.  I bought a book on waterbirds at the visitors' center, and I think this is a tri-color heron.  You don't want to see all the pictures of the herons I have.  Love them.  And the Anhinga Trail has tons.  Honestly, if you're hitting the Everglades, make sure the Anhinga Trail is on your list of things to do.                                  
The purple gallinule fascinated us.  This guy can walk across lillipads with ease, hangs out with the gators, and is just stunning.  He also sports a monster hooked claw along with his short toes.  Pretty wicked looking.                    
We didn't spot this guy until we went to Biscayne National Park.  We love brown pelicans.  We first saw pelicans in California, where we were mesmerized by their awkward diving.  We never saw one dive at Biscayne, even though I kept chanting for one to, "dive, dive, dive!"                  
We went on the Gator Hook Trail at Big Cypress National Preserve.  While all the animals we saw while on the scenic drive are ones we saw elsewhere, we did get some good pics of plants at Gator Hook.  I love this flower.                    
One final picture.  This ibis was also on the Gator Hook Trail at Big Cypress.  There are just so many animals and beautiful sights that we recorded from these three parks at the southern end of Florida that it's too much to put them all here.  But because we've spent the last couple of months in the southwest, the difference in environments is compelling to us.  Had we spent the last several months seeing a few tropical birds here and there, coastal animals out and about, I'm sure this would not have struck us quite so strongly.  But we have truly enjoyed our time in the Everglades.  Even though the mosquitos drove us out after only three nights.

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