January 10 -- goodbye Keys, hello Everglades

This morning we packed and said our reluctant good-byes to the lovely lagoon, the pelicans, the egrets, the great blue heron, and our cozy apartment on Long Key. We had a really nice week. Our regret was tempered somewhat by anticipation of returning next year!

Anhinga Trail's namesake.

After leaving the Keys, our first stop was the Anhinga Trail in Everglades National Park. Smoky and I were there many years ago, and we were both wondering what we might see this time. The Anhinga Trail consists of concrete sidewalks and a raised boardwalk around and through Taylor Slough, a freshwater sawgrass marsh. This popular self-guided trail provides visitors with opportunities to see alligators, cormorants, egrets, anhingas, and other animals, all of which come to the slough in greater numbers during the winter dry season.

A park ranger mentioned that the anhinga dries itself after swimming as much to warm up its core temperature as to dry its wings. This makes a lot of sense, but we had not thought of it before. Always good to learn something new.

Today, in addition to the more commonly seen birds and animals, we saw a couple of wood storks and several purple gallinules, the latter being a reasonably illusive bird that is rarely seen. We felt like the nature gods were smiling on us today with these viewings. And, of course, Smoky was in heaven, shooting photographs galore!

Purple gallinule walking on lily pad.

Wood stork.

Great blue heron in a beautiful seeing at
Taylor Slough.

Cormorant head shot. Love the green eyes!

The trail starts at the Royal Palm Visitor Center. A lake just in front of the center had several nesting pairs of anhingas, each with its own resident alligator lurking beneath it. A park ranger explained that the alligators were waiting for the young birds to hatch and fledge in hopes of having an easy meal.

Another bird commonly seen on this trail is the black vulture. They hang out in a gang and have developed a bad reputation for attacking cars in the parking lot. Apparently they are pecking and clawing at any part of cars made of rubber. The park even provides tarps with bungee cords to cover your car. We took our chances today and thankfully came away unscathed.

Smoky and I agreed that this was the best visit to the Anhinga Trail we have ever had.

Shortly before dark we headed out of the park and on the road to Naples, where we are spending the night. Tomorrow we head for Ft. Myers Beach by way of Corkscrew Swamp.

-- Shann