Tamiami Trail

We had a quick breakfast of cold cereal after our morning beverages and language lessons. Traveling with Mark and Cindy is always a pleasure. We don't know anyone else who enjoys the same nerdy things that we like.  The four of us can have a great time looking for hours at a pond filled with birds, alligators, snakes and wildflowers.  We were in the car and headed for the Tamiami Trail by 8:00 AM on our way to the Everglades. As we drove east on the Tamiami Trail (Rt. 41) we saw a lot of wildlife along the way and even accidentally struck a black vulture that flew along the highway.

Baby alligators along the Shark Valley Trail

When we arrived at the Shark Valley Visitor Center in the Everglades we saw that it was fairly busy, but the day was nice. We were looking forward to walking along the trail and looking for wildlife. However there seemed to be fewer alligators and far fewer birds than we had seen in our previous visits to the area. Previously we had seen purple gallinules and many herons, egrets, and other wading birds along the trail. This time we only saw a few great blue herons and several alligators. A highlight of the visit was a few clutches of baby alligators near their mothers. There was even one baby alligator perched on its mother’s back. We took care not to get close to the baby alligators as we walked by.

Green heron in the Shark Valley area

Unlike previous years we only spent a little over an hour walking the Shark Valley Trail before returning to the visitor center. Had there been more birds and other wildlife, we would have spent most of the day there. After walking, we spent some time speaking with the rangers and volunteers in the visitor center regarding some birds we had seen as well as the fruit of a mahogany tree in the visitor center parking lot. As always, the staff and volunteers were very helpful and knowledgeable.

Alligator with a dog

We decided to slowly make our way West on the Tamiami Trail and stop at the other visitor centers along the way. Our next stop was at the Oasis Visitor Center, which includes a boardwalk that parallels a stream and always holds a lot of large alligators. We did not see many birds at this visitor center, but there were a fair number of alligators. Again there seemed to be fewer than in previous years. We also saw a few of the armored catfish in the water. These catfish appear like the Plecostomus aquarium algae eating catfish. In some years the catfish were very plentiful, but there didn't seem to be as many this year. We guessed that this was due to the very cold weather that hit most of Florida in early February. We still enjoyed looking at the alligators and appreciating the beautiful day. As we were preparing to leave the Oasis Visitor Center, we saw a large alligator swimming in the stream with something in its mouth that we presumed was a deer. However, as the alligator neared, we saw that it was a dog that was dead in the alligator's jaws. We did not see a collar on the dog or any indication that it had been someone's pet, so we presumed that it was a stray dog that the alligator had killed.

Alligator Alcatraz

As we drove West on the Tamiami Trail, we saw a sign for "Alligator Alcatraz", the location for housing criminal illegal immigrants until they can be returned to their home country. We pulled off Rt. 41 to take a photo of the sign, and a law enforcement officer blasted a horn, so we moved  on.

Anhinga with a fish

After leaving the Oasis Visitor Center, we drove to the HP Williams Roadside Park where we watched a few birds feeding then drove along the Turner River Road where we had seen numerous birds and other wildlife in previous years. As with the other stops, we did not see as much wildlife. We watched an anhinga spear a fish then turn it to swallow the catch. We did not stay long at this area but returned to the Tamiami Trail driving West. Our next stop was at the Nathaniel Reed Visitor Center in the Big Cypress National Park. From the deck behind the visitor center, we were pleased to see four manatees and several alligators. A number of visitors were at the boardwalk, but it was not crowded. It was a pleasant stop, but we did not stay long.

We continued West to the Marsh Trail of the 10,000 Islands National Wildlife Refuge. After parking we walked out the trail toward the observation tower where we saw many more birds and other wildlife than we had at any other stop today. There were lots of wading birds in the shallow water and alligators cruising in the deeper areas.

Great blue heron with a fish

We were amused as a great blue heron tried to swallow a large fish as it sat along the edge of the water. The heron with the fish caught the attention of an alligator that swam under the heron in the water. It waited for the bird to drop the fish. The heron and the alligator stared at each other for a long time while the bird attempted to swallow the fish. When the heron dropped the fish into the water, it wisely chose to not go any closer to retrieve the fish but stared at the alligator for quite a while. We walked up the steps to observation tower where we used our binoculars to observe even more wading birds. We agreed that this was the best stop of the day where we saw the most wildlife.

Mark enjoying his meal at Lapa's Bistro

We returned to the B&B to freshen up for dinner. Mary remembered Lapa’s Costa Rican Bistro in a nearby strip mall from our previous visit to Sarasota. We were seated near where we were on our previous visit and were amused by three men talking loudly and bragging on their business successes. I had a chicken tostada meal that included black beans and rice, tostones and pico de gallo. Mary had La Gallina, which is a sandwich of chicken and black beans. Everyone enjoyed their meals, and Cindy took part of her rice meal back to the B&B for breakfast tomorrow.

Because we were tired, we turned in early and looked forward to going to Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in the morning.