Big Cypress National Preserve

After a restful sleep we went to breakfast at the Days Inn which was minimal at best.  There was cold cereal and the ubiquitous Belgian waffle iron.  There were a number of construction workers in the breakfast area as is typical of this area.  

Great egret

We met Mark & Cindy at 8 am to drive down to the Everglades City area of Everglades National Park.  We drove around the small town then entered the park which is very small compared to the part on the Atlantic side.  Most of the park on the Gulf side is islands and waterways.  A volunteer at the visitor center was very helpful in identifying hiking areas and places to see in the western side of the Everglades. 

Our first stop was at the trail at Kirby Storter Roadside Park which is a half mile boardwalk through a cypress swamp.  Although we were there in the dry season, the recent heavy rains over the past week had more water in the area than is typical for this time of year.  We saw a number of birds but nothing we hadn’t seen on Tuesday at Shark Valley.  Since this area is normally drier in winter, we didn’t see alligators in the 6-10 inch deep water around the cypress trees.  

Cypress swamp

After leaving the Kirby Storter Roadside Park we drove through the Loop Road through the Big Cypress National Preserve.  This 24 mile drive is a loop off the Tamiami Trail that goes through spots where wildlife gather.  We drove slowly and stopped whenever we saw alligators, birds we may not have seen or an attractive view of the cypress swamp.  We saw several birds that we hadn’t seen before on this trip including a black crowned night heron.  We met a number of other tourists who were driving along the loop road including some of Belgium, France and England.  We also met two families from West Virginia, one from Talcott and one from Peterstown.  We stopped for a lunch of peanut butter, crackers, fruit, corn nuts and jerky.  It took us over four hours to drive the 24 miles of the Loop Road since we stopped very frequently to see something along the drive.  The last 8 miles or so of the drive was through Indian villages and had so stops for wildlife viewing since it was more populated with houses.

Black-crowned night-heron

Back on US 41, the Tamiami Trail, after leaving the Loop Road we drove to the Turner River Road Trail.  This area is accessed by turning off US 41 at the H. P. Williams Roadside Park and driving for 15 miles on a dirt road.  This drive was beautiful.  Paralleling the road was a canal that was filled with alligators and birds of all types.  We saw many of the same birds that we had seen earlier in the trip but also little blue herons, reddish herons and tricolored herons that we hadn’t seen yet this week.  We also saw several osprey and hawks that we believe were broadwing hawks and red shouldered hawks.  We stopped at a trail that goes through a Florida prairie for 2.5 miles.  We enjoyed the walk but saw very little wildlife and only one other couple walking the trail.  The trail was mowed and kept in good shape for walking.  It was a nice walk but we were tired at the end and ready to go to dinner.

Since we were running late, we decided to just go to the Culver’s across the street from the hotel in Bonita Springs.  It was actually a pretty good choice.  Mary had a garden salad with grilled chicken and I had a Reuben sandwich.  We all enjoyed our meals.

Mark found a small tick on his arm so we all rushed to get a shower after the walk and to check ourselves for ticks.