Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

Painted buntings at a feeder

We both had some things to do in the morning so we awoke at 6 am then did some things in the room and left at 8 am following our Kashi breakfast.  We drove to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.  We arrived a little after 9 am and paid the $28 fee for our admission then signed up for a guided tour at 10:30.  Our guide, Phil, a retiree from Athens, Ohio, was a knowledgeable and capable guide.  He gave us an overview of the area as well as the variety of plants and animals that inhabit the 17 square miles of the sanctuary.  We walked along part of the nearly 2.3 mile board walk with visitors from New York, New Jersey, Seattle and Kentucky.  Phil pointed out all of the birds that we saw and shared a lot of information about the history of the area.  After we completed the tour around 12:30, we returned to the car and had our normal travel lunch of peanut butter, crackers, apples and carrots. 

Red and grey lichens

We went back to walk the entire trail including the parts that were not on Phil’s tour.  There are some huge cypress trees in the swamp some of which had strangler figs growing on them.  We saw many epiphytic bromiliads growing on branches as well as many varieties of lichens.  We were amazed by the tiny floating ferns that we thought were duckweed plants, there were also resurrection ferns that appear dead until the wet season when they rejuvenate.  There were also strap ferns and leather ferns that grew in profusion in the swamp. 

Along the way we saw a number of song birds including painted buntings, gnatcatchers, phoebes, black and yellow crowned night herons, ibis, grebes and many others.  One small adult alligator was seen but we did not see her babies.  We saw a raccoon foraging for food in the swamp and a small frog swimming on the surface.  A cottonmouth water moccasin was sunning in some plant matter not far from the boardwalk.  Probably the highlight of the trip caught us quite by surprise.  As we were back on the road leaving the area, we saw a large cat running across the highway.  It took us some time to realize that we had seen a Florida Panther!  

There are only about 80-100 panthers still alive and we saw one today.  Most people in the area have never seen a Florida Panther.  These cats are the same species as a puma, cougar or mountain lion but inhabit the Everglades area of Florida.  The population is sharply down because of habitat encroachment and deaths on the highways.

When we left the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary we drove to Marco Island to meet our friends, B. J. and Diana Johnson.  The Johnsons are here spending a few days before leaving on a 20 day cruise throughout much of the Caribbean.  Their condo is very nice and convenient to many interesting areas.  They told us about one of their favorite restaurants on Marco Island, Snook Inn.  

Cypress tree with strangler fig

We all decided to go there for dinner.  We had a boiled shrimp appetizer.  B. J. and Diana had a large lunch so only had a bowl of conch chowder Mary had broiled grouper stuffed with crab.  One fillet had a dill sauce and the other had hollandaise.  I had a broiled seafood combo platter that had Mahi Mahi, grouper, crab, three scallops and three shrimp. Mary and I both had a baked sweet potato and a small salad.  We were very happy with our meals.  The quality of the food and service were both very good.  We really enjoyed chatting with the Johnsons.  They have been our good friends for over 35 years and we enjoy seeing them only regretting that we don’t get with them more often. 

We drove back to our hotel through Naples.  We were aware that Naples has an overall very high income.  The size and quality of homes is an indication of the resources of the residents.  Another indicator is the number of golf courses in the Naples area.  The flat sandy land, the warm climate and the high income people in the area who golf creates a need for the many links in the Naples area.  One thing that did surprise us is the cars in the area.  In driving in and through Naples during our trips to the Everglades or to Marco Island we have seen Bentleys, Ferraris, Maseratis and Lamborghinis not to mention the BMWs, Mercedes, Lexis and other luxury cars.

We plan to leave the Wyndham Garden Fort Myers Beach tomorrow morning and drive to the Tampa area where we will visit some local attractions then check into our hotel near the airport where we can get to the terminal at PIE in time for our Thursday morning flight.

Flamingo and Anhinga Trail

We woke at our usual early hour this morning although neither of us slept exceptionally well on Sunday night because we hadn’t set the air conditional cool enough.  It sounds odd to want the air conditioning cranked up in mid-January but with the heat that we have been having here on the southern Gulf Coast of Florida, the air conditioning feel pretty good at night.

We got on the road by 7:15 am after a breakfast of Kashi cereal and bananas since we were out of Wheat Chex.  We headed south down I-75 to visit the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge.  However, we could find no visitor center for the area.  A very large area was enclosed to provide a safe area for the breeding population of the Florida variety of pumas in the area.  Although there was no visitor center, we did find an informational kiosk at the trailhead for a hiking trail around the refuge.  Brochures and signage informed visitors of the status of Florida panthers and how the facility seeks to protect the remaining population.

We headed southeast on Rt. 41 stopping at the Ochapee, Florida Post Office to mail birthday cards to Robert and Michael Whittington and Greg Koehler.  The Ochapee Post Office is in a building that appears to be about 4 by 6 feet and is reported to be the smallest in the US.  We had passed it several times and were glad to have a reason to stop. 

We drove a little further to the Oasis Visitor Center on Rt. 41 where a boardwalk provides a view of alligators, wading birds and fish in the canal.  Since we were there fairly early, there were few alligators out because the temperature was still in the low 70s.  I guess we shouldn’t complain about the 70s when the temperatures back home are at zero with the wind chill and light snow is in the forecast.  We are perfectly happy with the 70s!

We continued southeast on Rt. 41 until we got to Rt. 997 toward Homestead.  This is one of my least favorite roads since it is 20 miles of very congested two lane road.  There is a lot of traffic going to the Coe entrance to Everglades National Park many of whom are from out of state and out of the US.  In addition, there are many trucks and tractors serving the large agricultural areas along Rt. 997 near Homestead and Florida City.  Because there is so much traffic on the highway no passing is permitted at any point on the road.  It would just not be safe to allow passing on this busy road.

We passed fields of tomatoes, beans, squash, papaya and many other fruits and vegetables.  We also passed the famous Robert is Here fruit stand.  We arrived at the entrance to Everglades National Park around 11 am and used our receipt from our entrance to Shark Valley to get us in to the park with no additional charge.  We started our visit at the Anhinga Trail and covered our rental car with one of the tarps provided by the Park Service.  Since the resident black vultures will eat the rubber wipers and moldings from parked cars, the Park Service recommends covering cars to discourage the birds.

A large group of elementary school children were at the Anhinga Trail while we were there as well as a van tour of senior citizens.  We were surprised at the lack of wildlife along the trail.  When we were here on January 31, 2013 there were many more birds and alligators.  We speculate that el Nino is keeping the coastal areas warmer and not driving the birds inland at this time.  As with other visits to the area, we saw many tourists from Europe and Asia visiting the Everglades.  After our walk around the boardwalk at the Anhinga Trail, we returned to our rental car with the rubber parts intact and had a lunch of peanut butter and crackers as well as sesame sticks and mini carrots as we drove to other trails and viewing areas in the National Park. 

We stopped at most of the attractions and walked around the interpretative trails.  We finished the trip at Flamingo where the Everglades meets the ocean.  This area has both American alligators and crocodiles but we saw neither while we were there this year.  We saw both alligators and crocodiles there in 2013.  A ranger was pointing out a manatee in the marina area and several ospreys were in the area including several on nests.

After spending some time looking around in Flamingo we started back toward our room in Fort Myers.  We knew that the drive north on Rt. 997 wouldn’t be fun but we were anxious to get back.  Along Rt. 41 we had to slow down at several places since the speed limit is lowered from 60 to 45 after dark to protect panthers than may be crossing the highway after dark.  We were disappointed to not see any panthers.

We stopped in Bonita Beach for dinner around 7 pm at a place called Big Hickory Seafood Grill House and Marina because it is on Big Hickory Pass on the north end of the island.  Mary had fish tacos made with locally caught grouper that had a key lime aioli and slices of avocado.  I had a grouper sandwich.  We both thought our meals were very good, the service was excellent and the prices reasonable. 

We returned to the Wyndham Garden Fort Myers Beach.  We hope to get together with our friends, the Johnson, tomorrow at Marco Island.  We head back toward St. Pete on Wednesday.