Merritt Island & Orlando Wetland

The bed at the Titusville Hampton Inn was very comfortable, so we slept until 5:30. We did a couple of language lessons on Babbel before going to the breakfast area with Mark and Cindy. There was a selection of muffins, bagels, toast, Belgian waffles, potatoes, cheese omelets, sausage, boiled eggs, fresh fruit, oatmeal and an assortment of cold cereals. There were several choices of coffees and juices as well.

Grackle visiting Mark

Cindy checked us out online, and we left for the Black Point Wildlife Drive again. Because the air was still cool in the early morning, we saw fewer alligators than yesterday but many more birds. In some areas many varieties of heron, egret, ibis and storks were congregated. As we neared the end of the loop road, we stopped to observe some wading birds. A large grackle landed on the hood of the car and looked at us through the windshield. It jumped to the mirror on the driver’s side of the pickup and looked in at us while vocalizing. Another grackle landed on the roof of the pickup. We suspected that people had been feeding the birds, so they were trained to mooch food from passersby. We started to drive away slowly but the two grackles stayed on the pickup’s roof for a time hitching a ride.

Osprey with a fish

Our next stop was back at the Merritt Island visitor center where we asked about bird viewing opportunities nearby. The volunteer suggested we go out Peacocks Pocket Road, a short drive from the visitor center. After turning off the road, we drove out the gravel access to the locked gate at the water’s edge. We walked along the elevated path for a little over a mile seeing a lot of grackles, ibis, herons and egrets. The only things that we hadn’t already seen were some of the small wading birds resembling sandpipers. We walked back to the pickup and drove to the Orlando Wetlands.

Purple Gallinule

The Orlando Wetlands is an impressive site. Treated wastewater from the city enters the site where plant life continues the purification process. This 1600-acre wetland is home to huge numbers of waterfowl, wading birds, songbirds, alligators and other wildlife. The visitor center is less than a year old and is well laid out and inviting. Staff and volunteers were very helpful. Although there were many visitors, including tour buses, the facility didn’t seem crowded.

Roseate spoonbill feeding hatchlings

We walked across the boardwalk to a place where roseate spoonbills, wood storks, and herons were nesting. The hatchling spoonbills, called “teaspoons” by some, already have the characteristic pink color of their plumage. As we watched the parent birds tending the young, we observed several turtles of all sizes swimming in the clear shallow water. We stayed at the rookery for some time then continued the boardwalk to the trail through the marsh rejuvenation. From the signage we learned that wetlands will eventually become clogged with debris. About every 30 years the area must be drained so the composting material can be hauled away for recycling as agricultural supplement. As we were finishing the trail and nearly back to the visitor center, we observed a sandhill crane on a nest in the marsh. The bird was well camouflaged, so we nearly missed seeing it.

Basking alligator at Orlando Wetlands

Back at the pickup we had a snack of rice cakes, peanut butter and trail mix before driving back to Homosassa. When we got to town, we drove the pickup through the car wash then to Walmart.  Mary and Cindy picked up salads for dinner while Mark and I topped off the truck's gas.

At the house, we unloaded the pickup and talked to Mike and Pam about the possibly rabid raccoon that was in their yard, It had fought with Bubba, one of their dogs. Mike killed the raccoon and turned it over to animal control for testing. Their dogs would have to be quarantined for 10 days until the raccoon’s rabies test results were in, even though both dogs had been vaccinated against rabies.

Turtle swimming at Orlando Wetlands

Mark and I took his dogs for a quick evening walk while Mary prepared dinner of salad and a turkey breast that I had smoked in December. Everything was very good.

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.