The Northeast is digging out from another winter storm with rumors of still another by weeks end. Still the calendar doesn’t lie and Old Man Winter will have to relinquish his grip to make way for the birds and flowers of spring.
Category Archives: Birds
Walking the Walks
The tram pulled back into the Welcome Center right around 1pm…right on schedule. I wasn’t quite sure what my next move would be. The peanuts weren’t going to last me forever but I hated to leave and try to come back because of all the construction.
Our guide had talked a little about the construction zone. All of the development, filling in, canal building and draining of the Everglades was starting to put a strain that could ( or maybe I should say would) destroy this unique ecosystem. The aquifer that ran under the Everglades and provided water for human habitation was critically low and the raining season was no longer restoring it. Too much water had been diverted. Once again humans refused to do anything until it began to affect them. Now this construction project was part of the effort to being back the Everglades and restore the aquifer.
As I understand it the road is being raised so the water that has been dammed back can be released and re-flood portions of the ‘glades that are too dry now. The hope is that by restoring the water balance above ground that the balance will also come back underground.
The sun was high. Not the best time of day for pictures.
Even the animals seemed to have withdrawn. There were fewer alligators on the banks and the water that had been alive this morning was still.
The park was still busy with human visitors. I was kicking myself that I hadn’t brought a lunch. The brochure warned that there was no restaurant and recommended that you pack a lunch and spend the day. I didn’t have a cooler and I’d come in too early to by a sandwich on the way but I wasn’t ready to call it a day. I decided to take a short walk on some of the trails. I bought a candy bar in the snack shack and headed off on the main trail.
Baby Alligator
The birds were still around and I spotted another mama gator with her babies sitting on her. I gotta say, baby alligators are just the cutest things!
They have vertical brown stripes on their tails. As they get older those will fade away.
Around 3pm I reluctantly made my way back to the car and headed back toward Miami. I stopped at 2 restaurants along the way but they were full with long waits so I just kept heading back to Fort Lauderdale. I figured I’d head to the Golden Corral and then look for someplace for some sunset shots.
Shark Valley Observation Tower
High noon as our tram pulled up the observation tower, the half way point of our tour. Our guide gave us strict instructions to be back in 30 minutes or walk! The limited amount of time would mean no side trips.
I noticed a small side trail but there wasn’t time to explore too far so I turned around and headed to the observation tower.
As a diabetic I have to be careful to make arrangements to eat on a schedule if I want to avoid the uncomfortable effects of low blood sugar. As I approached the tower I began to recognize the familiar signs…fast heartbeat, shaky hands, legs like rubber. I had tossed a bag of peanuts into my camera bag before I headed out this morning but I was annoyed that it had to happen now. Why couldn’t it have held off until I was back on the tram. I only had 30 minutes to explore!
At the tower there were benches and restrooms so I took a few minutes to eat my peanuts. As the symptoms began to subside I made my way up the circular ramp admiring the view as I went. The tower provides a 360-degree view of the Everglades sawgrass prairie.
The tower is about 50 ft high so you get a really clear view. Looking down there is an alligator pond and it was busy today.
Many alligators were hauled out sunning but there were some swimming as well.
We were high enough up to be above most of the tree tops so I found myself looking down on some of the birds too.
From this vantage they looked awful close to those gators.
Off in the distance I could see the loop road the tram had just traveled down and the paved path I walked to get to the tower.
Up here there was a breeze and the temperature was warm but comfortable.
Time was flying so I headed back down the ramp. On the walk back I peeked in on that shaded side path. There was a muddy puddle on the side of the path and I thought I heard a rustling. I froze and tried to peer through the shaded foliage. I couldn’t see anything but when I looked into the water I could see a reflection and it seemed to be moving. I couldn’t make out details but the reflected motion reminded me of a snake. I’m not sure but I might have seen one of those pythons that are invading the park. I wish I could have gotten a better look!
But now I was running late so I hurried back to the tram with the last of the stragglers.
On a Tram again….
There are 3 ways to visit Shark Valley-walking, bicycling or taking a ride on a tram.
I’m a firm believer in getting the lay of the land before I head off on foot and I don’t have bicycle so the choice for me was easy. Tram Ride.
The tram ride is a 2 hour tour narrated by a naturalist or park ranger. It covers a 15 mile loop trail that is closed to private vehicles. At the half way mark is an observation tower. On a clear day you can see for miles.
At 11:00 am I took a seat on the bench near the Tram’s ticket booth. It was a beautiful, sunny day. For the next 2 hours I’d receive an education about the Shark Valley eco- system and it’s wildlife.
As other riders joined me on the benches one of the attendants came by to chat. It was his role to give us the safety briefing. He told us to stay 15 feet away from all wildlife but especially the alligators and they can be unpredictable. He then went on to tell us about another tourist a few weeks back who kept trying to poke the alligators. Seems he’d been watching too many reality shows like Gator Boys and wanted to see if he could out maneuver the gators the way they do on that show. After being warned repeatedly he was removed from the park and fined.
About then our guide arrived and we loaded onto the tram. Right away we saw wildlife. A red-shouldered hawk perched in the meadow.
A mama gator and her babies sunned by the side of the pavement.
A whole panne was filled with Wood Storks.
Seeing so many of these our naturalist explained that these birds had been endangered because of habitat loss. They are very fussy eaters and if the water in the panne is the wrong depth or temperature or any of a number of other things, they will not feed there so it was exciting to see so many in one place.
Herons were everywhere, all kinds as I had noticed by the info center.
The tram would stop whenever our guide spotted something interesting so she could talk about it and give us plenty of time for photographs.
We met lots of bicyclists. They gave us the right of way and waved as we passed. That looks like a great way to see the sights up even closer than the tram. I believe there is a bike rental kiosk located near the parking lot.
About noon we reached the observation tower. We had about 1/2 hour here so we could climb the tower and take a look around. So far our guide had been pointing out the birds and gators and talking about the diversity of the wildlife in the Everglades. Now she let us head out on our own.
We all clambered off the tram and headed up the paved path to the observation tower.
Birds, Turtles and Alligators…Oh My
The water was alive. There was no other way to describe it. The surface was in constant motion. Fish jumped, others bubbled and gulped at the surface and gars cruised just under the tea colored surface.
Birds filled the trees. All kinds of birds. There were anhinga, egrets, herons, Great Blue, Great White, Tri Color, Night Herons.
The little birds with the red face were everywhere.
I could see turtles piled on the banks or swimming.
But the alligators were the star attractions. The sidewalk ran along side the water and the gators were hauled out sunning themselves…everywhere! They didn’t seem to pay any attention to the people walking by.
Gators, being cold-blooded, need the heat and sun to build up their energy supplies. They also can’t digest their meals without the sun. If they can’t get warm their last meal can end up rotting inside them and kill them instead of releasing life supporting nutrients.
There was so much to see and I hadn’t even left the parking area!
The information center is located on a wooden observation deck that juts out over the water. From this vantage point I could see so much going on. I felt like I didn’t need to go anywhere else.
While I stood watching a small gator came swimming down the water channel.
Almost immediately a large gator pushed himself into the water and began making a bee line for the smaller one. My first thought was male/ female but my second was that the big gator might have been being territorial. I waited to see what would happen.
The small gator picked up speed but the large guy stayed right on its tail until it seemed to pass an invisible boundary. At that point the big gator turned around and came back to his spot on the bank and the little gator continued on its way. My conclusion… territorial behavior and since the small one kept going it eventually left Big Guy’s turf.
I stayed on the deck watching the action until almost 11:00. I had a ticket for the 11:00 Tram ride. After that I planned to explore some of the trails.