Tag Archives: egrets

Gatorland

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Gatorland was certainly a high point for the trip. Between you and me, my young guests said they liked it better than Animal Kingdom!

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Gatorland gets you up close and personal and if you are into big lizards there are certainly enough gators and crocodiles to satisfy all.

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Besides the gator wrestling show you have a chance to sit on a real gator in the ring just as if you were doing the wrestling. Of course your gator has his jaws taped shut for safely.

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There’s also the feeding frenzy where handlers hand feed the big gators and even a few crocs. They send chicken carcasses on lines out over the gator pond to encourage the animals to jump for their meal.

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Other gator ponds are open to feeding by the guests. You buy a package of hot dogs and break off pieces to throw into the ponds near the gators.

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You try to get the hot dogs close to the gators because the birds  will steal the bits right out of the gators’ mouths. They seem to have no fear.DSC_0773 copy

Flamingo Gardens

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My early start had been side tracked by the unwelcome visit to the Welcome Center. Now that I’d wasted a good 45 minutes I decided Everglades National park was best delayed until tomorrow.

So where to head today? In my brochures of the area I found a one for a Botanical Garden and Wildlife sanctuary. In my travels I’ve had really good luck with botanical gardens and wildlife sanctuaries. I am about to see if my luck will continue.

Flamingo Gardens is located at 3750 South Flamingo Rd ,(Davie) Fort Lauderdale. My GPS said it was about a 20 minute drive. My full “kit” was loaded in the car including tripod and telephoto lenses. I would not be traveling light today.

To my surprise when I arrived there was a flea market well underway. The botanical gardens had not opened yet so I wandered around the stalls. I didn’t see anything I was interested in so I made my way over to the entrance.

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I watched a Peacock preen while I waited for the doors to open.

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The entrance was through the gift shop.

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I was handed a map of the grounds with my ticket.

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As I passed through to the grounds on the other side I spotted a huge tabby cat. It gave me my “kitty fix” of the trip.

The paths were almost jungle-like with flowering plants and overhanging vines and branches.

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It was only about 9:30 am and the morning light filtering through all this lush growth was an artist’s dream.

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Eventually I arrived at the Aviary. All of the birds and animals in the sanctuary are rescues. Their injuries prevent them from ever being released back into the wild. The sanctuary allows them to live out their lives while serving as animal ambassadors for their species.

I entered the aviary with limited  expectations. I was quickly surprised. I first spotted some white wading birds..egrets or maybe white herons but as I came closer I realized there were many more birds than I first noticed.

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Continuing along I met more birds… wood storks

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and anhinga,

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ducks,

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pelicans

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and spoonbills

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were just a few of the residents.I even spotted some good sized turtles.

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I found my self spending hours among these feathered creatures with my camera working overtime.

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I was surprised that there weren’t more people passing through the aviary. In fact only one small group came through while I was there. Maybe being surrounded by uncaged birds wasn’t to everyone’s liking.