Who’s a Pretty Bird… Florida’s 10,000 Islands and Big Cypress National Preserve

/ Curt Mekemson

Well maybe not pretty, but we thought the neck colors of this wood stork we found standing next to the road in Big Cypress National Preserve rather striking. We asked her if she hired out for delivering babies. Her response was, “Are they tasty?”

Peggy and I visited two different areas during our recent trip to the Everglades. The first was Everglade City that I will be blogging about today. It’s a small town on the southwest Gulf Coast that has a feel of old Florida. It’s far away from the huge populations and hustle-bustle of the southeast coast where Miami reigns. We could easily walk anywhere in town and meet friendly people, including a few old timers who fit the description of quirky. Our kind of folks.

The town’s primary source of income is the tourist trade that comes to experience the natural wonders and adventures provided by the Everglades 10,000 Islands and the Big Cypress National Preserve. Local businesses offer a variety of options for exploring inside and outside of the park from airboats and swamp buggies to eco-tours and kayaks. We chose a motorboat eco-tour for the 10,000 Islands area. To start, we drove south from Everglade City for a couple of miles to Chokoloskee Island and the end of the road. Our objective was the old Smallwood Store, which does double duty as a museum and a tour center. The store provided a perspective on the first white settlers in the area. We met out tour guide/boat captain there and headed out into the 10,000 Islands with one other couple. Following are a few highlights.

Three different species of mangroves provide the base for most of Florida’s 10,000 Islands. These trees have adaptations that allow them to take in extra oxygen and to remove salt that allows them to thrive in coastal intertidal zones. The creation of new islands is an ongoing process. 10,000 is a guesstimate at best.
Our two hour trip took us through the relatively open waterways shown above to the enclosed jungle-like canal shown here. Speed varied from zoom to put-put with occasional stops to admire the local flora and fauna.
The Everglades are one of the few places on earth where crocodiles and alligators co-exist. While our small, bouncy boat wasn’t the best platform for photography, it’s easy to see that this is a crocodile from its long, thin snout and visible teeth.
Our tour through the 10,000 Islands also produced this colorful bird with its interesting top-knot, a yellow-crowned night heron.
Something moving very fast left this trail through the water in a split second. Can you guess what it was?
It was a dolphin. Several of them had chased fish into the shallow water and were working to catch them. I had never realized how fast they are. Apparently they are quite common in the area. One tour operater offered, “If you don’t see dolphins on our trip we will refund your tickets.”

After our tour, we stopped at a local Chokoloski Island institution, the HavAnnA Cafe for lunch. It’s a charming, roofed-over, open air restaurant with lots of greenery— and chickens. A flock came clucking through while we were eating, eager to pick up any crumbs that had escaped to the floor. “The officials won’t let me sell their eggs to our customers,” the owner complained to us. I was both surprised and pleased that the officials allowed the chickens visiting rights at all. I did see chicken on the menu, however. I ordered a Cuban Sandwich instead.

We decided to drive ourselves on a tour of the Big Cypress National Preserve, which was just north of Everglade City. The name of the road we would start on is Birdon Road. How could we resist? And it was true. The three roads we drove over— Birdon, Wagon Wheel, and the Turner River— followed streams and were packed with birds, and alligators.

A pair of wood storks barely bothered to move off of Birdon road as we drove by.
An osprey seemed surprised by our presence.
A snowy egret hovered over a stream where it was fishing.
One of the defining chacteristics of a snowy egret is its yellow feet. Hard to miss!
Close up.
This snowy egret was perched in a tree.
One of the streams we followed through the Preserve.
This great white egret was surveying its world from the top of a tree.
Another view.
We found another one fishing by the stream and took a close up.
A great blue heron flew away before we could take his photo. “Be that way,” I called after it and snapped a photo in flight.
An anhinga twisted its neck so it could keep an eye on us.
A white ibis was also curious.
We also found alligators lurking along the stream. The clearness of the water and the time of day led to some interesting reflection shots.
…such as this.
And even more so here! I’ll wrap up today’s post with this ‘two tailed’ example. At first glance, Peggy and I thought we had spotted a monster! The next blog will be on the most dangerous animal in Africa, the Cape buffalo.

28 thoughts on “Who’s a Pretty Bird… Florida’s 10,000 Islands and Big Cypress National Preserve”

  6. We have one mangrove species rather than three, and we don’t have the crocodiles, but otherwise most of these birds are ones I’ve seen here in Texas. The wood storks are only occasional visitors, but they’re around during parts of the year. They’re such amazing creatures; I remember GP talking about seeing them in his Florida parking lots the way we see grackles.

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    • Not surprised that you would see most of the birds given the gulf and climate you share, G. I like grackles and their tails, Linda. But having a parking lot full of wood storks would indeed be a sight to see.

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  7. Wood storks used to gather around our pond in Cape Coral, Florida. They seemed the ugliest bird in the neighborhood, but when they flew, the black edge along their white wings and body really looked lovely.

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  8. “Chicken on the menu”…. so funny. Oh, the osprey here reminds me of your recent factoid that ospreys are on every continent except antarctica. That is truly remarkable and wonderful. Your photo of the stream reflecting the blue and clouded sky is so pretty. The anhinga is a COOL bird and I’m glad you captured it for us. The Ibis reminds me of the first Ibis I ever saw/heard were in Chile a couple years ago. A group of them in a tree above us sounded like a bunch of old ladies telling jokes and laughing. Their “haaa -haaaa-haaaa haaa ha ha ha” had Margaret and me laughing too. Fun reflective alligator shots. Those turned out pretty neat.

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    • Still playing catchup here, Crystal. You would have enjoyed the chickens. I thought of you at the time. LOL The Ibis were quiet but I have heard their cackle. I always enjoy reflection shots but that one crocodile bordered on weird. 🙂

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  10. The buffalo’s eyes even look mean! I watched a PBS special about polar bears in Canada. Do you think you might explore that area? If so, be very careful! Looking forward to your travels here in the PNW!

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    • I’ve had encounters with the large brown bears of Alaska, Wendy, was stalked by a grizzly, and woke up one morning with a black bear standing on me (grin), but I’ve never encountered a polar bear.

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  11. What a great place for bird watching, Curt. I’d go there for that reason alone, although those reflected alligator shots are fabulous too. And the dolphins! Now back to see the Cute African Animals. 🙂

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    • Catching up, here, D. We crossed a time zone today so I got an extra hour and I’m working backwards through my comments. Those alligator reflection shots were something else. More birds and alligators on yesterday’s post. 😳

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