A swamp might not sound glamorous, but this swamp is of international importance.
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary was named a wetland of international importance by an intergovernmental wetlands convention. To celebrate the swamp’s designation, Florida governor Charlie Christ and other officials from U.S. Fish & Wildlife, Audubon, and the convention will be there.
The convention’s goal is to [...]
Audubon’s Great Backyard Bird Count is almost here, and after looking at the website, I’ve decided that I’m going to do it this year. It’s much easier than I thought to participate (and you don’t have to be an expert!)
Wanna join? Here’s some information about the event, which is February 12 to 15.
First, you don’t [...]
There are many places I have yet to visit in South Florida, so I thought I’d make a to-do list so you can see places I plan to visit (and write about) in the next year.
Here goes:
Shark Valley: This is a place in Everglades National Park that’s about halfway between Miami and Naples. You rent [...]
There’s something almost silly about these birds. They’re pink, a surprising color if you’re seeing them in the muddy, green swamp, and they have bald heads and bills that really do look like spoons.
When I saw them fishing at Corkscrew Swamp sanctuary, they were sticking their beaks into the water and swishing their heads side [...]
I’d never seen an alligator before.
So when the volunteer guide at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary told my parents and I that there was one up ahead on the edge of one of the lettuce lakes, we set out on our alligator hunt. In the three years since then, I’ve seen dozens and dozens — in captivity [...]
Painted buntings are a bird I’ve never seen, and hopefully, sometime soon I will. In photos, they’re incredible.
There’s a Native American legend about painted buntings. It says that the Great Spirit ran out of paint when coloring the birds, and so the painted bunting ended up dabbed with all different colors.
Male painted buntings have a [...]
Today I stopped at an intersection, looked out my window and saw a great egret stalking prey in the plants in the road’s median. Once, I saw one land on top of a car in downtown Naples, hitch a ride for awhile as the car drove about 25 mph, and then take off when it [...]
Bald cypress trees tower over you as you make your way through the swamp, surrounded by a jungle of green growing things. Orchids and ferns cling to branches and fallen logs, and birds, insects and other creatures chirp and hunt and fly all around you.
The winding 2.5-mile-boardwalk at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary gives you a glimpse [...]
