Camping in the Everglades!

So I left off thinking I had retreated to the safety of my trailer. Well... I’m starting to wonder if that’s still true! A couple weeks ago we noticed that people were removing sections of barbed wire from around the youth correctional facility. We assumed they were just replacing it, or at the very least cleaning it (Spanish moss falls all over the fence, which just seems like a nice layer of cushion over the barbed wire… kind of defeats the purpose!). However, instead of putting any of it back up, they just kept removing more and more of it, so now there isn’t ANY barbed wire around the facility. Huh. We’re not sure what their plan is, but they’ve been barbed-wire-less for over a week now. Considering that these guys last rioted in the fall (whereas it’s been much longer since a riot at the actual prison), I’m thinking that putting the barbed wire back up might be a good idea. But what do I know… I just live 80m from the fence...

She wouldn't get up, so I had to feel around her for nestlings!

In the last 10 days I’ve found 5 more nests. The nest searching has really gone down because we know where most of the nests are, so now it’s just keeping up with ones that fail. We seem to be at our nest equilibrium – we find a nest in one territory, but then discover that a nest in another territory has been depredated, so there are 5-10 territories on our nest searching list at any given time. The fun thing is that we’re doing a bunch of bandings now, around 10 nests per week (which is around 30 nestlings)! I’ve gotten way better at using these wrap-around bands, so Michelle is letting me do more and more of them. We actually use two different types: celluloid (which isn’t manufactured anymore), and Darvic. The celluloid bands are easy to manipulate and seal with acetone very quickly, but the colors fade and the bands are overall a bit weaker than Darvic bands. The Darvic bands seal with a different type of chemical which unfortunately takes a couple minutes rather than a couple seconds. And then of course there are the metal US Fish and Wildlife bands (which have an ID number so you could theoretically identify individuals even without the colored wrap-around bands, but you’d need to get close enough to the birds to read it). Those you just clamp around the leg – they are sturdy metal and won’t (usually) come off. Anyways, I’m pretty happy to be getting experience with a different type of banding, and of course the extra experience bleeding. Plus, nestlings are super cute, and they fall asleep when you rub their heads!

So you know that I have a pretty erratic schedule and don’t always know when my days off will be. Well, last week I worked 10 days straight in order to get 2 days off together to go camping in the Everglades (I’ll get to that later). Near the end of that very long week, Sheena and I had a couple of pretty bad days at work, so we went out for a drink on her Friday night (which turned out to be a Monday for normal people) at a place called Eighteen East. Avon Park is not exactly the most happening place on any night, so on a Monday it was just us and the alcoholics. They were very nice, and the bartender had what looked like Animal Planet on the TV, which was awesome. It was even better when the bartender came by and said “Your mother called – she wants you to eat your vegetables” and gave us a plate of cooked squash and other vegetables covered in a yummy peanut sauce. How nice!! Maybe it’s because we were new, or the only women there, or the only people under 50, but it makes me want to go out on Mondays more often! All this southern hospitality is wonderful!!

Now… my trip to the Everglades! I’d been meaning to do this for a while, but I just assumed that Sheena and I would have some days off together, so I kept putting it off. It’s good I didn’t put it off any longer because the mosquitoes were already getting unbearable. I drove down on Thursday after work and sped like a Californian to get there by sunset (who wants to pitch a tent in the dark?). I got there 10 minutes before sunset, quickly pitched my tent, and then went back to my car for the rest of my stuff. On the walk back I realized I already had half a dozen mosquitoes attacking my arms, so I ran to my tent, threw everything inside, and dove in after it. That was pretty perfect timing, except that I hadn’t gone to the bathroom since I left Avon Park 4.5 hours earlier. I waited until it was dark, thinking that the mosquitoes would only be at unbearable levels right at dusk. Not the case. I opted to squat outside my tent rather than run 200m to the bathroom. I can’t say if I would’ve gotten fewer bites with the run, but perhaps they would’ve been in less annoying places.

Mosquitoes on my tent in the morning

Great Blue Heron

Common Yellowthroat

Red-shouldered Hawk

I woke up the next morning to a beautiful sunrise viewed from my tent. After finally getting up and moving, I drove to Snake Bight Trail, which is supposed to be great for birding. I couldn’t actually tell you if there were cool birds because I jogged most of it to get away from the swarms of mosquitoes. No joke – even when I was speed walking there were a dozen mosquitoes on my arms, so when I slowed to a mosey there were three times as many. I was swinging my arms as I walked, and every swing I hit at least a couple of mosquitoes. They were just everywhere, lingering in the air. After about 15 minutes of this I started regretting my entire trip, but fortunately it turned out that this was just a really bad trail for mosquitoes – most of the others weren’t nearly this intense. On my way back I passed a couple who said they saw a Great Crested Flycatcher on a branch overhanging the trail. When I hit the mosquito zone I started jogging, until I saw a bird land on a branch similar to the one they described. I paused for about four seconds to get a good look with my binoculars, realized it was the flycatcher, and then kept on running. I even tripped and cut my knee and ripped my pants, but I got up and kept running! I ran straight to the road, jumped in my car, and locked the door (you know, in case they swarmed into the shape of a hand and opened my door). While I was catching my breath, I saw a couple start heading down the path… and then run back out 20 seconds later to spray each other head to toe in bug spray. At least it wasn’t just me.

Anhinga babies stuffing their faces... into momma's mouth

Osprey with a fish!

Black-necked Stilt

Indigo Bunting

I walked another trail – Christian Point, which had far fewer mosquitoes and still ended at the bight. On my way back to the campground I stopped at Eco Pond, which I had planned to go to the next morning. Turns out that place had better birding than either of the first two trails I tried. So many cool creatures! It was also only a half mile loop, and it was a popular spot, so I got to chat with other people trying to find interesting birds. Hint: look for the people in the dorky, wide-brimmed hats holding binoculars. After that I checked out the campground visitor center, ate dinner, walked along the shore near my tent, and got in bed well before sunset.

Saturday I woke up to another lovely sunrise, packed up my stuff, and went back to Eco Pond. I did a loop on my own, and when I got back to the start I noticed a group ahead of me with someone who looked like a ranger. I casually tagged along behind them but kept my distance, not knowing if it was a private tour or something. But eventually I helped point things out to them, and I took advantage of the ranger’s knowledge, so it was a really great second loop. Some of the birds I saw at the pond include Osprey, Double-crested Cormorant, Reddish Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Black-necked Stilt, Belted Kingfisher, Black-and-white Warbler, Palm Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Indigo Bunting, Orchard Oriole, and probably some others. Plus the ones that I saw on other trails. Lots of birds!

Gator!

Double-crested Cormorant

Tricolored Heron

After that I made my way back to the main park entrance, but first I stopped at the Anhinga Trail, which is a boardwalk trail that has heavy foot traffic, but also has a lot of wildlife just hanging out right there, mostly anhingas and alligators. It was still nice to see because it was a bit different from the trails near my campground, so good to get some variety. Just after leaving the park I stopped at a fruit stand called Robert Is Here. I got a strawberry / key lime milkshake which was delicious… and I don’t usually like milkshakes! Anyways, this place has been around for decades, and there was so much fruit! The mangoes in particular were amazingly delicious and juicy. If you go to the Everglades, you should stop here.

All in all I’m pretty happy that I was able to squeeze in a camping trip in the Everglades before it got TOO nasty hot/humid. The weather was actually phenomenal for my entire weekend! Doesn’t look like it will be this weekend. Now for Harry Potter World…