2 February 2018 Final Destination Fakahatchee Strand

Our final destination of the day would be Fakahatchee Strand State Park for a walk in the swamp. That didn't mean we weren't going to have fun on the way.

Ali had spotted a 14 year-old multi in a community park that was on the way. Besides being old, the logs told tales of great birding at the park. I usually don't think of community parks and birding, but have seen exceptions.

You know you are in a different park when there is a nesting pair of ospreys on top of the light standards between the two infield bleachers of a ball diamond.

We gathered the information for the first stage of the multi and headed off toward the viewing platform in the distance. As we approached the viewing platform, a large group of visitors led by a guide arrived to look for birds. Hmmmm... maybe there was some birding here. We gathered the second stage information and moved on. We quickly began to see the promised birds.

It was quickly apparent this was a special place and would be a fun journey for us.

Butterflies were plentiful on this trip. My photography skills with the butterflies were not as plentiful. It was nice to see and capture this gulf fritillary off the side of the trail.

Synchronized dabbling? I think they have some work before they are ready for the pairs competition in the duck Olympics. ;)

Ali spotted this gathering of turtles soaking up the sun's heat.

We eventually did find the old multi after a stop to watch a bluebird near the edge of the parking area.

We left the memorable local park for Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge and more memories.

Breeding plumage was visible on a number of birds.

There's one in every crowd. :)

The variety and wealth of birds was amazing, but it seemed like many visitors were riveted on the alligtors.

Eventually, we left the main viewing area to explore the trails away from people. We were hoping for more bird viewing and maybe a chance spotting of a manatee as we went deeper into the mangroves. The manatee sighting did not happen, but we did enjoy the birds in this section of the preserve.

We spotted a new bird when a couple of ground doves bounced along the trail in front of us for a bit.

It seems as though we used to see more little green herons than we do lately. Maybe we don't go to the right places. This one was a nice treat as we said goodbye to the The Thousand Islands Refuge.

We stopped at the kiosk on the way out to re-check a few answers and spotted this shedding lizard at the kiosk.

We had done our day so far nice and easy like Ike and Tina Turner on Proud Mary. We don't do too many trips nice and easy so our day was about to move to the rougher side with a visit to Fakahatchee Strand.

Our target cache was Share the Music Cache located on an old tramway in the swamp. It is a February 2002 cache and was actually found recently in November. With eighty-six finds in seventeen years, it is not a frequent destination for Florida vacationers. We expected the trail to have some hurricane damage. We also needed to get through the swamp and back in time to leave the park before sunset. We were lucky to stop at the office to pay and meet a volunteer who also geocaches. She gave us some trail hints for today's adventure and a few ideas for tackling the Ghost Orchid multi.

This isn't too bad. I can still look back and see a glimpse of our geo-rental.

A small camping/rest stop on the tramway.

Creature comforts

Who would pay a premium for special Budweiser cans and then carry them into the swamp to drink them?

Yes, we CITO'd the cans on our return trip.

It didn't take long to find the first water crossing. This was the longest, but not the deepest. We were very watchful for gators on this journey.

Swamp lilies on the way

After the crossing the tramway became very faint.

The water was high to the edge of the tramway and needed a close watch for alligators.

The second water crossing was a killer for me. I took a deeper path and was in to my waist. Ali chose wiser and was not much wetter than after the first crossing.

There it is on the ground under a few leaves. The ammo can had done well for being in the swamp for 16 years.

We turned around and made our journey back. We heard more birds as sunset approached and were able to spot an ibis in the trees. There were a few bromeliads in bloom, and Ali was able to spot the cottonmouth before it spotted here. It was also not in a mood to fight and thankfully slid away.

It was an amazing journey. We were both exhausted after a long day. My arm was bloody from multiple punctures and slices. We spotted an owl on the way out and managed to leave the park within a few minutes of sunset. We were both fired up for the Ghost Orchid multi!

A true night owl