8 February 2019 Return to Fakahatchee

We were back for another visit to Fakahatchee.  This visit was filled with an expectation of success.  The weather was perfect.  We had hours to be in the swamp.

Ali spotted this turtle as we were making our way through the swamp.  We likely will be the only humans this turtle sees during its life.

Much of the walk looked like this.

The peace in the swamp was awesome.  At some point, Ali said there wasn't enough time to finsh the last stages of the cache.  It was frustrating, but in another year, I will be ready to conquer the swamp again.

7 February 2019 Delnor Wiggens State Park and Harns Marsh

I was something new and something old day.  We always try for a few new adventures while in Florida.  This morning's was a promising first visit to Delnor Wiggens State Park.  It had a long beach and not much else from where we visited.  The beach was crowded.  Wildlife was non-existent.  Unlike Lover's Key State Park where we had a great visit, this was a stop on the way.  There is a different section of park on the other side of the inlet so maybe we missed the best.

We left Delnor Wiggens and returned for another visit to Harns Marsh.  This area has not disappointed us with our first visits.  It is a quiet, lightly-visited birding location.  Today was exceptional.  There were birds everywhere.

Breeding plumage was in fashion this afternoon at Harns.

It was a busy day to spot sandhill cranes.

This sandhill crane took a very long bath in the marsh.

After a day on the trail we enjoyed a visit to a Mexican restaurant we have visited before.  We arrived late and ended up the last diners, but our meal was pleasant.

6 February 2019 Fakahatchee and 10,000 Islands

This was a big planned outing for us on the trip.  We were returning to Fakahatchee Swamp to search for the Ghost Orchid multicache.  We tried twice last year to find the first stage.  This year we were back and more determined, but first we had a journey to an old homestead and a cache find planned.  We often spot an interesting bird on the drive back to the tramway trails.  Today included a nice looking hawk searching the fields for a meal.

The park greeter was there for us when we arrived at the first trailhead.

Pickerel weed was in bloom.

The walk to this cache and the cache find were easy.

The hut has seen better days.

We must have been more focused on the trail sights on the walk back from the cache.

It was time for the main event.  Two visits last year brought us no closer to even the first stage of the ghost orchid multi.  We were hoping that would change this afternoon.  The warm weather made leaving the tramway and entering the swamp much easier.

We somehow came up with not just the first stage, but the first two stages.

The long walk to the next stage would need to wait for another day.

There are birds everywhere in the area.  It is interesting to spot them while actually in the swamp.  Some are very skittish and leave long before you are near.  Others are peacefully there in the quiet surroundings of the swamp.

Little green herons are very sensitive to humans.  This one seemed oblivious to us as we stopped to watch.

We decided for another walk on a tramway before leaving Fakahatchee for the afternoon.

'

We've spotted orange trees on previous hikes.  I had ignored the fruit, but really wanted to be able to say I've tried an orange from Florida.  We spotted these trees along the tramway.

I have a new appreciation for the word tart.  I'm spoiled on large, sweet California navels.  These were too much for me.

With our day in the swamp over early, we had plenty of time left for a second visit to the Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge.  We both enjoyed the bird diversity on our first visit so we were eager for a return.  Spotting an eagle on the walk back to the viewing area was a sign of the multitude of birds to come.

Breeding plumage was plentiful in the mangroves.

The sheer number of birds was awesome.