NATURE ESSAYS
South Florida - Selected Places Everglades National Park I am always amazed at the amount of wildlife that is easily accessible in the Florida Everglades. Look for alligators anywhere in the park where there is fresh water.  The animals are often found basking in the sun along the tramway at Shark Valley and at Anhinga Trail.  Remember that the animals are wild and are unpredictable and deceptively fast – KEEP YOUR DISTANCE.  The American crocodile inhabits salt water and is only found on the southern part of the Everglades.  Crocodiles are olive green in color in contrast to the black color of the alligator.  The animals are shy and probably the best place to see them is at the boat ramp at Flamingo. The numbers of birds seem to be increasing with the efforts to improve the water flows through the Everglades.  In January 2000, we found white ibis, glossy ibis, gallinule (both common and purple), several varieties of egrets and herons at Eco Pond.  The white ibis would roost in the trees and leave in large flocks in the evenings to feed on the neighboring islands. The Anhinga Trail had both cormorants and anhingas nesting in close proximity to the boardwalk. Big Cypress National Preserve The Tamiami Trail, U.S. Highway 41, is also a good place to find birds along the borrow canals adjacent to the roads. Use caution and pull far off the highway to view the birds, as the traffic is very heavy on this road.  The Oasis Visitor Center at Big Cypress is a good place to stop for information. Look for snail kites in the open grasslands as you drive west on Highway 41 towards Big Cypress.  The Loop Road is not  maintained very well but it is good for wildlife viewing and for accessing the Tree Snail Hammock Nature Trail.  The nature trail is exceptional for viewing and photographing the tree snails. The boardwalk at Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve west of Big Cypress is an excellent place to find and photograph alligators, river otters, turtles and nesting bald eagles.  Corkscrew Swamp Corkscrew Swamp located on Sanctuary Road southeast of Ft. Myers, is a very good place to find wildlife from an accessible boardwalk. The sanctuary has a wood stork rookery that is visible from the boardwalk.  Past visits had photo opportunities with purple gallinules, egrets, limpkins, barred owls, red shoulder hawks, pileated woodpeckers.  Captiva Island Captiva Island sits to the northwest of Sannibel Island which is perhaps more famous for the Ding Darling Wildlife refuge.  Captiva Island is accessible only by a thirty-minute water taxi or by airplane.  The island’s remoteness provide many opportunities for scenic images at sunrise, sunset and along the beautiful white beaches.  Shore birds are accessible at several places on the island.  The island has a population of gopher tortoise that are evident by the huge number of dens all over the island.  The tortoise are liable to show up anywhere for good photo opportunities Recommended reading: Everglades Wildguide, Handbook 143, Jean Craighead George, Produced by the Division of Publications, National Park Service, U. S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C., 1988. ISBN 0-912627-29-8 Florida Wildlife Viewing Guide, Susan Cerulean and Ann Morrow, Watchable Wildlife Series, Falcon Press Publishing Company, Helena, MT, 1993.  ISBN 1-56044-214-X     More images are available in the ARCHIVES     Please note that the images and the articles on these pages are copyrighted by Angelo Sciulli. Reproduction or use in any manner without permission is prohibited.
Maintained by Angelo Sciulli   Last updated: March 21, 2000