Meaghan and Taylor joined us for a long weekend before the Christmas travels, and I suggested we share with them the beautiful Everglades.
Allow me to share some photos of the wildlife for you, because I had such a fun time taking them. The gators! The birds! The slough!
The Anhinga bird, as in the Anhinga Trail, has its mating grounds in the slough within this part of the Everglades.
The alligator, not to be confused with a crocodile (or risk being scoffed at by native Floridians), is a freshwater creature that suns itself in Florida’s sunny rays.
These gators had no interest in bothering us camera-strapped tourists.
I am so thrilled that I spotted a juvenile Purple Gallinule – known by it’s buffy tan feathers instead of purple, a green back, beige bill, blue chest, and yellow legs. The Purple Gallinules were out in a fury, as I had only seen one elusive bird during my trip a few weeks ago.
I spotted this next guy on our way out, the Green Heron. Check out what Cornell’s Ornithology lab says about the heron:
“From a distance, the Green Heron is a dark, stocky bird hunched on slender yellow legs at the water’s edge, often hidden behind a tangle of leaves. Seen up close, it is a striking bird with a velvet-green back, rich chestnut body, and a dark cap often raised into a short crest. These small herons crouch patiently to surprise fish with a snatch of their daggerlike bill. They sometimes lure in fish using small items such as twigs or insects as bait.”
A few final shots, favorites I couldn’t leave out.
Thank you Meaghan and Taylor for the pit stop to visit us at the Everglades!
For even better nature pictures at the Everglades, or picture of the wildlife at Glacier National Park, click on the links.
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