Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary - Part 1

East of Bonita Springs in southwest Florida, the Audubon Society operates the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.  We spent part of a day viewing scenery and wildlife along their 2.25 mile boardwalk.

Near the visitor's center we spotted a couple of very colorful birds.

Male Northern Cardinal

Male Painted Bunting

Since most of the sanctuary is swampy terrain, the path is a raised boardwalk.

Pretty blossom along the trail

Female Red-bellied Woodpecker

Male Red-bellied Woodpecker

Bee near Pickerel Weed

Epiphytes were common given the soggy ground conditions.
(Epiphytes are non-parasitic plants using other plants as a place to grow.)

Catbird

Dragonfly

A couple different types of lichen

Another wildflower

More epiphytes

Pretty blossoms

The Buttonbush has interesting clusters of flowers.

Sanibel Island 2019

Another of our favorite wildlife drives is through the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island along the west coast of Florida.

One of our favorite wading birds to watch is the Reddish Egret.  While some varieties of herons stay perfectly still waiting for prey to come near to them, Reddish Egrets tend to chase around to catch their prey.  They can be quite entertaining while they are "dancing" around moving their legs, necks and wings, sometimes a jump or two thrown in.

Reddish Egret next to a Tricolor Heron

An immature Little Blue Heron

Lizard

Golden Orb Weaver spider

Mangrove Tree Crab

Mangrove seed pods

A couple different snakes

Gopher Tortoise

Texas Gulf Coast 2019

In mid March we spent some time near Port Aransas, Texas, and then on Galveston Island, Texas.

This truck's owner seems to be headed for a bad day.

Brown Pelican flyby

This appears to be a juvenile White-tailed Hawk.

These hawks are mostly found in parts of Mexico and Central America.

An American Avocet

Three moveable deep water oil drilling platforms "parked" near Port Aransas

A few images from Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge

Alligator

Black-necked Stilts

White and Glossy Ibises

A few from Lafite's Cove Nature Society on Galveston Island

Blue-winged Teals

A Nutria or Coypu

A White Ibis

A Green-winged Teal

There were many turtles out sunning.

A Yellow-throated Warbler