Tamiami Trail

The Tamiami Trail (US-41) is the southernmost highway that crosses Florida, running between Naples and Miami.  This route is an alternative to I-75 to the north and is more amenable to watching scenery and wildlife.  We made a couple of stops along this route for wildlife viewing.

Our first stop was the H. P. Williams Roadside Park.

A few alligators were seen.

The alligators are likely here because of the abundance of fish.

A very colorful grasshopper

Dragonfly

Pretty butterfly

A couple different wildflowers

Our next stop was at Big Cypress National Preserve Oasis Visitor's Center.

Here we found lots of alligators.

Alligators often float with just their head and tip of the snout above water.

Their closable nostrils are on the topside of their snout and they can take breaths while floating without moving.

Another dragonfly

Cormorants

 Juvenile Night Heron

Florida Gars

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary - Part 3

The final images  from Corkscrew Swamp

A Little Blue Heron

Another Anhinga drying out

We came to a pond with a mother alligator and at least twenty baby alligators.

Another young alligator nearby

A frog hanging out near the boardwalk

Another Red-bellied woodpecker nest

Limpkin

Black-crowned Night Heron

We noticed these two young alligators on a log.

Then an Anhinga decided it wanted this spot and started to poke at one of the alligators.

Then it poked more insistently.

This got the gator quite agitated.

The gator finally gave up and relocated behind the other gator.

Yet another dragonfly

We were lucky to glimpse a couple of River Otters.

This tree appeared to be trying to eat the boardwalk railing.

A green Anole

More pretty flowers

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary - Part 2

More images from Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

Because of the moisture and humidity, lots of plants were covered with beads of water.

Off-roaders may recognize the High-Lift jack being used to support a corner of the boardwalk.

A couple of bromeliads

A Green Heron that was waiting very still for some prey to get too close

A Great Egret

A Red-shouldered Hawk checking us out

Immature White Ibis

Another dragonfly

A couple of resting alligators

A couple of typical swamp views

This tree appears to have been strangled by vines.

We were surprised to see this non-native Muscovy Duck with somebody else's egg.

A male Anhinga drying its wings