We took the boat tour of the swamp today after doing a short walk down a boardwalk by the ranger station. We coated ourselves with bug spray, wore our hats, brought lots of water and snacks and our camera gear.
Boardwalk
We had two rangers take us out on a small boat that had a cover over it for sun and rain protection. I would say that Bruce arranged for a private tour but we learned that this is the dead time of the year for this park so there was no one else wanting to go on a boat tour in the middle of the day when it is probably around 100 degrees and you are being swarmed by yellow flies.
They were very good guides, the lady drove the boat and they both provided commentary on what we were seeing and answered all our questions. I think he was training her because while they were getting the boat ready he was explaining things to her. He was also in charge of unwrapping the propeller on the motor every time it got wrapped up in lily pads and other stuff in the water.
view as we came from canal by camp
Egret
Egret close up
Egret going in for a landing
Egret landing
Alligator
We learned all about the swamp, the attempts to drain it, the logging companies and the settlers that used to live in the swamp area. Of course we saw lots of alligators and birds (as you can see above we actually got pictures), learned how to harvest and cook the root of the lily pads (need lots of butter and salt and pepper) and learned that the blooms on one of the trees could be used to create soap. I now know the difference in a bullfrog and pig frog (has a lime head) and can recognize the sound of a cricket frog. I have learned all about fighting wildfires in a swamp, they have had a few here over the years.
Alligator by nest
Turtles
Lily Pads
The most importation thing I learned is that our bug spray works better on Bruce than it does on me. Perhaps it has something to do with me tasting better than him and I have the yellow fly bites to prove it. I was doing fine until they stopped the boat way back up in the swamp to explain something about the history of the swamp. I guess sitting still gave the flies time to land and get their meal off my legs.
We did discuss the bears we had seen and apparently it could be the same bear in different areas. It is a female and about 18 months old, from the size I would have thought it was only a few months old. I guess the black bears in this area are not very large. When a female cub gets around 18 months old they are on their own. The mother bear moves to a new area and the female cub takes over the old area. If it had been a male cub it would have been the one moving on to a new area.
The rangers actually had almost as many questions for us as we had for them. They both were interested in all the many other parks we have visited over the years and what we liked about them. One of them was leaving for Key West in a few days and really wanted to go to Dry Tortugas National Park but was concerned about the cost. We encouraged him to go there if he could as it was well worth the visit. They also gave us their recommendations on where to visit.
I also have determined that I need a loblolly bay tree to plant in my yard when we have our new house. Not sure it will survive out of the swampy area but it is really pretty and has lots of white blooms.
Loblolly Bay
Made it back to the landing and saw more birds.
Heron
Bruce grilled again tonight but he had to finish it in the rain. We missed taking a bike ride since it was raining too hard.