Day 1 - December 14

When researching what to do at Flamingo in Everglades National Park a couple boat trips were suggested.  Today I took the Bayside Boat Tour, a 90-minutes cruise out into Florida Bay passing by a couple keys (islands).  Interestingly, I was the only person to book the 10 a.m. tour and to my surprise the tour went as scheduled, so I got a private tour of the bay.  We saw many of the same birds I’ve been seeing as I’ve traveled in Florida:  Great Blue Herons, Little Blue Herons, Snowy Egrets, White Herons, White Ibis, White and Brown Pelicans, Osprey, and Roseate Spoonbills.  An American Crocodile was spotted both at the beginning and again at the conclusion of the cruise.  Both the Captain and the tour guide were very personable and gave me a lot of information about the park, the wildlife, and what to see while I am in the Everglades.

Bayside Boat Tour

After the morning boat tour I returned to the RV to get some lunch and check out the pictures I took on the boat. Soon after arriving home the dark clouds that had been forming opened up with intermittent showers for about an hour. When I was certain the rain was over I decided to go for a couple short hikes. I had read a lot about mosquitos in the area and after the boat tour I had seen a few of the pests myself, so in preparation for the hikes I put on long pants and grabbed the insect repellant. My first hike was around a small pond called Eco Pond. There is a half-mile grass trail looping around the pond, however, Mangroves and other brush allow for only occasional views of the pond. I did encounter an egret (I think), as I was walking along, eventually he took off in flight to get away from me. Next, I took the Guy Bradley Trail, running from the campground amphitheater to the Visitors Center, this paved trail follows the shore of Florida Bay for about ¾ of a mile. Highlights of this walk included watching a White Ibis trying to eat a crab, an Osprey on its nest, and two Wood Storks. Following a brief break at the RV, I went back to the campground amphitheater to take pictures of the sunset.

Hikes and Sunset

Day 2 - December 15

When I signed up for the Bayside Boat Tour, I also booked this tour for the next day.  I was hoping to see more birds and possibly some other wildlife.  As passengers boarded the boat the captain was courteous and tried to engage people in conversation.  There were only six other passengers, so this was going to be a little more intimate than yesterday’s tour.  All I will say is it was a nice boat ride.  The tour took us through the Buttonwood Canal (a manmade canal, but we weren’t provided any history of why it was built) to Coot Bay, then to Tarpon Creek (I thought I heard him say he had seen some dolphins earlier near there), and on to Whitewater Bay (which I think I heard was one of the largest bodies of water in Florida) where we turned around and followed the same route in reverse.  We stopped once to talk briefly about Mangrove trees, once to point out an invasive tree, and once to check out a tree that has an acidic sap that burns the body if one touches it.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not sure there was much more to point out along the way.  I was a little miffed by him not slowing down to allow us to capture pictures of some of the birds along the way, but I guess that wasn’t part of the trip, and I have pictures of most of the birds we saw already.  A canoer told us he had seen a crocodile ahead of us, but we couldn’t find it.  Possibly the highlight of the tour was the two crocodiles we saw as we approached the dock on our return.  Again, it was a nice boat ride.

As I did last night, I ended the evening with taking some sunset pictures.

Back Country Boat Tour and Sunset

Day 3 - December 16

Today I finally walked the Snake Bight Trail.  Let’s start with the name:  a “bight” is a bay within a larger bay, so the trail leads to the Snake Bight.  This trail was recommended by several different people, including a park ranger, boat tour guide, and a YouTube video I watched before coming to Everglades National Park.  The guide and video both talked about the trail being overgrown, but the ranger told me it had just been cleared, so I set out in shorts, which turned out to be the right choice.  It was a little damp after the heavy rain we received last night, but very passable.  I applied insect repellant, grabbed my camera, and set off on what was posted as a 1.8 mile, one-way, trip. 

A little less than a quarter mile in I could hear birds squawking, and then through the thick brush I could see several birds take flight.  When I got to a small clearing, I could see egrets and roseate spoonbills in the trees.  I took some pictures but decided a more powerful telephoto lens might be better, so I went back to the truck, changed lenses, and started out again.  The trail had thick brush on both sides with only occasional places clear enough try to spot birds.  I probably only got three or four shots on the way out, but I was hopeful the boardwalk at the bight would be where I would score big.  The insect repellant did a great job keeping the mosquitos away, but I kept getting attacked by flies, which was very annoying.

I finally reached the boardwalk.  It was low tide.  There was mud…and more mud.  The only life were some birds about 200 yards away in the bay.  I waited to see if something might fly by, but alas all that came near was a Turkey Vulture.  For the trek back I put on the bug jacket to keep the flies away, and it worked.  I think I stopped twice on the way back to the truck to take pictures. 

The good thing about the trip was I walked 4.4 miles.  I need to do more of this.  When I got back to the RV I read the trail’s description in the pamphlet from the Park Service, “Bird watching may be good from the boardwalk at the end of the trail.”  I guess I should have paid more attention to the word “may.”

Snake Bight Trail

After a somewhat disappointing hike in the morning, while sitting around in the afternoon I decided to see if there was any room on the 4 p.m. Bayside Boat Tour. This tour stays out in the bay until after the sun sets, so I thought if nothing else that might make it worth it. This trip had a completely different captain, tour guide, and 20 more passengers than my trip on Tuesday. On the trip out into the bay there were two crocodiles (one of them was huge). The trip was basically the same as my first adventure, but had a completely different feel. We saw many different birds, and both the tour guide and captain tried to point out the birds as they saw them. The biggest difference with this trip was the sunset. There was some cloud cover, but it was still beautiful. We idled in the bay for about 10 minutes and watched the sun fall into the ocean. I am really glad I took this boat ride.

Bayside Boat Tour #2