The Everglades

One of our major objectives was to see Everglades National Park. Fortunately, the southern entrance was only twenty miles from our RV park between Miami and Homestead.

When we drove in, we found these black-headed vultures all over the top of this car. We wondered if the owner should consider an extended warranty. Actually they were after rubber parts. When we returned, we found them on top of our Jeep and nibble marks around our sunroof.
Of course, I was very interested in the plant community. There were square miles of sawgrass, with more open areas dominated by swamp apple and spatterdock shown here.
There were also mangrove thickets. These were in the northern edge of the park along the Tamiami Trail. We drove eighty seven miles of the trail on our way to Naples.

Not all vegetation was good. This water hyacinth, escaped from culture as an ornamental, covers acres of Florida waterways depleting oxygen in the water and making them virtual biological deserts. Unfortunately, bureaucratic, poorly timed, poorly executed, chemophobic control efforts have allowed further spread of these and many other invasive weeds.

One of the walks was called the anhinga trail. It was aptly named. Here, a female anhinga poses for us.

A few feet away, a male anhinga poses for the females.

Further down the trail, we found this nesting pair.

This Wurdman's heron is actually an uncommon color variant of blue heron found only in Southern Florida.

These green herons had the most interesting color patterns.

Here's the boss. This big bull was at least eight feet long, around two feet longer than any other gator we saw here.

One thing we didn't expect to see was a wood stork. It is on the endangered species list. It has a huge appetite and requires large hunting territories, particularly during mating season. In the ever shrinking Everglades, large territories are increasingly difficult to come by. They catch their prey by feel, not by sight.

We weren't alone on the path. This fellow, around five feet long decided that he needed a warm dry place.

So, he helped himself to a comfortable space on the paved walking path, about six feet from Penny.

Unfortunately, the paparazzi wouldn't leave him alone. A few minutes later, he got tired of the harassment and returned to the water.