Oct 13th: Everglades Anhinga Trail

We’re still at Key Largo, which right on the edge of the huge Everglades National Park. There’s only one access road to the Park so it’s a 40 mile trip to get to the entrance. We plan to spend a few hours exploring the anhinga trail that starts soon after passing through the Park entrance. We stop at the Visitor Center first to get a map and some information. We’re warned by a ranger that the mosquitoes are still highly active on another trail that we thought we might also try.

We drive on to the trail head where ample car parking is provided. Oddly, most cars in the car park are shrouded in blue tarpaulins. Notices explain these are provided free by the Park because the resident vultures are attracted to the window glass rubber surrounds and can cause extensive damage. We sheet up.

The shallow ponds and sawgrass of the Everglades surround us as we start our walk on the well-made path. This is the end of the rainy season so the water table is quite high. This is a typical view.

Not much wildlife in evidence? It is there, but well camouflaged. Jane’s particularly good at spotting creatures that merge into the background, as with this green heron that is actually in the reed bed photo above.

It’s a mistake to be looking exclusively for large animals as you’ll miss strikingly marked insects like this lubber grass hopper. It’s about 4 inches long.

Of course, everybody wants to see the alligators. They are easy to miss as they blend into the environment so well. This one’s wake gave the game away as he glided through the ponds.

This is no zoo, and while the gator above may be comfortably at arm’s length, the next one was in a dip beside the path. He looks docile enough, but they move fast so you don’t disturb him. He’s about 8ft long.

Much of the trail is on sturdy raised boardwalk, in order to cross the shallow standing water of the sawgrass beds. It enables visitors to use the trail in any season.

It’s called the anhinga trail: so what’s an anhinga? It’s a largish, diving, fishing bird something like a cormorant that needs to dry its wings after getting wet as they don’t contain waterproofing oils. In other words, the bird’s feathers’ get waterlogged. We just happened to see one drying its wings as described.

We saw some butterflies and dragonflies, vultures and ravens, and small flitting unidentifiable birds. There’s a lot more stuff in there but nothing’s guaranteed to appear, and I suppose that’s the fascination: you might just be lucky enough to see a puma.

As it was, it was a great day out.