A Fantastic Trip to St. Augustine!

This is going to be a photo heavy post! Sparky and Eldo took a two day trip to St. Augustine, because Sparky had heard there was a fantastic zoological park with lots of gators (she's in!) and a great rookery! (She's in for sure!) the name of the place is the Alligator Farm Zoological Park. Fellow birders and photographers said that the rookery was much much closer to you as you go through the gardens, than say, the Celery Fields in Sarasota, and they were right. The gators below the boardwalks keep away the birds' tree climbing predators so there are PLENTY of species that feel safe and nest there every year. 

There are snowy egrets, great egrets, spoonbills, green herons nesting, and tri colored herons nesting, and depending upon when you arrive in what month, there are different stages of nesting and species flying in to get ready to nest. 

As soon as we walked in the park, as a matter of fact, there were nests EVERYWHERE up in the trees right above our heads. Woodstorks and spoonbills everywhere! Several species in the

same tree. All the people were looking at the gators below, because they were so big and fat, that few looked up above in the trees.  (We were surprised after the day ended that we had not gotten bird poop on us while we were there. Sparky suggest you might want to wear a hat if you go there.) We rounded a corner as we walked a little further into the park and there were LOTS of spoonbills up in the trees. Lots!

The birds are "displaying" right now...That's where they strut around and show off all their beautiful plumage and hope to attract a mate. Their feathers are almost always splayed out to show off to their best advantage. This is a snowy egret.

Sparky loves it when she sees one having a "bad hair" day.....

This one looks mad or frustrated...with all the hundreds of egrets competing for attention, maybe he's not getting any?

The best part of the day was seeing baby spoonbills in a nest for the first time! We were so surprised to see that they nest in the palms. We always see the grownups on the ground in the marshes where we live.

Sparky caught this spoonbill spreading its wings in the palms....

There were some unusual ducks there, too. These were called ruddy ducks. Guess they are kind of common along the east coast, but we didn't know that! Love the blue bill!

Another one of Sparky's favorite spoonbill shots for the day....

Not all the shots were about the birds today. There is a fabulous zip line and obstacle course that runs right above the zoo gardens. It looked really fun!

If you are interested in going to the Alligator Farms/Rookery, the nesting action starts around February and lasts until August, with the peaks being mid March thru early June. They open at 9:00 AM daily.  Tickets are 24.99 for adults, but there are local coupons available in the tourist mags or there is a 10% discount for seniors. This is a fantastic place to bring grandkids or the family. The exhibits are beautiful, modern and well done, AND well taken care of. The grounds are beautiful, there is plenty of shade as you walk around, and lots of places to sit. Food and drink are available, too. This zoo park is one of the oldest zoos in the country, founded in 1893, but they have done an amazing job of keeping it up to date, very informative and entertaining. There are shows available several times a day as well. It's a diverse population of crocodiles (24 species!), birds, reptiles and mammals and a fabulous way to spend the day. We easily spent three hours there and liked it so much, we are going back next month!       Bye for now....

Shark Valley--Stop, Look, and Listen!

Our second day in the Everglades, our second trip out to Shark Valley...Not sure why they name it Shark Valley, it oughta be "Alligator Alley"!  When we were here in December, there were at least 15 alligators sunning themselves on the 15 mile bike/hike trail. You had to ride around their tails to get around them. Most of them were comatose on the boardwalk, so it was no worries, mate!

Today, most of them were in the water....but we saw PLENTY of them! At least as many as last time. There was a couple riding the trail on their bikes, wondering about all the different birds they were seeing. So Sparky, being the ever helpful teacher, starting mentioning the egrets, the anhingas, the herons, and the couple were very friendly and appreciative back. Their names were Marilyn and Denny (?), hope that's right, and they were from Minne-SO-ta. Denny had that delightful Minnesota accent that almost sounded Canadian. We talked along the whole way to the observation tower and really enjoyed their company. They were both teachers as well, Marilyn was a remedial/special reading teacher so she and Sparky traded work stories. Marilyn and Denny are not both retired yet, but wishing they were!

We saw TONS of turtles today, and TONS of great herons standing on the asphalt trailside, one after another. We saw wood storks today, which we had not seen last time. These ibis and egrets were following this "grandpa" woodstork around like little chicks following their mama hen.

Lots of anhingas were sunning and swimming, and we saw lots of baby alligators out and about.

Of course every time we saw the babies, everybody cautioned each other, "Watch out for the mama, she's gotta be here somewhere."

Denny had a scary story to relate as he was in the back of us, taking photos and caught up at one point. He said there was a big alligator hanging out by a culvert, sticking its nose into the culvert. It was on the left side of the road and Denny was coming up on the right side of the bike path. As the gator entered the culvert, he belched or burped "or whatever sound they make" as Denny put it. The sound reverberated through the culvert, amplified, and came out the other end just as Denny passed the culvert on the right side. Denny about sh** his shorts and about fell off his bike the sound was so loud and so close!

The observation tower marks about halfway through the trail. There is NO water at the observation tower, so once you start on the 15 mile trail, you need to have a ton of water, especially if it's very hot like it was today. We get to the tower, and we parked our bikes. You cross a little bridge to walk the rest of the way to the tower. There's a canal and pond on each side of the bridge. We noticed an alligator swimming towards the bridge just as we were crossing. He was swimming quickly and we turned around and looked behind us to see if our new friends were following. By this time, the alligator had started climbing the rocks and we could see that he intended to come across the bridge.

Denny and Marilyn were a little farther behind us. They had to stop along with a large group of people who had just gotten off the tram ride that the park runs on the trail. The alligator ambled across the path and plunked himself down right in the middle of the path, eyes open, and mouth just a little open.

The group behind us froze, and we heard the driver of the tram say, "Goodness gracious!" (He really did say that! E. verifies.) He got out of the tram with a big long pole. He proceeded to give directions to the group, wanting them to cross directly in front of the alligator! We couldn't believe it!

He said, "I want you to walk directly and firmly right next to the rail...Whatever you do, DON'T STOP IN FRONT OF HIM TO TAKE A PHOTO, just keep walking. (What idiot would in his right mind stop to take a photo?? asks Eldo.  Wait a minute, I can think of one!)  Uh, I don't think I would have stopped, says Sparky, but then again, I had already crossed the bridge BEFORE the alligator climbed up on the bank and onto the path.

"Whatever you do, just don't stop to take a photo, KEEP WALKING!" repeated the guide. Yeah, right! Everybody in the group just looked at each other, and were looking to see who was going to be alligator food first! Nobody moved. Our new friends were figuring, well, it was nice knowing you, guess we will be parting ways right here and now, and guess the gator is going to keep everybody from going to the observation tower. Looks like we will be turning around right here...

But then, a courageous and bold tourist took the first step, trusted the guide, and he walked right in front of the alligator, who opened his mouth and HISSED! That scared the shit out of the next tourist, a lady who walked briskly in front of the gator....Pretty soon the rest of the crowd followed one by one, quickly. At the very end, the tour guy from the tram gave the gator a slight poke in the tail, and the gator got back up on his hind legs and rambled across the rest of the path and slithered into the water on the other side.

Wonder how many people had to go to the bathroom after THAT encounter? (E. says, nobody wants to know, Sparky!) It was a COOL encounter with a gator! Despite what people think, gators do NOT go after humans. They have coexisted side by side in the canals in Shark Valley with the visitors for years and years. They don't associate humans as a food source because humans in the park don't try to feed them.  We look tall and intimidating to them, they are more interested in short little things on the ground. They may hiss but it's what they do to when they aren't sure what their next move is themselves. Now, they WILL go after a little dog....and apparently, a little dog in the midway campground almost got taken  the other day as he was chasing a frisbee near the pond.

People walk and ride the paths daily at Shark Valley, crossing in front of the gators day after day after day....and there's never been a problem. At least that's what Eldo keeps telling himself when he's just a few feet in front of them....Of course, when one rises up on his hind legs and starts to move, EVERYBODY still has a temporary cardiac arrest for a heartbeat! We're heard a couple of different things...when the gator's eyelids are closed, no worries. When they are open, be on alert. When the gator gets up on his hind legs, BE PREPARED! For what, we don't know!  They wouldn't let people walk the paths if alligators attacked humans, so really, it's not a worry.....

We biked 14 miles today in Shark Valley....a terrific trip! We highly recommend it. Oh, I almost forgot! We saw a solitary roseate spoonbill feeding in the marsh, very close by. Woo-hoo!

Here's another view...very cool to see them sweep their spoonbills from side to side to get their food....

If you REALLY don't want to see gators up close and personal, take the tram! Nineteen dollars a person....More fun and exciting and CHEAP to ride a bike if you ask Sparky. Up close and personal, that's the way she likes it!   :-) (Yep, that she does! That woman is shortening my life, she's such a risk taker! sighs E.)  See you tomorrow!