A Visit to Corkscrew Swamp -- an Audubon Sanctuary

We got an early start for us and got to my sister's condo so we could venture down to the Corkscrew Swamp which is about an hour south of here. At my sister's condo, they have this beautiful Hong Kong Orchid tree which I just LOVE -- they really look like orchids!

We didn't have high expectations for finding too much down at Corkscrew but it is a lovely 2 mile walk through the swamp on a nice boardwalk. This is an epiphyte that is ready to bloom (which I won't get to see). These are the "air" plants you see in all the swampy areas.


This is a Yellow Crowned Night Heron. I have always seen these on my trips down but until this trip the Black Crowned Night Heron had eluded me. That was all I saw down here this trip until I saw this Yellow Crowned one!



I loved all the different lichen that were on this old tree branch. This is a Cypress swamp.

This is a Black Crowned Night Heron -- they are not as pretty as the Yellow Crowned IMHO.


This is a Black and White Warbler which I hadn't seen before. I took the picture and identified it when I got home. Sometimes you just have to blow them up!!



We saw a few anhingas and I couldn't resist this handsome male with his piano key wings.

This is a Ruddy Daggertail. He is facing down which confused me before I looked at the picture!

I now know that this is a Swamp Lily. I had seen this down in the Everglades as well.

I don't know the name of this flower but I hadn't seen it before or anywhere else.

This is a Green Anole. We see the brown ones all the time skittering around but Warren saw this bright bright green one. He was very striking and I took lots of pictures of him.

After visiting Corkscrew, we drove down to Naples as Warren and I hadn't been there before. We went out on the City pier to see the boats. It is definitely more upscale than Fort Myers.

This is Bill on the left and my dh Warren on the right.