We were very excited to take some time to visit the Everglades National Park. We left the rainy Pacific Northwest to soak up some much needed Vitamin D and whatever else we gain from real sunshine.
We saw so many things at the park, that we just can’t find in the Northwest that it was a real thrill. We went on a (long and slow) canoe trip in search of manatee and other mangrove swamp wildlife. We saw—drum roll—a Great Blue Heron and a Belted Kingfisher. I don’t know if you can hear a little disappointment in my voice—both of those birds live in the Northwest. And, besides that, we had already seen a Belted Kingfisher between every pair of telephone poles along the highway. Oh, well, it was nice to get some sun. (And actually, we rarely see the Kingfishers around here, so I rather like them.)
Okay, for real, we did see a lot, but most of it was just along the side of the road.
Here are a few pictures that we managed. As always, there are a few pictures we wish we would have gotten of exciting things we saw, such as the Rosette Spoonbill. But we got some pictures that we are pretty excited about too.
Tri-colored Heron with his fish
Black-crowned Night Heron
Green Heron watching intently for his next fish
Snowy Egret checking his hairdo in the mirror.
Great Egret standing pretty
White Ibis protecting her nest
Cormorant with swimmer’s hair.
All of these pictures were taken at Shark Valley in the Everglades National Park. And most of them were actually taken while we were waiting on the very slow process of getting through the ticket booth. It was an amazing stop that day. If you’re a birder, and in that area, I highly recommend the stop.
Last, but not least, I want to show our very special bird that we got to see on this trip. We were all hoping that we could see this bird on this trip. It is quite rare and, oh so pretty. Check out the feet on this guy. We saw it at the same location.
Purple Gallinule
Here is our bird list from the Everglades
| Purple Gullinule | Northern Mockingbird |
| Pied-billed Grebe | Glossy Ibis |
| Green Heron | Cormorant |
| Black-crowned Night Heron | Rosette spoonbill |
| American Crow | Black vulture |
| Little Blue Heron | Turkey vulture |
| Anhinga | Little Blue Heron |
| Snowy Egret | Great Egret |
| Great Egret | White Great Blue Heron |
| Great Blue Heron | Blue-winged Teal |
| Belted Kingfisher | Green-winged Teal |
| Tri-color Heron | Common Grebe |
| White Ibis | American Coot |
| Common Gallinule | Fish Crow |
| Cardinal | Osprey |