FLORIDA: River of Grass

It was the conservationist Marjory Stoneman Douglas in the 1940’s that coined the phrase “River of Grass” to describe the unique Everglades ecosystem. The dominant visible feature is certainly the endless golden sawgrass that blankets this National Park, yet it is rain water that is critical to the survival of the Everglades.

For 38 miles the only road leads from the eastern entrance gate to the marine village of Flamingo on Florida Bay. The landscape is flat yet we pass through extensive stands of Pinelands and Cypress before finally reaching the prop-rooted mangrove-lined coast. At no time along the way were we ever higher than 4 feet above sea level!

We started in Flamingo at the southern point and worked our way back up the Everglades. The Flamingo area was devastated by the hurricanes that came through this part of the country in 2005, which included Katrina. The lodge and cabins are now gone, and Eco Pond (above) was not spared. Though there was water in this water treatment basin it is still in a sad state. However, the birds certainly were taking advantage of the shallow water including two rarely encountered American Avocets, along with Black-necked Stilts, Little Blue Herons, half a dozen Stilt Sandpipers, Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers and a Dunlin.

At the marina, three salt water American Crocodiles (above) effortlessly swam towards a small crowd of onlookers, their tails slowly wagging from side to side, propelling them forward.

Several Osprey (above) with fish in their talons flew to favored perches in the buttonwoods that lined the roads around the marina.

It was amongst the Brown-headed Cowbird (above left) flocks, feeding mostly in the shade of these buttonwoods, that we found a female and a few male Shiny Cowbirds (above right). There was a large flock of two dozen Indigo Buntings moving through the tops of these trees and Orchard Orioles magically appeared from a tree re-enforcing that migration was well under way.

A Roseate Spoonbill gliding over Paurotis Pond gave it a touch of color amongst a sea of white – this being the very vocal nesting egrets, White Ibis and Wood Storks.

At Mahogany Hammock, a half-mile boardwalk begins by crossing the “River of Grass” and loops through a subtropical tree island dominated by towering Mahogany’s. The wheeep calls of Great Crested Flycatchers were often heard as was the Red-shouldered Hawks (above) high pitched keeyur. Other than anole’s barking the only other sound we heard was the wingbeats of a White-crowned Pigeon as it exploded out of a dense shrub and landed at the top of a tree.

The Anhinga Trail allowed us to get close up views of alligators, the ani, and of course Anhingas (above), who clearly showed us why they are also known as “Water Turkey” – swimming underwater with their tails fanned out, like a turkey, and “Snake Bird” – when they surface, it is only their necks and bill that protrude out of the water, looking like a snake!

The most fascinating sight was studying a Wood Stork (above) as it swept its submerged bill from side to side in the murky waters feeling confident that the alligators sunny themselves inches away would not lunge at her. She feeds not by sight, but by touch, having the fastest known reflex action for a vertebrae species. Using her pink toes she stirs up the muddy water and extends an arcing wing to aid in shading any potential food source.