This past weekend, me mum and I officially started our 'Adventure Saturdays' tradition. We picked a place that we've been wanting to visit for years, but just never made the time for. That place was Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.
This wonderful park offers a 2.25 mile of boardwalk through the Sanctuary. What's awesome is that each ticket is good for two consecutive days. You better believe mom and I took advantage of it.
A word of advice. GO. EARLY. Why? I'm glad you asked. For a couple of reasons:
1) In the cooler morning hours is when you'll have the best chance of seeing the most wildlife. On day one we got there about 1030am. By then the sun was high in the sky it was already nearing 80 degrees. The birds were quiet and most of the wildlife had already retreated to seek shelter in the shade. On day two we were there by 730am and let me tell you, what a difference! First off, we hadn't even gotten to the Sanctuary yet when we were treated to several sightings of deer. Then when we got to the grounds we were welcomed by the joyous singing of a multitude of birds. It was wonderful!
I'm also going to include the very friendly rangers here as well. There were none to be seen throughout the trail on day one (perhaps they too retreat into the shade at that time?), but on day two we ran into half a dozen. A couple of them stopped to talk with us and impart their knowledge of the park, the animals and the flowers. One ranger in particular, I could have listened to her talk all day. When one visitor showed her a picture of some poo she had just passed, this ranger excitedly said, 'Oh goody, I'm really good with scat!' It was otter poo, by the way. We must've just missed him crossing the path. Drat! Or should I say 'Poop!' ;-)
2) Less people! On day one by 1030am there was already quite a bit of people scattered throughout the park. Some of them were... I don't know.... considerate? and respectful? of the fact that most wildlife will bolt the other direction at the sound of human voices. Not everyone, however paid any heed to the several signs posted to SHUT YOUR FACE while on the path. There were kids running and screaming up and down the path and their parents weren't any better at using their quiet voices. On day two, however, there were so few people in the park that early in the morning. There was virtually no worry at all that some loud idiot would scare away what we came there to see in the first place, the wildlife.
So what did we see...
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| ...some busy bees. |
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| ...a barn owl |
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| ...baby anhinga's. |
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| ...the endanger wood stork. |
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| ...a baby gator. |
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| ...a sleeping baby barn owl. |
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| ...baby barn owl. (What fun we had watching this little guy for over 20 minutes as he played cat and mouse with a squirrel.) |
Before their famous cousin, the Ghost Orchid steals the show in a few months, there are some blooms already visible along the trail...
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| ...Blue Flag Iris. |
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| ...Delicate Ionopsis Orchid (the soft pink flowers amongst the bramble). |
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| ..Fakahatchee Beak Orchid. |
A very excited volunteer ranger was eager to share this little bit information with me so I'll share it here. Corkscrew is the site of the worlds largest ancient virgin Bald Cypress forest. So there... yet another reason to visit this wonderful place.
Another word of advice: pack a lunch. There is a cafe on site that offer food and drink, but is terribly expensive. You can't take food out onto the trail, but you can enjoy your meal out on to the lovely deck just outside the cafe.
On the whole, mom and I had a great time. We took my dad out on day two as well. Busy man as he is, it is sometimes difficult to get him to slow down long enough to smell the roses. He did yesterday, though, and he was glad to join in on our adventure.
This has been a great start to our Adventure Saturdays! The next one is in two weeks - location to be determined soon!
~M
