Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

There is nothing like a morning stroll around the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.

Immature Red-shouldered Hawk

 The staff at Corkscrew are most helpful. They set up a spotting scope along the 2 1/2 mile boardwalk pointing out this nest and two juvenile Red-shouldered Hawks.

 A little further along the boardwalk we saw what might have been mom or dad Red-shouldered Hawk sitting high in a tree.

While we watched, a Swallow-tailed Kite swooped in and tried to knock the hawk off. It was pretty cool! My sister Beth had never seen a Swallow-tailed Kite before so this was another new life bird.

 When I first saw this juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron, I thought it was a Green Heron because of the the way he was standing - but he was way too big.

 The Little Blue Herons are sporting bright blue bills for Spring.

 We saw an alligator wallowing in the mud. Looking closer, we saw a bunch of baby alligators! They were really cute.

 This time of year, there is little water - just a few mud puddles.

 Five raccoons were fishing in the mud.

 We couldn't believe how many fish they caught!

That old wives tale about raccoons cleaning their food? Not this one!

We didn't see many birds this trip, but we sure saw (and felt) the bugs! We wished we had remembered the bug spray because I could hardly take pictures they were biting so bad. When we got to the car - still swatting them off, Bill tells me "Oh look - the bug spray was in my back pocket the whole time." I could have killed him!