Tuesday 27th - Corkscrew Swamp Again

Today we returned to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary for the birds and to spend more time with the warblers and other small birds. There is so much to see here as study of the trees and plant life would be an education all on its own. The Bald Cypress are magnificent to look at and admire. There are specimen trees here and the biggest ones have been shown all due respect by Audobon by giving them names after famous people who have given so many things to our world. Some of these trees are over 500 years old and one of them is 98 feet tall. A true survivor of many hurricanes. It was a privilege to be able to walk by them.

We had very good views of Yellow-rumped and Black and White Warblers, Blue Gray Gnatcatchers and Great Crested Flycatchers. Once again Carolina Wrens were noisy and we had two good views of them. Our last major spot of the day was an Eastern Phoebe and before that a Blue-headed Vireo.

This morning we did not have the help of resident advice, but I think that we did very well without them. As we walked Red-shouldered Hawks were continually calling and we saw a pair mating. Our guide, yesterday, Murray told us that the Red Shouldered Hawk makes up for about 90% of the Hawks seen at the preserve and told us that a Coopers Hawk is seen occasionally.

Near the end we witnessed an Anhinga with a Cat Fish. It bashed it, and kept on bashing it before juggling with it until it struggled less and the head was in the correct place. It was a tussle with at least one correction in the positioning of it. Then, it swallowed it very quickly and you could see the bulge as it slid down the bird's long neck. Nearby, beached and in the sun was a big alligator which must have been at least 13 feet in length. A magnificent specimen that sits on top of the food chain. In adjacent waters we saw two large turtles sunning themselves and we also located a water moccasin in the sunny spot as yesterday.

This morning on the way into the sanctuary we saw about 15 White-tailed Deer and with one Grey Squirrel and that was all the mammals that we saw.