Friday, December 04, 2009

Corkscrew Swamp

Today is not one of your typical sunny Florida days here--in fact it is dark, dreary, and pouring. Don't get me wrong, we NEED the rain. So, being stuck inside, I decided to blog about one of the trips we took last month to Corkscrew Swamp. I love Corkscrew Swamp. It has a 2.25 mile boardwalk which winds through a pine upland, a wet prairie, a cypress forest, and a marsh. Along the way you can spot wildlife and flowers. Corkscrew is also a huge Woodstork nesting area. The Woodstorks weren't back yet so we didn't see any of them. In fact there wasn't a lot of wildlife this time but it was still a beautiful walk.

A view of the boardwalk.
There are many very old Bald Cypress along the way.
There are always lots of beautiful flowers along the way.
The red lichens are kind of interesting.
There are lots of bromiliads.
We didn't see a lot of wildlife this trip but did spot an Egret and a Little Blue Heron. We did see a HUGE alligator but it was way back in the swamp and we couldn't get a good picture of it. One of the most interesting plants down here is SW Florida is the Strangler Fig. It starts it's life as a seed at the top of a tree. The roots grow downward toward the ground and then it twines around the host tree until it finally kills it. Some of them make beautiful patterns on the trees.
Anyway, that was our walk through Corkscrew Swamp. Just looking at the pictures helped brighten up an otherwise really dreary day here.

2 comments:

Shellbelle said...

I'm just glad there is no lightening today, the dog freaks out and is just pitiful.

Great pics, Strangler Figs are so fascinating, I did a post during the summer of one near me that has completely encased a palm tree.

I know we need the rain, but tonight's Christmas Boat Parade in Tampa was canceled and I was looking forward to it. Oh well, my plants are happy.

Gayle said...

That is quite a beautiful hike you took (me on). Interesting plant life. Hard to imagine such an adventure in the middle of winter!