Yesterday in the Everglades turned in to a bit of a problem. The weather is almost difficult to describe, it is invariably in the high 80's both day and night and incredibly humid. Building and vehicles are air conditioned and as soon as you emerge from the air-con your glasses steam up. It goes without saying that the first thing to suffer is my camera equipment and its been a battle to try to keep my lens free of mist and moisture. It was a 40 minute trip in to the damp everglades yesterday and my expensive 500 mm prime lens did not clear until I stepped back on to the dock from Geoffs "janoe"....that is, his specially designed boat, a cross between a canoe and a john-boat. We had arrived at dawn at Holliday Park, you may have seen this venue on TV's "Gator Boys". Its a good place to park up and launch a boat in to the Everglades. It was quite a trip in to the wilderness, as an Englishman its not often that you are in the true wilds like this. The silence is immense, this may appear to be a contradiction but you have to experience true silence to appreciate what I mean. We pushed slowly along the watercourse with just an electric outboard for power. The water is fringed by thick strong lilies and reeds and the water is mysteriously black and deep. Who knows what lurks beneath, alligators for sure as well as large fish. The silence was only interrupted by bird noise, Red Wing Blackbird and the odd bird of prey. Herons are few and far between at the moment, this must because of the season. I hardly managed a photo because of the damp as explained but it was never the less another great experience.
Then today I returned to another part of the glades. A spot that I enjoy on "Alligator Ally", thats the main road across the Everglades between Ft Lauderdale and Naples. Here the light is incredibly clear and bright and the photo opportunities can remind you of the aviary at the local zoo. Its not silent here because the Grackles cackle constantly, cicadas sing and the Mockingbirds never give up trying to impress.
This morning was no exception and my close encounters included, Black Vulture as well as all of the above. I had a "nightmare" on the way, there are roadworks on the road out there. I took a wrong turning and finished up on the Miami road, a big "cock-up" in the rush hour. Eventually after a detour and a lot of cursing I got back on the right road but it added 40 minutes to a 25 minute journey. It made it more rewarding when I eventually reached my destination. I almost immediately encountered an Alligator who was pushing slowly through the dark water, his presence confirming the mysteries. His head and a portion of his back were all that was showing. I spent a couple of hours watching and photographing and then just as I was about to leave I caught sight of a dozen or more small birds in some low bushes. These turned out to be a flock of migrating warblers my first warblers in a week of looking.
This one below is a Common Yellow throat male.
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