Everglades 2018... Day Three: Sunday, March 11th.

We'd had such a good Saturday that we figured everything on Sunday would be gravy. We slept in (and lost an hour to Daylight Savings Time), grabbed some breakfast and hit the road by about 9:30 AM. Our plans were to head West. We secured our first animal next to the hotel parking lot... a fancy Brown Anole.


On the way to the highway, we saw a group of Peacocks grazing next to the road. I'm not calling them for my bird count but I thought it was a sight worthy of a photo.


We got to deadly Route 41, home of Red Asphalt. Vultures were already lining up for the evening's slaughter. We saw a large turtle walk along the edge of the road for a few feet before retreating... *whew*

Since we had a free pass to a part of Everglades National Park that we hadn't been to since March, 2008 (that's 10 years, bucko), we decided to poke around and see some animals in there first. I was severely sunburned on Saturday, so Andrea bought me one of those wide brimmed hats with the towel hanging down the neck. It likely saved my life. So, into the sun we went.


After nearly 13 miles of hiking the day before, we figured we wouldn't be on foot too much this day, but when the sights are as good as they were, we kept on hoofin' it. For we had found our Turtle Utopia. Florida Red-bellies were everywhere!




Every once in a while, a Peninsula Cooter was IDable.


A couple more Red-bells... notice the second one is missing the front left leg.


It's a tough world out there. This water is filled with not only 'gators but tons of large Gar.

Andrea pulled another trick out of her hat when she noticed this Brown Water Snake in the grass... our first of the trip.


This pretty, young Florida Softshell sped off before I could get a decent shot.


There were plenty of American Alligators present, too, though they were outnumbered by turtles.



Pen Coot.


Red-bells were everywhere. In the water...

In stacks behind the trees...

They seemed to be multiplying.

I can't be sure that some of these aren't Pen Coots but the majority are certainly Red-bellies.

The Gator on the left hand side had just plowed through turtles to access the water.


This wee Red-belly was wise to be basking on a rock surrounded by good, grassy cover at the edge of the water. He might keep his legs into adulthood.


So, we spent a couple of hours and hiked a few miles at a place we weren't even sure we were going to visit. Sweet! Plus, we'd added three new species on the weekend. We got back on the road, heading further west.

Our next stop was very good for 'Gators. There were dozens out basking. We even saw one going after a Gar. But mostly, it was lounging for them.





Some birders pointed out a hatchling Green Heron.


Andrea really had her taxispilota eyes on. She spied this Brown Water Snake basking in a tough to photograph spot. It is in the blue.


While I wasn't going to photograph every Brown Anole, I wasn't going to pass up this shot.


We also caught the end of an anole power struggle.


We then headed further west on the dreaded Rt. 41. I drive it white-knuckled because cars go so fast and animals just love to be out on the warm asphalt. I saw a small snake squiggling along but I couldn't stop. We started to see large Softshells up on the grass next to the road and it terrified me. I was able to pull over twice, hoping for a distant photo, but they always turned back and zipped into the water. I guess they instinctually do not run into the road. Mercifully.

We got to a slow moving dirt road that was our destination. We were rewarded with an amazing sight... a large Florida Softshell was up on a hill next to the water. But she wasn't retreating when she saw us, she was nesting. I was able to get photos and a short film from about 30 feet away.



Not far away, another female was doing the same thing.


We drove up the road, making stops every once in a while to peek under rocks or look out over the water. I only include this crappy shot of a Red-belly because she was going to the water and got stuck under the branch in front of her. I valiantly lifted it for her to go under.


This dark Southern Leopard Frog was hiding under a piece of limestone.


Driving along, we saw a snake in the road. It was an Everglades Racer and he had frog feet sticking out of his mouth.

He swallowed it back and I swear I heard the Popeye cartoon sound when he downs a can of spinach.


A briefly glimpsed Florida Banded Water Snake.


This 'Gator was posing beautifully.


We flipped a Crayfish!


I pulled over to "look for Wood Frogs" and had a 'Gator right across from my private spot.


A third ferox nesting. What a magical day.


We drove along, taking some cross-roads and new (to us) back road routes. While we didn't have a bonafide "Holy Fuck" moment this trip, this was a pretty strange sight. We stopped for a snake in the road, unsure if it was a stick or not. I got close and confirmed it was snake-shaped... even better... Eastern Glass Lizard shaped.
+
A glass lizard was the last thing I expected to see on this road. I don't know why, but it just blew my mind. It also speedily took off, going right between my feet and into the grass.

A group of Black Vultures had tipped us off to some road-kill on this section. When we drove past, we were saddened to see that it was a Moccasin, one of the snakes we really wanted to see here. Happily, we got a nice living specimen not long after that.

They always appreciate being helped off the road.


Another little Moccasin was next, still with a yellow tail.

Andrea helped this cutie off the road.

A good chance to see a ventral shot...


Yes, Dorothy, there were Water Moccasins at the end of our rainbow.


Shadows were getting long and it seemed as though our timing was going to be good again. Two days in a row. Whooda thunk it? We parked at the mouth of a 25 mile mostly-dirt road while we waited for darkness to fall. A car with a family obeyed that road's "Last chance to turn back" sign and parked with us for a while. They weren't going to attempt the swamp in the dark. They were super nice, though they had a small dog on an expandable leash that was getting very close to the 'Gator infested water.

We headed in as soon as the headlights were visible on the road. Our first encounter was another small Moccasin who gave us the side-eye.


This three feet of Brown Water Snake was our next sight, and what a sight it was!


Another Nerodia, this time a Green, was next. It bit the fuck out of me.

Ack! Right in the sunburn!

Eh, at least it wasn't a Moccasin.


Hey, look. Another decent sized Green! I guess this voucher shot will do...


We realized that we were just a pictiventris away from having a Nerodia trifecta. What do you think was the next snake? Boom! And look at that "painted ventral".


The next snake sighting had some red showing. We stopped and ran up to see our third Scarlet of the weekend.



We had seen a few squished Ribbons over the weekend so it was nice to see another and actually get a clear, in-hand shot for a change.

Notice that scar next to Andrea's finger. Tough guy.

Another large, chubby Brown Water Snake. With a doofy face.


Pig Frogs were making appearances, too.


Always a main target in South Florida, we were thrilled to finally see a yellow stripe across the road...

Yellow Rats are always beautiful but this one is a stunner!

He showed Andrea who was boss.



Another small Pig Frog looks on, happy that he wasn't being nommed on like that.


Can I get an "ooh-ooh" for another Moccasin?

Now, why are they called "Cottonmouth"s?

She was our largest Moccasin, roughly 3 feet. Nice.

Hey! It's a scorpion! Good eyes, Andrea.


A moody shot of the swamp at night, with an Alligators eye reflecting Andrea's flash.


A Southern Toad, surely a gentleman.


We finally hit asphalt again, though we were still miles from the highway. Another large Brown Water Snake had just crossed to safety.


A native tree frog! Green Tree Frog making Mr. Burns hands.


Two native frogs in a row? Be still my heart. Pig Frog.


A big, beautiful Green huggin' the line.

Wow, if only we'd see a pictiventris, we'd have our second Nerodia trifecta of the night!

Boom!


We were nearing the junction to the horrible Rt. 41. Our last animal on this road was a big Pig Frog that I humiliated by moving to the brush.

Why do I love frogs? No external genitalia!!

So we'd had a wonderful day of living animals. We did see plenty of red asphalt on 41, most of it unidentifiable, but knowing that the vultures will take care of it and knowing that there is still plenty of wildlife out there, we made it back to our hotel without feeling horrible.

We'd surpassed our weekend goal of 25 species... I think we were at 27 right here. After a crappy trip in 2016 and a snowed-out trip in 2017, it sure felt good to be catching a break. Just one more day left, but we both started to admit that we were missing home.