Everglades Day Two, March 19th, 2022

 Our Saturday began early, especially when you consider we were up until about 1:30 AM. But we rolled out of bed and grabbed some swill from the hotel and headed back into the park from some morning road cruising, now armed with an $11 can of bug spray.

Early morning is always good for birds and we checked off plenty of them. One pleasant surprise was this Blue-winged Teal (#40) who was hanging out with some Coots. I'd never photographed one before, so it is Lifer # 197.

We parked to walk "our" EDB place, but saw none. But we continued walking out along the water and saw some pretty critters. These Halloween Pennant Dragonflies were everywhere.

The first photographed "herp" (although plenty of Agamas were flitting around the hotel grounds as we were leaving) was this nice Brown Anole.

A small Alligator was in the water about 15 feet out. Not an easy shot, but here he is.

We didn't get to go too far out this trail because of some work being done at the end of it. I shudder to think about what might be happening to the habitat. 

We hopped into the car and went to a well-known touristy spot that is usually full of 'gators. Unfortunately, there were school busses full of kids there. Oh well, we picked this time, so we went about our business. This Anhinga (#42) echoed our sentiment.

There weren't a ton of Alligators present this time, but we did see a few.

My personal favorite part of the morning was finding a relatively secluded spot, where the din of humanity was a bit more subdued, and watching a couple of Red-bellied Cooters attempting to feast on Spatterdock lilies. Enjoy my montage.

He eventually got the whole thing in his belly.

A Pleco, the armored catfish. Also an introduced species.

A stunning, posing Brown Anole.

And, a couple more Gators. Believe it or not, our last ones on the trip.

From there, we opted to cruise a little more. One amusing thing was this- a Red-shouldered Hawk (#45) was perched on a wire, so we photographed it, thinking it's face looked like a Kestrel. Then, we saw a Bluebird, which was actually a Kestrel (#47)! Man, our sizes and brains were all mixed up.

We decided to head out of the park for a while and get some real food into us. Before hitting the road, I managed to flip a Brahminy Blind Snake. Tenacity had finally paid off.

We got some delicious Yardie Spice and took it back to our hotel to munch and relax during the hot afternoon (It was 90° out there and critters would be laying low.) Except the Agamas. They were having a blast. I was watching them from the hotel window. These guys were saving a parking space.

I saw a Cattle Egret (#48), much more ubiquitous now, after 3 years, strutting through the parking lot, head held high. Though the picture isn't great, it captures the silly gait and there's a bonus Agama on the sidewalk.

This Agama was making sure nobody fucked with my rental car.

Bellies full, we headed back to the park in hopes of getting to the tip by about 5 PM. Well, we did. We added a few more birds along the way, then hopped out when we got to the marina and saw our old pals, the American Crocodiles.

This second one was massive and enjoying a float until a boat of super loud, obnoxious people scared it away. This was the best shot I could get before the Loud Family got there.

Here's another loud family, but I loved these guys! An Osprey (#52) nest!

We went to walk a pond that we often see birds at and have been told of reptilian wonders around it, but the pond was nothing but thick mud and algae this day. It was a bit depressing. I photographed a Brown Anole whose head you can see through to cheer myself up.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed and tired, we pulled into a shady parking space far from the maddening crowd and rested for a while, watching Crows and Ospreys flitting around and getting philosophical. (Andrea: "You ever stop to think that our voices are just a part of a butterfly's everyday soundtrack?") Yes, we were quite tired.

After a rest, we headed back to the road to do some dusk cruising. Much to our delight, a young Scandinavian couple was parked along the side of the road and they had something in their hands... we pulled over and saw the woman had a Florida Box Turtle wrapped in a towel in her hands. They declared that they had almost hit it and were delighted to have saved it! We told them about the species. These two were cute and charming as hell and I told them they were my favorite people of the weekend. They posed with it and we got some shots of it, too.

That made my day.

Cruising wasn't the best time we'd ever had. Flying bugs were savage and clouds of them swarmed in the headlights. I only post this Cuban from the road because I was attacked in force by insects when I ran out to photograph him. Not a great shot, but a heroic attempt!

Sadly, there was a bit of road-kill in our travels. We saw a DOR Scarlet and a couple of Moccasins. We finally saw a live squiggle and ran up to photograph this Peninsula Ribbon Snake.

With large amounts or $11 bug spray and mosquito jackets, we ventured into the path where we often see Scarlet Snakes at night. At least one had been out this night. (It was a full moon and sometimes things don't move as much, I'm told. The moon can pull the tides, why not snakes?) Well, we went in about a mile and saw no snakes. Only Cuban Tree Frogs. But they're cute enough to get some quality shots...

And that is where our cameras turned off for the night. Our drive back up and out of the park was pretty depressing. We saw about ten DOR snakes... Moccasins, Water Snakes, another Scarlet... I know people with similar hobbies to ours love the road cruising, but I'm afraid that it isn't my favorite. Driving so slow (with the possibility of being pulled over by rangers for doing so), seeing so many deceased animals and just the always bleary-eyed concentration. I'd rather walk up a critter.

So, we had another 1 PM night. One more day. Just Sunday left. What would that bring?

Everglades Day One, March 18th, 2022

Thanks, pandemic. We hadn't been to the 'Glades since 2019. Obviously, we were chomping at the bit and we decided to take the plunge this year. Of course, the day we left, it hit 70° here in Boston and local friends were seeing all kinds of local animals. C'est la vie.

Well, we hadn't seen a 'gator or Brown Anole in 3 years, so down we went. We took a later flight than usual but still got to our first spot in Broward County at about 1:30 PM and started right off with a charming Burrowing Owl (#30).

Hadn't seen those in three years, either!

Nor had we seen (introduced) Monk Parakeets in three years.

This place is an Iguana hot spot and we weren't surprised to have them be our first "herps".

One newcomer to our lives was another introduced species. I'd seen some green lightning flashes and thought they were fast, young Iguanas but no... they were Green Amevias. I consider myself fortunate to have captured one on my camera!

Look, I know Florida is full of introduced species. (They're not invasive, in my mind. They aren't invading... not their fault they're trying to survive.) I just like seeing animals. Judge me not for showing the non-native species the same respect I show Florida's own.

Next up, another non-native, the Brown Basilisk.

Followed by, yes... a Brown Anole.

Looking across the river, I spied a shell! When I uploaded the pictures, I saw a couple of secret turtles! The main one is a native Red-bellied Cooter. On the left is a Red-eared Slider. Not sure what the third is.

An Iguana enjoying the sun in a field.

Another mystery turtle across the river, but the secret turtle on the right is another nelsoni.

How 'bout a couple more Burrowing Owls?

Evidently, I walked right past this guy. He was laying in the grass in the shade. Andrea saw him and we feared the worst. I nudged him with my foot. He was alive, his eye was open and he was breathing, but we suspected he was ill or injured.

I picked him up (about 2 1/2- 3 lbs. of lizard right there) and carried him to a secluded area in the trees so he could die privately. As I walked back, he kicked up and sped off. He wasn't sick at all! That was a weird one... glad he didn't perk up in my hands and tear me a new one!

A Monk Parakeet nest.

Driving out, we saw a lot more Iguanas on the soccer field. In the last 3 years, they have become much more abundant.

One last Burrowing Owl, that we saw fly up into the tree, before we go.

Before leaving Broward County, there was one more spot we wanted to hit. When we pulled in, we noticed that this place too has had an Iguana explosion. Our first sights were of a couple of big, ready-to-breed bruisers.

A little Brown Anole bruiser.

A beautiful woman...

Walking through the wooded path, we actually saw this Basilisk bi-pedaling across the trail.

We got to our favorite spot in this park... a dock overlooking the water that is filled with fish and turtles. We started with a few Red-ears, including a real old-timer!

Much to our delight, a Florida Softshell came by to visit.

A big Red-belly was also present.

We saw many beautiful birds, as well. This Green Heron (#35) couldn't have posed any better.

Brown Anole battle... (not really)

Andrea had missed the previous bi-pedaling Basilisk so it was a treat to see this small specimen dart out of the way on his hind legs.

Let us take a moment to enjoy the beauty of the Brown Anole.

Going back to the car, we noticed that a metric fuck-ton of Iguanas had descended upon the grassy field. Maybe it really is an invasion.

Heading back towards the highway was a harrowing experience. There was a lot or Iguana road-kill. I barely missed a few myself. One knucklehead ran right out in front of me and I couldn't move lanes... somehow, he made it. Asshole.

We finally made it down to our hotel in Dade County. We'd noticed an increase in Agamas each year on our previous visits. Well, now they have absolutely taken over the hotel! Peter's Rock Agama Hotel.

We wanted to poke around the grounds for any non-Agama sights. We didn't have to go far. Walking towards some flippin' rocks, we startled a Curlytail! Gorgeous guy!

He posed like a pro.

One rock held a massive surprise... a big cow-flop of a Southern Toad. I've missed these guys.

Quite a handful.

We often wonder what our "Holy Shit" moment will be on a trip. Once it was a Burm, once it was cruising a small Gator. This might have been this year's. Still poking around the hotel, Andrea found what has become a rare sight in Dade County, a native Green Anole!

A sight for sore eyes. And the only one we saw all weekend.

I could have photographed hundreds of Agamas, but I kept myself in control.

It was getting late, but we thankfully made it to our most important stop just under the wire... Robert is Here.

With milkshake fortification, we headed to Everglades National Park.

Except after we got in, I realized I'd left our flashlights at the hotel, so we drove back, then returned. We wasted a good 45 minutes, but the light was just about right for cruising, so that's what we did. Southern Toads were plentiful on the road.

Even more abundant were Two-lined Walking Sticks. They were all over. This is a matched pair, the male hitching a ride on the female.

Another small Southern Toad.

We often fail to see a snake on our Friday nights in the 'Glades but we were lucky and saw our first Moccasin in 3 years. Absolutely stunning specimen.

Cool shot of a Southern Toad, illuminated by my car's headlights.

We ventured out to our usual Friday night turn-around spot and we aurally assaulted by chirping frogs.. we could pick out Green Treefrogs and Pig Frogs, both species we'd seen in this spot before, but could find none to photograph. We got eaten alive by mosquitoes so we called it a night. I stopped to grab this nighttime shot, though.

But wait... one more peek. What just moved? Stripes! We saw a baby Alligator!

We hit the road, more concerned with the 'skeeters than Mama who was probably nearby.

Unfortunately, we did see a few DOR Moccasins on the way out.

Back at the hotel, we took a look at the fish pond before retiring. A large, skinny Cuban Treefrog was stuck to the wall.

A few years ago, there were a bunch of Marine Toads in the pool. We had only seen them once. But man, oh man... this massive cow-flop must have stayed all along. This guy is the size of a frying pan. A fat frying pan.

Another Bufo, a bit smaller but still a chubba-bub.

Our last sight of the day was a small Cuban scaling the wall.

Man, 15 species in one day? Thank you. It had been so long since we'd seen any of these guys, too. We didn't know what the weekend would have in store for us but it's easy to say that our first day was pretty successful.