Nature Ali's Grand Adventure - Day 19, July 8th.

My intent today was to bird Shark Valley as recommended by my friend Ellen. I was looking forward to seeing the so-far elusive Limpkin. I saw a sign for the loop road off of Tamiami Trail through the Big Cypress National Preserve so I figured that would be a good road to go on… not… did see some huge alligators, but the pavement soon gives way to a dirt road that was filled with water in many places. It made for 30 miles of slow cautious driving with no real opportunity to bird unless you count as birds the five-pound mosquitoes that were capable of carrying off small children. Needless to say I was very glad to be driving in an enclosed vehicle.
Speaking of vehicles, my truck “Xena” is a hybrid Ford Escape, and she has taken me so many places that no car would ever have been able to go. I was continuously destroying the suspension on my street cars, so I knew an SUV was something I really needed but could not justify the ecological footprint of something that only would get 15-20 miles per gallon, so I bought this truck in October 2007. While the price tag is still high, I am ever so happy to have this truck and the freedom it affords me. Besides, I am getting an average of over 30 mpg on this trip which is quite a savings.
Back to the adventure; I bought a National Parks Passport which you can get stamped at all federal lands, but since I arrived too late to get it stamped at the lower Everglades and my 30-mile detour had me miss Shark Valley entirely I headed toward the Gulf entrance to Everglades. Stopping at the Big Cypress office first, I met this woman who was such a doll, enthusiastic and helpful and she really seemed interested in my journey. I got my passport stamped and headed off to Everglades.
The fellow at the visitor’s center was such a polar opposite from the woman at Big Cypress, he did not seem one bit interested in helping, just grunted where the passport station was and answered my questions with very quick answers, disappointing. Anyway, I saw some cool fish swimming in the marina where you can get 2 hour tours by boat of the islands nearby. The price was listed as about thirty dollars for either trip, which was intriguing but I had too much ground to cover to stop and even think about taking that much time out of my day.
I left Everglades to find Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp which I had heard so many wonderful things about especially the prospect of seeing Pileated Woodpeckers in numbers. I found the sanctuary to be everything I had expected plus more. I stopped and visited with the Center Director, Ed, his assistant Laurie and other staff. They were most helpful in my quest for answers about running the Center. (I am working on the plans for a Center back at the Kern River Preserve.) I took off down their 2.2 mile long boardwalk and took every detour that was offered. What an amazing walk. While I did find my much sought after Pileated, there were not too many other birds out in mid day but the walk was very pleasant and the weather while muggy wasn’t too unbearably hot. I want to visit this place again and again.
After my visit I programmed in Mom’s address and drove straight to Gainesville arriving after 10 p.m.