Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
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“A visit to Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is a journey into the heart of the Everglades ecosystem. Discover the rugged beauty of this famed natural area on Corkscrew’s famous boardwalk – a 2.5-mile adventure through pine flatwoods, wet prairie, around a marsh, and finally into the largest old growth Bald Cypress forest in North America.” — Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary website
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Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary 2.5 mile Boardwalk
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Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary reopened this past winter by advance ticket purchase only for limited number of people at spaced out designated entry times, allowing social distancing, and the requirement to wear a mask when near others. I’ve always wanted to visit here and was able to go a few weeks ago. Hardly anyone there, it was pretty awesome!
Follow me as we wander along this famous boardwalk to see some of the beauty and wildlife this preserved swamp presently bestows!
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Blue Dasher
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Lichen
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Green Orchid Bee
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Fungi
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Raccoon
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Limpkin
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Strangler Fig Trees
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Carolina Wren
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Lots of birds in this area!
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Blue-gray Gnatcatchers
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Eastern Phoebe
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Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
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Great Egret 💚
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Lichen – “The Rose”
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One of many resting areas
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A tree resting
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Looking back…..
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Let’s continue on, we’re almost done!
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Great Egret
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Great Pondhawk
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Black Swallowtail
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Exiting the boardwalk
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We made it! Thank you for tagging along with me through the beautiful Corkscrew Swamp, I hope you enjoyed it!
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Most exciting place!
I was glad to finally get to visit, I enjoyed it very much!
I was there 3 years ago, the place is huge and well maintained, however, I was disappointed that didn’t have much about birds or animals. I can get more variety in my backyard.
Perhaps I wasn’t lucky and didn’t get what I read about the Corkscrew Swamp. It’s my honest opinion. 🙂
I entered the boardwalk around 8:30 am. There was a lot of bird activity in two areas, one area there were five warblers & the Pileated Woodpecker I shared in last post. I saw two new lifers at that time (Blue-winged & Prothonotary) but was not able to get my lens on them, ugh! The others were the Palm, Black & White, and Yellow-rumped Warblers. In the area of the wren, phoebe, & gnatcatchers, it was busy there as well, there was also White Ibis deep in the back. I thought I’d see more herons and egrets but only two egrets and one Little Blue Heron (next post). The raccoon was part of a family of six scurrying around, I got lucky with just the one photo. I understand there were gators there though I did not see any. Maybe time of year or time of day was not on your side? 🙂
Beautiful set of I,ages Donna! Enjoyed seeing them!
Thank you, Reed! It sure is different from Blackwater NWR! 😉
Typo- should have been “images”!
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Wow, looks fabulous, and your photos are lovely. The boardwalk and the trees, all that wildlife, it’s hard to pick a favourite!
Thank you, Sel! I’m so happy that I got to finally go to this place. Now you know why I shared so many photos! 😉
You showcased this diverse ecosystem so beautifully, Donna 😊. You reminded me of the wild iris we see here in summer. All gorgeous shots!
I definitely enjoyed the tour! Wonderful photos, Donna. I love boardwalk trails through swamps, something we’d never see without them. Love that crazy-red lichen and the many epiphytes.
Thank you, Eliza, so happy you enjoyed! I love boardwalks too, they are a definite ‘invite’ to me. The growth in some areas was so thick, the tops of ancient bald cypress trees were covered in plants. I was disappointed I failed to get a decent photo to share because of how dark it was shooting up, but it was pretty amazing to see!
Wow ! What an amazing wetland Donna with so many interesting and unique features. I would be covered in DEET to go there as the mozzies could be ferocious with all that water around. You beautifully showcased the wetlands with fauna and flora, a real treat.
Thank you, Ashley! It was pretty awesome, I’m so glad I finally got to visit. I did spray myself with bug spray before entering. 🙂 I can only imagine during our spring/summer/fall that this place is solid mosquitoes and other very nuisance biting bugs, big ones too I bet!
What a treat. The Carolina Wren picture was my favourite in spite of all the more exotic views.
Thank you, Tom! There were several Carolina Wrens, I tried hard but could only get one shot. They are a pretty bird!
What a wonderful walk through a place I have only been once. It brought back lots of memories and a desire to return for another Florida birding trip. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Susan, so glad to stir up those memories! I was glad I toted both cameras so I could do zoom and wide-angle, but was even more glad when I got back to my car 3+ hours later!
Fabulous! My local Audubon had a boardwalk through the Wetlands, but alas, over time the beaver population has led to the water mostly drying up. I miss it, but the Audubon staff tells me that’s all part of the cycle of nature.
Thank you, it was a wonderful visit! Oh my, beavers do play havoc on water retention or dry-ups. Hopefully the cycle of nature is reestablishing new wildlife in that area, but water is so important to them.
Oh so beautiful! I want to go!! I especially loved the dragonflies and butterfly. But I loved them all!
Thank you, Lisa, you would love this swamp. So much to look at for so many creative compositions!
You just never know, maybe someday! I love visiting Florida… in the winter!! 😁
Donna, thank you for taking me on this amazing walk through this wonderland. Your photos are stunning!
Thank you, Jane, I am so glad you enjoyed our walk! It is a amazing wonderland, if I lived nearby, I’d visit it often. 🙂
What a great place to visit, thanks for taking me there by means of your beautiful pictures Donna.
Thank you, Rudi! Very happy you enjoyed one of our amazing U.S. places preserved so nicely, so much to see at this one!
What a stunning place! Thanks for the guided tour Donna.
You’re welcome, Brian! It truly is a trip back in time with the ancient trees still surviving.
Great travelog of this gorgeous place, Donna! I love those bromeliads.
Thank you, Ellen! Many of the remaining ancient bald cypress trees were covered at the top with bromeliads, almost creating a roof overhead. My upshots were so underexposed, none were decent enough to share. I wish I had taken more time with photographing them.
Oh, I know that feeling, Donna! That’s a beautiful and magical place and I’ve been sorry to read their recent reports about how the water levels are going down and the impact it is having on their flora and fauna. I do hope to get back there some day.
I just read the article yesterday about the low water levels and the recent Feb 2021 completion of a hydrologic modeling study to find out what exactly is impacting the continued water loss and how to stop it. The conclusion was surprising. Quoted, “While agricultural and public water supply withdrawals have some negative impacts on the Sanctuary, flood management structures and operations downstream are more directly responsible for water loss.” Of course, they cannot be removed, talks were discussed on buying surrounding properties to work & allow them to return to natural. Lots more work and studies to be done! I hope you do get back there some day, Ellen!
I saw that report, too. It’s very discouraging how the development in FL has destroyed so much, and that other places including SC don’t seem to learn from their experience. Ugg.
Audubon Florida, in their About Us website section has a bunch of Educational Webinars. One is Roseate Spoonbills in Florida: A Pink Canary in a Coal Mine — it’s pretty interesting and goes into how some of the water flow works in southern Florida.
I’ve watched the one on Ghost Orchids at Corkscrew, too. Amazing what we don’t know!
Might have to add this place to my “wanna go to” list. 🙂
One of my favorite haunts. Your pictures captured it perfectly.
Thank you! I did thoroughly enjoy it and the partly cloudy low 70s temps was wonderful. I didn’t make it up to DDNWR as I had hoped, but looking at RV resorts in 30-50 mile vicinity for possibly next winter. 🙂
Thanks for these fantastic pictures of the beautiful Corkscrew Swamp! I love boardwalks and this one seemed extra-long and extra-special. So many things to look at around every turn… I love the dragonflies, very different from the ones we have up here. And that reddish lichen, so unusual. The raccoon look like he was posing as a cat. 🙂 So many pretty flowers and birds to appreciate! What a marvelous place.
Thank you, Barbara, so happy you enjoyed walking along! I love boardwalks too. The changes in the diversity was pretty awesome. I didn’t rush, stopping in areas for long moments to see what I could find. There always were surprises, I took so many photos. It was hard to narrow it down to these. 🙂
What an amazing place! It looks so exotic and tropical. Your images are gorgeous and the dragonflies are my favorite in this post especially the great hawk one. WOW! I love its color.
Beautiful shots! That walkway resembles parts of our Riverwalk.
Love the ‘shrooms, lichen, dragonflies & the “melting” tree on the handrail. Awesome!
Thank you, Vic! This is a pretty awesome place. So many unusual things to photograph, so many pretty things, the wildlife; if you just stood a moment and looked around. The quietness with the birds singing here and there, it was awesome!
Sounds awesome.
Thank you for the photo tour! It was a great virtual walkthrough, felt like I was actually there. Your photos are as usual excellent!
Thank you! So happy you enjoyed walking along with me! It is a truly amazing place. I am very glad I got to visit finally, I had heard so much about this place!
Lovely photos! What a beautifully diverse walk!!
Thank you, it is fabulous, so glad you enjoyed tagging along!
I enjoyed your walk almost as much as you did! Thanks for sharing 🙂
WOW! What a wonderful place for viewing all kinds of nature as your post illustrates. I love that host log with all the other plants growing out of it!
It was wonderful! Trying to keep ‘on the move’ on the boardwalk, I kept feeling like I wanted to go back as my brain kept getting other thoughts of composition. 🙂 If I lived near this swamp permanently, I’d visit often for sure.