Leave Nothing But Footprints – #2 10,000 Islands NWR

This is my contribution for Heaven’s Sunshine’s weekly challenge, “One Step At A Time”.

So come along and hike down this trail with me, one step at a time!

Marsh Trail, 10,000 Islands NWR, Naples, Florida

You just never know what you might see from an observation tower….

Sometimes not a bird one.

And then sometimes….. 😲

This day instantly became one of my best hiking days ever!
Much more of my visit from 2021 here.

Take a hike, short or long, one step at a time.
Mother Nature promises to reward you.

And please remember~~
Leave nothing but footprints.
Kill nothing but time.

 

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49 thoughts on “Leave Nothing But Footprints – #2 10,000 Islands NWR”

  2. I love, love, LOVE this post, Donna. That mystery of not knowing what you will see from one day to the next is exactly what excites me about hiking. Thank you so much for sharing it on my challenge. 👏

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    • We camped near this wildlife refuge for three winters from January thru March. Many of my visits, there wouldn’t be a single bird out there in that big view. I would just have to go find them on another trail! 😉

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  9. It looks like a very inviting tower as you approach, and I am glad that it more than lived up to that promise on this occasion. I don’t know these birds, so I am interested to find out if it was very noisy as well as being visually spectacular.

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    • It was all quiet and serene. An occasional squabble was heard, but otherwise for a long while it was just me and all those birds. Another person showed up and almost passed out from the sight, lol.

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  14. That’s a great quote Donna and a great hike … too many shorebirds to count the variety of Egrets and Pelicans – wow. I thought at first the pink bird was a Flamingo but it was a Roseate Spoonbill. You were in Heaven for sure – 2,000 pictures!

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    • Thank you, Linda! I should have added “what’s in the scenes”! There’s Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Little Blue Herons, Tricolored Herons, American White Pelicans, Brown Pelicans, White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbills, and Double-crested Cormorants…..whew! A LOT to count! 🤪

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      • I did see that when I clicked over … I could not believe all the birds that I saw and there would be no way to count them. Speaking of counting, do you count and submit counts to eBird when you are out of state too?

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        • Years back I did not do eBird, I did my own manual thing. Someone talked me into starting eBird a couple years ago. Every so often, I have been going backwards on visits years ago and uploading lists and photos so I could continue to establish my lifer list on eBird.

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          • Oh that does make sense about the lifer list … I had never heard of that term before reading it on Barbara Rodgers’ blog. I went back and made myself my own list, but in Word.

          • I used to do my lists on Word then transferred over to Excel. I kept making mistakes, lost one list, ugh. It will be time-consuming, but you could go back and add your manual lists, at least of those lists that had birds that aren’t showing up on your online eBird list as another ‘lifer’ as yet. It’s done as a historical or incidental checklist if you don’t have exact time or location. Add photos if you have them, but don’t worry if you don’t. Since your ebirding now, you’ll be pleased to see you stats up-to-date! I’ve gone as far back as 2009 for birds that were more non-common; I found Common Eiders I’d photographed in Maryland and submitted them; I was contacted back for more info and any other photos (I had a few more), as they were considered that county’s first-record! My little 5-mins of fame! hehehehe

          • Well enjoy that 5 minutes of fame Donna – fame can be fleeting! I didn’t know you could do that. I will add from my list and I have some photos to add of some of them from my blog – I would just need to search for them. I am not as avid of a birder as you, so it would not be as time-consuming to do as when you started compiling past sightings.

    • Oops, wanted to mention, I desperately searched for Flamingos in this big group and every time I birded in the southern Florida and never found one. At this refuge, I was told to continue to walk down this paved path to the dirt road path to the very end, maybe a mile? Flamingos were sometimes seen down there at the end. But it was very dangerous and the road was not kept ‘cleaned up’, so I was told I had to be very careful of the big gators and snakes. Nope, not me!

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    • And it could be in the trees or air…..or down at your feet! 🐊 We wintered for three years in the Everglades, and each time we were back home, it took me the longest time to get out of the habit of looking down for a hiding gator or snake. 😁

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      • You’re welcome Donna – as soon as I saw that video I thought of you because I had looked at your earlier post with more photos of the Everglades. I like peaceful nature videos like that.

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