Everglades City
Situated between Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve along the Barron River, lies Everglades City, a remote fishing and crabbing town, with a resident population of approximately 400.
If I heard the fishing boats coming in to unload their catch before sunrise, I had opportunities to photograph pretty reflections. It would take them many hours to unload. You can see the net full of fish in a couple of the photos.
Arriving before sunrise with their catch
The sun begins to rise while unloading the fish
Unloaded at noon finally and heading back out of the river
Reflections at sunset
Removing fish from the net
Fish were removed for hours
Nice size fish
Before sunrise, preparing nets for departure
Before sunrise, preparing for departure
Before sunrise, preparing for departure
Everglades City is known as the Stone Crab Capital of the World.
Stone crab pots and a dinner of stone crab claws
In the center of this small town, standing tall and prominent, is their “lifeline to the world” communication tower surrounded by three 1920’s historical buildings still standing after the many hurricanes that plummeted this town over the years.
Bank of Everglades Building
Bank of Everglades Building
Bank of Everglades Building
Everglades Community Church
Everglades Community Church
Everglades City Hall
We fell in love with this endearing, quirky small town, reminding us of home along Maryland’s Eastern Shore that has its share of quaint Chesapeake Bay fishing towns.
A photo gallery of some other things that caught my fancy in Everglades City.
Historical boat lift
Kayak til your heart’s content
Just love the colors!
One of several air boat companies
Cabbage palm trees
Rusty truck
Rusty truck
Rusty truck
Floats
Remnants of bridge
Decor
Decor
Decor
This way to the beach bar
Cool VW Bug!
Northern Cardinal introducing home circa 1925
Of course, I ended with a bird!
Smallest Post Office in the United States
Located in Ochopee, Florida, in the midst of Big Cypress National Preserve is the smallest United States Post Office.
Smallest Post Office in the United States
Erected on the Post Office’s property
I spoke with the postmaster briefly, he was kind soul and obliged me with a quick photo. He also assured me he had air conditioning for the hot summer months.
Postmaster of Ochopee Post Office
Series: Take A Moment and Enjoy A Sunset
Framed with mangroves, this sunset was taken back on March 1st from along the road at low tide, just a little tuck between those trees, down some secured rocks to a small, rough beach opening.
The rocks were perfect for sitting on. This became one of my favorite spots to watch the sun set this past winter. 😊
Sunset over Chokoloskee Bay, Florida
“Every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Bird on a Wire
When photographing wildlife, we strive for all natural habitat shots.
But birds do love to perch on a wire.
So here’s a bird on a wire…..times 17!
American Kestrel
Purple Martin (female)
Red-shouldered Hawk
Purple Martins
Eastern Phoebe
White Ibis
Europeon Starling
Northern Mockingbird
Common Ground Dove
Loggerhead Shrikes
Double-crested Cormorant
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal (male)
The one that surprised me was the White Ibis. I’ve never seen one of them perched on a wire before or since.
Can you pick a favorite?
(all photos taken in Everglades City, Florida)
Brown Pelican – Rubbin’ Its Noggin
Even birds get an itch they need to scratch. But how?
Not a problem for this Brown Pelican!
(click on first photo to run through the action)
Brown Pelican – head scratching 01
Brown Pelican – head scratching 02
Brown Pelican – head scratching 03
Brown Pelican – head scratching 04
Brown Pelican – head scratching 05
Brown Pelican – head scratching 06
Brown Pelican – head scratching 07
Brown Pelican – head scratching 08
Brown Pelican – head scratching 09
Brown Pelican – Rubbing/Scratching Its Head
That had to feel good!
Out of that series, I’m sharing one of the photos again with a closer crop. It deserved a caption…..
“Good Grief”
I’m sure there’s more captions perfect for this silly shot!
Red-bellied Woodpeckers Gathering and Stashing Berries
I spent many hours over the past couple months watching and photographing the huge number of Red-bellied Woodpeckers so easy to find in Everglades City. I’ve never in my life seen so many of them in one small area.
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpeckers
I’m not sure the species of palm tree that produces the black/blue/purple berries, but I do know the Red-bellied Woodpeckers know and love them. An area mid-town was superb for watching them. They cleaned off those area palm tree berries when they ripened in a couple of weeks.
Swoop in, hang from the berry branch, pluck the berry, then swiftly fly away to other nearby palm trees that hosted their nest and stash them all around it in the tree’s bark. Literally, pushing and pounding them into holes and crevices on their nest tree. Then fly back for another!
Red-Bellied Woodpeckers gathering and stashing berries
You ever take a photo with poor exposure results but just can’t trash it for one reason or another?
Here’s one of mine, shot in the shade with poor exposure. But it looked too adorable to trash. So I played a little with it in black and white and presto! It became worthy of saving!
Red-bellied Woodpecker
For those curious on what the original photo looked like, here you go.
And to think, I almost deleted it…..
Great Egrets Pair
I loved this sighting of a pair of Great Egret atop a tree.
Maybe they’re deciding if this tree is the perfect location for their nest. 🙂
Great Egrets
Or maybe it’s a date with social distancing! 😉
Key West Gypsy Chickens
Birding the past three months in Florida was unbelievably memorable. It is the prime time for a vast number of many bird species, both residents and migrants.
Since my first post in January (except for a handful), I have shared a different bird each post. If I counted correctly and including this post, I shared photos of 55 species of birds. 🙂
Sigh….. We’ve departed Florida as was planned, but with the COVID-19 virus chaos at home in Maryland and the northeast U.S., along with discussions with our children, it was deemed best for us to relocate with our RV on a lot we own in the upcountry of South Carolina, where it’s remote and hopefully safer.
As we settle in where Spring is springing, I’ll be going through my photos for many favorites to continue to share from Florida.
And now on with some photos…..
Welcome wild chickens added as #205 to my birding lifer list.
If you’ve been to Key West, you’ve undoubtedly seen and heard the feral Key West chickens that roam freely around the island. The feral fowl, locally known as Gypsy Chickens, are the perfect metaphor for Key West — historic, colorful, sort of wild, a little noisy, and occasionally annoying.
Key West “Gypsy” Chickens (male and female)
These chickens are descendants of jungle fowl that originated in Cuba and the Caribbean islands, brought to Key West and used as food and for the sport of cockfighting. When cockfighting became illegal in the 1970’s, they were released to fend for themselves.
Key West Gypsy chick
Key West Gypsy chick
“Gypsy Chicks”
“Out for a walk with Mama”
Key West established a ‘no-kill’ law, so it didn’t take long for the population of chickens to explode on their two-by-four mile island.
Male
Male
Female
Female
The Key West Wildlife Center takes care of the feral chickens, rescuing, rehabilitating and relocating them to mainland farms to live free range just like they do in Key West, but safe from traffic and harm.
Key West Chicken (male)
“They crow at all hours,” says Debbie Britten, a volunteer at the Key West Wildlife Center. “They’re like some of the people down here – they don’t know when to quit.”
“Cock-a-doodle-doo”
Her statement is absolutely true!
Anhinga Male and Female Comparison
Here is a beautiful male Anhinga preening, and beginning to sport some flashy breeding plumage on its head. Soon he’ll have a bright blue ring surrounding his eye for the ladies!
Anhinga male
Anhinga male
Anhinga male
Male Anhinga
“Someone watching me?”
The female Anhinga looks quite different with her tan head & neck, a black belly, and darker brown feathers on its back.
Immatures of both sexes look like the female so many times can be confusing on which they are. So I’m not going to guess on this next photo.
Anhinga (female or immature male, female)
Either or, a stunning bird with beautiful feather patterns!
Alligator Nursery
These were some of the smallest American Alligators I’d seen these past couple months.
There were 12 of them, close together, and no Mama in sight. It was like a nursery of baby alligators!
For some reason, alligators don’t seem to mind piling on top of each other haphazardly.
Baby Alligators – three sharing a rock
Baby Alligators – four sharing a rock
Baby Alligators – three total
Baby Alligator lucky to have his own rock
Baby Alligator lucky to have his own rock too!
Looks like there was a lot of hugging going on! 😉
Bay Photos by Donna 