Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Florida

Yesterday, my husband and I spent the afternoon at the wonderful Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary located near Naples, Florida.  It is operated by the Audubon Society.  We came across some awesome wildlife and want to share some of our photos with you.  We observed this bird catch and devour this large frog in no time at all. 

Corkscrew has been designatged as a "Wetland of International Importance" in 2009 by Ramsar--an International Organization that recognizes"Wetlands of International Importance".  It supports "plant and/or animal species at critical stages in their life cycle"

The Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is home to Cypress trees 500 years old!  Not only were the centuries old trees interesting but we saw other vegetation and wildlife that fascinated us.  There were cypress treess that had Strangler Fig growth growing up them.  The Strangler Fig is interesting because it does not begin its growth from the ground up.  The Strangler Fig starts its life when a bird drops a seed into a crevice and then is starts its growth upwards and downwards to make roots in the ground where it takes nutrients and then begins to strangle the tree.  Eventually when the tree is strangled, the empty nooks and crannies create a home to thousands of creatures.

I love to get good photos of insects--here we have a Dragonfly alighting on a twig.  Look at his beautiful transparent wings!  I also followed this grasshopper around for a while to catch him resting on a branch.

Threre were many flowers blooming at the Sanctuary.  Here is a lovely Water Iris that is just waiting to to immortalized.   I am absolutely in love with air plants.  Wherever you looked in the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary you could fine countless species of air plants.  This blooming air plant is my favorite.  Air plants usually grow on trees and get their nutrition and support by clinging to the host. 

Let us not forget about the alligators.  We did not see a lot of them, but here is a big daddy enjoying the sun.

We found the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary to be a wonderfully peaceful place to spend an afternoon.  The guests were very respectful of the environment which was such a joy.  The air was filled with the fragrant scent of flowers.   This was my second visit to the Sanctuary and found it even more enjoyable the second time around. 

Barbara Pogorelc -  The Crystal Pineapple Lady

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