Feral Pig Scat, Orchids and a Corkscrew

CURRENT LOCATION: Rock Creek RV Resort, Naples, FL, USA

Walk   Stop   Sit 

Look   Listen   Smell

SEE      HEAR     TASTE     

OBSERVE     UNDERSTAND     APPRECIATE 

Rookery Bay Reserve

We spent time at the education centre here and it was worthwhile. We also walked some of the trail system that begins at the centre. 

The photo below is typical of the landscape for this complete trail system. There's lots of signage WARNING of Feral Pigs in the area. We passed many places where they had been rooting for food and numerous Scat Piles, but didn't see any!

Wikipedia: Epiphytes, or air plants, grow everywhere but can be found mainly on the branches, trunks, and even the leaves of trees. The name 'epiphyte' comes from the Greek word 'epi' meaning 'upon' and 'phyton' meaning 'plant'. 

Different types of epiphytes may grow on the same tree, including orchids, cacti, bromeliads, aroids, lichens, mosses and ferns. They begin their life in the canopy from seeds or spores transported there by birds or winds.

Naples Botanical Gardens

It’s about a 5.5 km, one way, bike ride from the Rock Creek RV Resort. We spent a few hours wandering the, more than a dozen, theme based gardens featured here ... Caribbean, River of Grass, Butterfly, Asian, Brazilian, Water etc. The general philosophy when designing and building this place was to gather diverse plant communities from sub-tropical locations around the globe, between latitudes 26 north and 26 south. They were successful.

 

Orchids

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary & Blair Audubon Center

Corkscrew’s 500 year old forest of giant, bald cypress trees, rises close to 100 feet from a swampy tangle of strangler figs and native grasses, in a habitat shared with pond apples and red maple trees, and the seasonal ghost orchid. Lakes deep in the forest are rich feeding bowls for egrets, ibis, anhingas, and flocks of migrating birds. Turtles bob amidst water lettuce, gators bask in the sun and owls look down from high branches. There are also Florida panther, black bear, white-tailed deer, bobcat and raccoon here. We saw painted bunting, barred owl, cooper’s hawk, wood stork, alligator, deer, yellow-crowned night heron, little blue heron, catbird, red-headed woodpecker, pileated woodpecker, black vulture, ibis, snowy egret and a ......... ‘bunchaofotherbirds’.

The complete 4 km trail is on boardwalk.

... and below, the name ... appropriately - Corkscrew Swamp

New growth Cypress Tree with visible knees in a salad of swamp greens ... 

Strangler Vine

Nurse Limbs and Epiphytes

Gray Catbird

Yellow-Crowned Night Heron

Little Blue Heron

Cooper's Hawk

Wood Stork 

Orchard Orb Spider (artistic)

Alligator (juvenile, 16 inches)

Swamp Lily

                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Crusty ...  just the final copy

Wry ... all the BEST and of course, any of the MOST artistic photography