2/11 Ortona South Campground Critters

One of the nice things about this campground are the birds and other animals living here.  First, the big, navigable river, the Caloosahatchee Canal, attracts birds and alligators.  There is also a side stream that cuts through the campground from the ranches nearby and empties into the river.  There has been adequate rain lately, so the river is pretty full.

The Corps of Engineers has reinforced the banks of this little creek by piling up big and little rocks there.  The result is that as the creek goes through the campground, it becomes a babbling brook, which the birds really like.

This is the creek, looking upstream into the ranch areas. The parent otters have had a home up here for several years.  

The above photo was taken from the campground roadway as it crosses the creek.  The photo below is looking the other direction, towards the footbridge and the big river.  There must be fish in this creek because the birds are always fishing here.

A bit fuzzy, but here is one of the otters looking for a fish. 

And he got one!!  If you want to see the full video, click here. 

Based on its bill, I think this is a limpkin.

Little blue heron.

This shows where the creek opens into the river.  The otter den is in the rocks to the left, just past this palm tree, which has barely survived their digging and rolling in the dirt to dry off.

The fishing pier is downstream from the dam.  My campsite is past the dam, on the right. 

Good picture of the Ortona Dam.  Lock is to the left.

And down by my campsite, but across the river, are these two American eagles. I've got a problem with dirt on the inside of my camera lens but have no idea where to get it fixed.

This floating black thing in front of the boat might look like a log, but it has teeth!!  It floated around for most of a day.

It saw me taking a photo and turned to look at me.  Might have thought I was fishing off the bank.  Alligators like to steal fish from lines. 

2/5 Ortona Lock & Dam Campground

Wherever the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers builds a dam or lock, they also build a campground.  There are two campgrounds west of Lake Okeechoobee and one east of the lake.   I will be in all three this winter, but for now I am in the middle one--Ortona South Lake and Dam.

This is the view of my motorhome towards the dam and the lock beyond it.

Boats have to wait until they get permission to move closer to the  lock. 

So, off I go, over the dam and towards the lock in the distance. 

A couple of people on jet skiis are waiting in the lock for the water to rise. 

And away they go!

Now the big boats can come in.  There are four identical catamarans and two sailboats.  

Heading down!

And they wait for the gates to open.

My motorhome on the other side of the river.

A bit crowded but well taken care of and some greenery that provides some privacy.

My camping site, and more boats lined up behind me.

2/4 Audabon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

I keep saying places are my favorites, but this one really is.  I have always tried to visit here whenever I am in Florida.  It is about 25 miles from the Gulf Coast, northeast of Naples.  Out of the way, but well worth a few hours if you like birds and plants.  

This is a list of the birds that were seen today.  Unfortunately, birding is best in the early morning, but I was on my way between campgrounds and did not get here until noon.

The boardwalk is a 2.5 mile stroll, although there is a shortcut that cuts the length down by half.  Lots of benches on the walk.  Please wear rubber-soled showed, however, and whisper so you do not scare the birds. 

This red-shouldered hawk was right at the beginning of the boardwalk. 

A group of us watched this raccoon snooping through the shallow water looking for crustaceans and anything else edible.  He was not at all concerned about the crowd he gathered. 

The sign said this was a rabbit's foot fern.  It leaves are ruffled a bit but not deeply grooved as Boston ferns, in the second photo. 

Boston ferns in much better shape than the ones I used to try to grow indoors.

Part of the boardwalk.  To the left is wet prairie and to the right are bald cypress trees.  They are called "bald" because they lose their leaves in the winter. 

Sword ferns, I think.

This is one of the largest bald cypress, but it has a strangler fig growing up its trunk.

Same free, but you can see how the strangler fig has reached almost the top.

Wet prairie.  Home to deer, bear, cougars, and all sorts of animals.

An unpolluted swamp will have crystal clear water and hardly any mosquitoes, because tiny dish eat mosquito larvae in a real swamp.  It should be think in plants and wildlife, including birds, lizards, alligators, snakes, mammals, and more.

Great blue heron.

This is swamp lettuce.  Not edible, however.

The purple gannanule is walking on the "lettuce" leaves.  He is looking for small minnows he can sneak up on.  He has multi-color iridescent feathers.

This is a little blue heron.  He is about half the height of a great blue heron and light enough that he also can walk on top of floating leaves and sticks.

 He also eats small minnows.  The minnows, which are very common in the swamp, eat mosquito larvae, keeping a healthy swamp fairly mosquito free.

And the only alligator I saw--but a really, really big one.  He is not only long, but very thick, so likely to be very old.

Look at the beautiful breeding plumage on the front of this great blue heron!  We don't often see this is northern states.  These and other wading birds once almost went extinct because ladies liked to put their feathers on their hats. 

And another raccoon doing his raccoon-things. 

Another section of the boardwalk.

You can tell how old the boardwalk is.  This tree grew right up to and over the railing. 

This green lizard did not like me looking at him, so he kept moving to the opposite side of the tree!