A little more than an hour’s drive from our south Florida home, Corkscrew Swamp is located within the largest remaining virgin Bald Cypress forest in North America. A boardwalk provides access to six distinct habitats: pine flatwood, wet prairie, pond cypress, marsh, lettuce lakes, and bald cypress forest. Enjoy a virtual tour of the 2 1/4 mile boardwalk at this link.
The boardwalk loop begins and ends in the flatwoods, where Slash Pine, Cabbage Palms and palmetto predominate in the dry sandy soil. Several woodpecker species may be expected here. We saw three or four Pileated Woodpeckers, but none of them posed for my camera.
We heard the songs of many White-eyed Vireos, but only this one, in a willow at the edge of the wet prairie, provided a photo opportunity:
Numerous Common Grackles were busy carrying nest materials. Other small birds abounded. Among them were Northern Cardinals, Northern Parulas, Palm and Pine Warblers, Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, House and Carolina Wrens, Eastern Phoebes, and Blue-headed Vireos.
Although the parula warblers foraged high in the canopy, several Black and White Warblers gleaned the cypress trunks:
Nearby, a volunteer naturalist pointed out a Red-shoulder’s nest containing two downy chicks:
The egret flew up to preen in a small tree, showing off its breeding-season plumes:
Not far away, a Striped Mud Turtle basked in the sunlight:
Swallow-tailed Kites spend the nights in large roosts near the sanctuary. Many wheeled overhead, but I found it impossible to capture them through the leaves of the cypress trees.
Sadly, no Wood Storks were present. This should be the height of their breeding season, but they have failed to breed at Corkscrew for the second season in a row. The reasons for this failure are not entirely understood. This winter’s drought, the worst in 80 years, and near-freezing temperatures in mid-winter very likely contributed to this year’s failure. The winter of 2008-2009 was a banner year for the storks at Corkscrew. Visit this link for historic records and more information about the exacting conditions required for successful reproduction of the storks: Wood Stork Nesting Data for Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Also see Struggling Storks, which discusses their unique habitat requirements.
Over a year ago, a large number of immature Wood Storks, products of the successful 2008-2009 season, spilled over into our neighborhood, decorating this dead tree near our home:
I shared the joy of the sightings with John and Barry on this delightful morning:
Karibu na saa moja kwa gari kutoka nyumbani kwetu kusini mwa Florida, Bonde la Corkscrew liko ndani ya msitu mkubwa zaidi wa cypress wa Bald uliobaki katika Amerika Kaskazini. Barabara ya mteremko hutoa njia ya kufika kwenye maeneo sita tofauti: misitu ya misonobari, nyanda za nyasi, vichaka vya mto, mabwawa, maziwa ya saladi, na misitu ya misonobari. Tazama video ya 2 4 4 Mile Boardwalk kwenye ukurasa huu. Mzunguko wa barabara huanza na kumalizika katika misitu ya gorofa, ambapo Slash Pine, Cabbage Palms na palmetto huenea katika udongo kavu wa mchanga. Aina kadhaa za mbawakawa wa mbao zaweza kutarajiwa hapa. Tuliona Pike watatu au wanne, lakini hakuna hata mmoja wao aliyetengeneza picha kwa ajili ya kamera yangu. Tulisikia nyimbo za Vireo wengi wenye macho meupe, lakini moja tu, katika mti wa willow kwenye ukingo wa nyanda za mvua, ilitoa fursa ya kupiga picha: Grackles nyingi za kawaida zilikuwa na shughuli nyingi za kubeba vifaa vya kiota. Ndege wengine wadogo walikuwa wengi sana. Miongoni mwao walikuwa Wakatoliki wa Kaskazini, Wakatoliki wa Kaskazini, Wakatoliki wa Mtende na Msonobari, Wakatoliki wa Downy na Red-bellied, Wakatoliki wa Nyumba na Carolina, Wakatoliki wa Mashariki, na Wakatoliki wa Kichwa cha Bluu. Ingawa warblers za parula zilikuwa juu ya canopy, Warblers kadhaa nyeusi na nyeupe zilikuwa zikichukua shina la cypress: Karibu, mtaalamu wa asili wa kujitolea alionyesha kiota cha Red-shoulder kilicho na vifaranga viwili: Egret aliruka juu ya mti mdogo, akionyesha manyoya yake ya msimu wa kuzaliana: Sio mbali, Turtle ya Matope ya Striped ilichukua jua: Kites za Swallow-tailed hutumia usiku katika vibanda vikubwa karibu na patakatifu. Wengi wao walikuwa na magurudumu juu ya kichwa, lakini sikuweza kuwapata kupitia majani ya miti ya mti wa mti wa mti wa mti. Kwa kusikitisha, hakukuwa na mbweha wa msituni. Hii inapaswa kuwa urefu wa msimu wao wa kuzaliana, lakini wameshindwa kuzaliana katika Corkscrew kwa msimu wa pili mfululizo. Sababu za kushindwa huko hazieleweki kikamili. Ukame wa msimu huu wa baridi, mbaya zaidi katika miaka 80, na joto la karibu la baridi katikati ya majira ya baridi kali, inawezekana sana kuchangia kushindwa kwa mwaka huu. Mwaka wa 2008-2009 ulikuwa mwaka mzuri sana kwa Corkscrew. Kwa maelezo zaidi kuhusu hali za kukua kwa korongo, angalia ukurasa wa kwanza wa tovuti ya Korongo ya Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. "Mwaka mmoja uliopita, idadi kubwa ya vifaru wa miti, bidhaa za msimu wa mafanikio wa 2008-2009 waliingia katika kitongoji chetu, wakipamba mti huu uliokufa karibu na nyumba yetu. ""Nilishiriki furaha ya kuona na John na Barry asubuhi hii ya kupendeza."