Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

swamp hibiscus

I can't say I've had many psychic dreams before, but something about the ghost orchid seeped into me and wouldn't let go.  This summer I had the most vivid dream about a ghost orchid, that I had gone hunting for them in Orlando. Funny thing is, in my awake world, I wasn't even sure ghost orchids existed. The  morning after my dream, I had no recollection of flowers, until a patron at the library where I work checked out the audiobook version of Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief.  Then someone checked out a few orchid magazines, and another patron requested a book with "orchid" in the title.  There's nothing like being hit in the head with synchronicity!  So, I hopped online and googled ghost orchids, and, amazingly, discovered a ghost orchid lives just 3 hours away from here in Naples at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.  Even more incredible, the ghost orchid was in bloom. It was calling me, and I had to visit and ask what it wanted.

"super ghost"

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is considered the "jewel in the Audubon crown."  The Audubon Society became involved with the sanctuary over 100 years ago with a campaign against plume hunting, and officially founded Corkscrew in 1954.  It's 14,000 acres of pine flatwood, wet prairie, marsh, pond cypress, and home to the largest remaining virgin bald cypress forest in North America.  One of the gateways to the Great Florida Birding Trail, Corkscrew supports one of this country's largest colonies of nesting wood storks, as well as +200 birds, both natives and migratory. Add a gorgeous butterfly garden and the Blair Education Center and the ghost orchid, and you know you're in for quite the experience.

Naples is about a 3 hour drive from where I live, so The Way Eye See It loaded up pretty early in the morning, in order to have most of the day to explore.  Even the parking lot at CCS is interesting! There's a huge butterfly garden, where Anna and I saw white peacocks, gulf fritillaries, and Florida's state butterfly, the zebra longwing.  Also cool was seeing a tiny Ruby-throated Hummingbird zoom down to drink from the flowers.  It was hard to tear ourselves away from butterfly garden action, but we knew we had a lot to pack into the day, so we followed the boardwalk to the Blair Education Center and paid our $10 entrance fee.  Right inside the front door was a poster describing the ghost orchid, with an attached dry erase board on which was written, "12 blooms!!" 

There's another dry erase board before you hit the main boardwalk, and we stopped to read what everyone had seen thus far: many birds, black bear, snakes, butterflies, skinks.  I love the anticipation of what lies ahead on nature walks. Of course, we wanted to see everything listed on that board, and knew we wouldn't. But maybe we'd see different things?

The first bird to greet us was a white-eyed vireo, a new bird for me.  We could hear woodpeckers all around, and saw a fair share of red-bellieds, as well as a pileated, which we heard first, then waited and waited to see.

white-eyed vireo

Whenever I'm walking through swamps, woods, and other natural areas in Florida, I always wonder what it  must've been like for explorers crazy enough to hack their way through tall grass and wetlands, with no idea of what they'd encounter.  Huge bugs, alligators, snakes....  I, for one, am happy in most instances to stay on boardwalks!

Corkscrew's boardwalk is 2.25 miles long, and you're definitely at one with the landscape.  As we made our way to the ghost orchid, we passed alligator flags, pond apple trees, swamp hibiscus, swamp lilies, a tiny ribbon snake, and who knows what else hidden above and below us. Butterflies whizzed past, and we were thrilled to see two new ones: a queen and a ruddy daggerwing (if ever I need an alias, it's going to be Ruddy Daggerwing!)  Even though I couldn't wait to see the ghost orchid, I didn't want to rush the experience.

queen

 

And finally we saw it, this "super ghost" with an unusually high number of blooms. This orchid, the only wild ghost orchid whose location is not kept secret.  Actually, we saw the scope an Audubon volunteer set up for better orchid viewing.  In my vision, I saw the orchid up close, but, in reality, it lives about 150 ft from the boardwalk, 45ft up a 400 year old cypress tree.  Also, in my vision, I was 1 on 1 with the orchid.  In reality, though, the scope was like Grand Central Station. Luckily, I had my big zoom, and Anna had her binoculars, so we were set with pretty good views as we waited our turns at the scope.  

WOW!  I was blown away when I saw the orchid up close.  It's very ethereal and tendril-y and mysterious and sexy, and I'm fairly certain it knows this. I asked why it called me to Corkscrew, dragging me out of bed at 5am to drive 3 hours away.  I wanted to hear something profound and life-changing, and I did. The ghost orchid said simply: "Stop. Be still. Enjoy me." 

The ghost orchid usually blooms in July and August, and I wonder if it will reappear in my dreams next summer.  Will I still need its gentle reminder?  I daresay I probably will.  And, even it doesn't come to me in my sleep, I'll definitely stalk Corkscrew's website until the announcement comes it's time to commune with the orchid once more.

Boyd Hill Nature Preserve

Boyd Hill Nature Preserve is a jewel. Located on the south shores of Lake Maggiore, Boyd Hill is another St. Petersburg park hidden in a residential area. There are 245 acres of unspoiled Florida, and entering this oasis feels as though you've stepped back in time, before Pinellas County's population explosion. In much need of time away from that population, and craving the type of regeneration only nature can provide, Anna and I set off to see what what we could see.

Boyd Hill has 5 unique ecosystems (hardwood hammock, sand pine scrub, pine flatwoods, willow marsh, and lake shore), but we've never covered them all at once. My tendency is to drift towards the shoreline, and, since we'd covered some of the pine flatwood trail on previous visits, we decided to walk towards Lake Maggiore.

Along the way, we crossed some short bridges, and came across lots of cypress knees looking like primeval fingers reaching up from the earth. Crossing one of the bridges we spied a little gator snoozing on a lily pad. They sure are a lot less intimidating when they look small and the lily pad looks big!

Back on the trail, we heard a hawk in the pines. We followed its calls, and saw it swoop to the ground. Next we heard what sounded like a squirrel in distress, and I have to admit I was relieved that squirrel hadn't become the hawk's lunch. I know how the food chain operates, but I don't really want to witness it.

There's a small peninsula jutting into Lake Maggiore, and we'd read that's where birds hang out, so we headed up the trail to find it. Just over another short bridge, it's a bird oasis. Anhingas and Cormorants filled nearby trees, ducks splashed in the lake, terns flew overhead. A family of (presumed) tourists approached us, asking if we'd seen the alligator just behind some brush, then proceeded to get way too close to it in order to show us. Anna waked off with a "Oh, hell no!" but I wanted some shots, although with my zoom, I felt safe. Well, fairly safe....

It wasn't until we'd crossed back from the peninsula to the main trail that it occurred to us: what would we have done if that alligator decided to come out from the brush? Especially if it had blocked access to the bridge. Hmmm.

Our return trip to the nature center was fairly uneventful, although there was one highlight: a banana tree blossom, deep purple and sexy. I love how in Florida there's always the possibility of running into something unexpected and exotic.

We had a great day at Boyd Hill, and, once again, the universe confirmed we're on the right path. How do I know? As we walked across the parking lot, talking about the wonderful things we'd seen, a bald eagle flew by.

Dunedin Hammock

Have you ever forgotten how much you've enjoyed a place, then rediscovered it, and it's even better than you remembered? That's how I feel about Hammock Park in Dunedin. I grew up in Dunedin, and, over the years, spent time walking the trails, but only recently have I started really exploring the Hammock. I'm in love.

The Hammock was surveyed some 158 years ago, and the North-South boundaries remain to this day. It was purchased by the City of Dunedin in 1965, and, in 1974, the Dunedin Garden Club helped create the first self-guided nature trails. There are 5 miles of trails in this 90 acre natural park, and each trail is different.

The Skinner Tail is the Hammock's main drag, and it runs alongside a stream, where I've watched great blue herons, white egrets, green herons, and cormorants do their thing. I always follow the Skinner Trail to the Friends of the Hammock's new butterfly garden, located next to Andrews Memorial Chapel. Butterflies are one of my favorite subjects to photograph, but they don't make it easy, unless they're in caterpillar state, which many of the monarchs were. Fat and stripey, they were in abundance on this trip, many munching leaves, first up, then down, as though the leaves were corn-on-the-cob.

My usual route is to backtrack from the butterfly garden to the Sugarberry Trail, because I always see something on the Sugarberry. Turtles are plentiful, and further down the trail there's always the promise of a raccoon tip-toeing across the trail and into the water, or a green heron searching for food. Today, I discovered a tangerine tree packed with tangerines. I'm used to seeing orange trees in the Hammock, but had never come across wild tangerines before. They're fiery orange when the sun shines on them. Some unripe tangerines had fallen to the ground, and it was hilarious watching a squirrel attempting to roll one up to a tree branch.

When I finished the Sugarberry Trail, I decided to try my luck at the end of the Skinner Trail, where there's a large pond. There are always birds there, and I was curious if I'd see anyone new. Along the way, I took the time to notice wild flowers, which I don't always do, and was rewarded with both irises and spiderwort, both in the most spectacular shades of purple. The usual gang was hanging out at the pond: snowy egrets, great blue herons, anhingas, and osprey soaring overhead. Nobody new, but that's ok. I'm never disappointed with the same old same old when it comes to nature!

From visit to visit, I never know what I'll encounter at Hammock Park. Sometimes there's more action than others, and either way is fine with me. I'm a wanderer at heart, and being outside is my joy. With no expectations, I know there's always the promise of things to come.