The Sanctuary in the Corkscrew Swamp, Naples FL – February 29, 2020

The Corkscrew Swamp

The Audubon Society was formed many years ago in part to protect the Florida egrets that were being over-hunted for their feathers that were used as decorations on ladies hats.  One of the actual places that they set up a primitive outpost to guard these gorgeous birds was in the Corkscrew Swamp.  Fast forward 100+ years, and the Audubon Society protects more than 11,000 acres of pristine pine flatlands, wet prairie, marsh, and cypress forest including the only remaining stand of original growth bald cypress in North America.  Trees 500-600 years old. 

Wet prairie bordered by 100-200 year old Pond Cypress trees

Though we didn’t see them (it wasn’t the right time of year), this area of swamp is also the largest nesting area of endangered Wood Storks, and the only place other than Cuba where the rare Ghost Orchid grows.  A very special place.

These ferns make you think a dinosaur might come moseying through

The sanctuary has a 2.5 mile boardwalk that takes you through a variety of ecosystems with the plants and animals that live there.  Being an Audubon location and a lovely Saturday morning, we shared the walkway with serious birders, and photographers with serious cameras and enormous telephoto lenses.  There were regular people there, too.  Everyone respected the wild dignity of the place; spoke in hushed voices so as to not frighten any interesting animals away.

Lovely Great Blue Heron

A photogenic Red-Shouldered Hawk

We saw many of the usual swamp denizens – herons (great blue and little blue), egrets (great and snowy), white ibis, anhingas, and a rather large mama alligator snoozing in the sun with some of her brood.  A red shouldered hawk came to roost on a branch over the walkway, setting off a symphony of camera shutter sounds.  A barred owl hooted loudly nearby, and several swallow-tail kites glided high overhead silhouetted against the bright blue Florida sky.  A pileated woodpecker worked noisily on a branch overhead, and a red-bellied woodpecker rotated around another branch nearby.  There were also many, many songbirds that we didn’t recognize.  This swamp is a very busy place.

Mama and some of her babies

Pileated Woodpecker - the largest woodpecker in North America

The plants were just as interesting, with 100-200 year old pond cypress and elderly bald cypress that were here before Columbus discovered the New World.  As in the Mariposa Grove of Yosemite National Park and Muir Woods National Monument, individual very old bald cypress trees have been singled out and named.  In this case, the names are of individuals instrumental in the history of conservation and the Audubon Society.  In addition, one very lovely tree is named for the Calusa Indians that once lived in this region.  Both the pond and bald cypress trees loose their needles in the winter, which were just growing back in while we were there.  So, in our pictures they look a bit (well) bald.

Like many very old trees, the tops of these Bald Cypress have been broken off by storms

Can you imagine what these trees have seen in 500 years?

Strangler fig trees have wound their way around many the trees.  The second largest tree in the swamp is the red maple, which does lose its leaves in the Fall, but starts growing new ones right away.  There are pockets of ferns everywhere, especially resurrection ferns that grow on the trunks and limbs of the great trees.

Lettuce Lake

Lettuce Lake is an extensive deep area in the swamp, with water lettuce plants floating on the surface and masses of roots below protecting young fish and other creatures.  Lovely epiphytes (air plants) are growing, and some blooming, in niches of the host trees.

Epiphytes (air plant) grow on other plants but do not harm the host tree

Corkscrew Swamp is a lovely, peaceful, fascinating place where you can reflect on the beauty and diversity of nature.  It is listed in our Off the Beaten Path book, and is well deserving of the recommendation as a special place that is less crowded.

This is a video of an Ibis feeding.