Naples, Florida.

3-2-22 NAPLES, FLORIDA:  We are visiting Ken and Carol at their beautiful condo in Naples on the Gulf beach. Winter chill turned to summer heat on Monday afternoon. All the greenery and flowers are almost overwhelming after the snow and ice. Warm breezes instead of frigid winds complete the contrast for us transient snowbirds. We have literally been wined and dined by our host and hostess.

Tuesday we went to the Naples Botanical Garden, a favorite from prior years. In addition to the displays of water plants and lily pads, there are trees and shrubs and plants of all colors, shapes and sizes. There is also a birding site on a lake where we saw some old feathered friends. I’ll show some pix from there before today’s outing to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.  

There are dozen of orchids in a rainbow assortment of colors.

A huge variety of water lilies in a series of ponds.

How about this for color.

This dead tree serves as a platform for the birds. Can you find two birds in the tree?

A green heron.

A trio of pied grebes.

Corkscrew Sanctuary, named for the meandering, local river, has miles of boardwalks twisting and turning through the swamp. There are lot of pines, cypress and hardwoods, open grassy areas, and the swamp. And the birds, lots of water and swamp birds as well as the usual forest fliers and lots of raptors. 

We got there fairly early and saw lots of herons and egrets and a few others. We did a boardwalk circuit before heading back to the condo for lunch. Judy saw an otter, I caught a fleeting glimpse of it. We saw no alligators this year.

At one of the first swamp pools, we saw this shift worker sleeping during his off-time. A black crowned night heron. Actually his eyes are open.

An anhinga. They swim deep in the water with only the head and neck sometimes visible, after diviing they perch in a tree to dry out.

Little blue heron has a reddish neck.

Can you find the bird blending in with the downed tree trunk?

A better look at the limpkin wading through the swamp.

There were many great egrets.

And several great blue herons.

Out of the water and in a tree-a red shouldered hawk.

A white ibis, one of a group of about five in the water and in the trees.

Red-bellied woodpecker, one of a pair that we saw near the beginning of our walk.