29 December. Corkscrew Swamp/Tigertail Beach
The ultimate 'almost was' experience! Corkscrew Swamp, dark primeval swamplands, the greatest expanse of bald cypress forest remaining in North America, a wetland forest habitat par excellence. Arriving in the still dark pre-dawn, I toured around awaiting the official opening at sunrise, then ventured out onto the boardwalk that loops through the forest. First visitor of the day.
A hanging mist added a spook factor to the ancient forests, epiphytes draping gnarled branches, Wood Stork clipping tree tops as emerging from roost off yonder. Here however was about to be my fatal mistake, as the mist gave way to a heavy drizzle, the forest dripping at every quarter, I decided to return to my car to leave the camera behind. Ten minutes only it took, but returning to the boardwalk, another gentleman had arrived, a gentleman that strolled slightly faster than my preferred mode in such habitat ...soon, he would be far ahead. And so, as the drizzle turned into a rather heavy rain, off around a corner he went, forest to the one side, wet prairie opening on the other. With tee-shirt already decidedly damp, on I went. And then the gentleman was back, 'Er, how big are Panthers? I think there was one on the boardwalk'. And strewth, he'd even got a blurry picture of the thing, indeed a Florida Panther! As far as I can gather it was just sitting on the boardwalk, then with the arrival of this first visitor, it had jumped over the handrail and slipped away into the forest!
Arrgh! Panther, a.k.a. Mountain Lion, one of the hardest animals to see in all North America, if only it hadn't been raining, if only I had not turned back to my car! Sure felt Lady Luck hadn't been smiling down on me that morning! And with the rain remaining heavy for the next hour, didn't really see much to even offer a slight tad of compensation. Two soggy Yellow-crowned Night Herons in roost, a couple of Black-and-White Warblers running up and down trunks, a little flock of Tufted Titmice. As for the cypress swamp however, its pools of water lettuce, its magnificent trees, its orchids hanging from branches overhead, it was truly impressive, perhaps even more so for the weather ...I half expected somebody from the Blair Witch Project to step out, or an Ivory-billed Woodpecker in flop into view!
After an hour in the rain, I required a chance to dry out a little, so made my way to the visitor centre to wait for drier conditions. Fortunately, soon the sun did begin to peek out, a couple of Wood Storks soaring over, a small flock of Tree Swallows too. Wandering around again, with the better weather, the nooks and crannies of the forest seemed to come alive, far more bird activity, the best of which being a single mixed flock of some 50 birds or so, Yellow-rumped Warblers most, but also another Black-and-White Warbler, a Downy Woodpecker, a couple of Carolina Wrens, several very vocal Great Crested Flycatchers and, a couple of each, both Blue-headed and White-eyed Vireos. Also encountered another large mixed flock in the open pine forest closer to the visitor centre, a pleasant mix of Pine Warblers and Yellow-rumped Warblers forming the core, but with a loose assemblage attached, the best being Piliated Woodpeckers, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and, a right stunner, one Prairie Warbler.
Before leaving Corkscrew Swamp, there was to be one last treat - one of the reasons that I had come to the sanctuary was the knowledge that a certain colourful chap was near guaranteed att he visitor centre feeders. And so there I waited, Common Grackles and Common Ground-Dove for company, and then the female of the desired species, she a mere drab green replica. Ten minutes later, an eyeful of bold reds, purples and greens, up he flitted, one superb male Painted Bunting. Stuffing himself on the feeders, end up with four in all, two males and two females. A nice species indeed to finish my visit to Corkscrew Swamp, but oh for that missed panther, I think I shall never forget this locality!
Next up, back to the beaches. Not content with my mixed bag of results on the day before, thought I would potentially bore myself by walking the beaches on Marco Island, Tigertail Beach to be exact. To be truthful, I actually hoped to add Snowy Plover to my Wilson's, Piping and Semi-palmated trio of the day before. First impressions at Tigertail were not good - another expanse of sand with more people than birds, cruising Magnificent Frigatebirds nice, but waders on view amounted to a grand total of two Willets! The Tigertail car park is not at the sea itself but on a small lagoon, so undeterred, I drudged round to the sea and decided to walk north, the idea being if I went far enough, I must surely find a bird or two. And indeed I did, after a kilometre I got to a patch of mangroves and beyond that, on a broad spit that separated sea and lagoon, tourist numbers were negligible and suddenly I was amongst birds, not one or two, but heaps and heaps of them. In the next hour or so, I truly enjoyed the best beach birding of the trip. Mostly roosting on shingle or feeding in the shallows of the lagoon, a very respectable 14 species of wader were noted - Willet, Sanderling and Least Sandpiper in best numbers, Ruddy Turnstones, Black-bellied Plovers, Dunlins and Western Sandpipers also prominent. For me however, the best were two American Oystercatchers (the only ones of the trip) and, all congregated on a sand ridge, a neat flock of small plovers - 25 or so Semi-palmated Plovers, 15 Wilson's Plovers, six Piping Plovers and, yippee, three Snowy Plovers. Success at last, plodding the beaches had done the trick.
Also Reddish Egret here, one Belted Kingfisher and an Osprey that was unbelievably tolerant of passers-by, simply sitting atop a post as folk wandered past less than fifteen metres away! Certainly proved good for photographs.
Having seen Burrowing Owls in California just a few months earlier I had not really intended to seek them out in Florida, but remembering reports of them in residential areas on Marco Island, it seemed a shame not to do a little 'kerb-crawling' in the area. From Tigertail Beach, after a couple of random turns, I spotted a little area fenced off with tape between posts. Stopping, a helpful little signpost explained it was a Burrowing Owl nest. No owl present, or at least above ground, but another turn or two and I found two more fenced off areas ...and bingo, on the first, there was a little head peeking out of the burrow, one Florida Burrowing Owl. Well, that was easy! I sat and watched a while. He peered around, swivelling his head, occasionally throwing a glance my way. Very nice he was.
And with that, back to Fort Meyers Beach I went, a monster flock of about 60 Magnificent Frigatebirds awaiting my return, 50 or so Black Skimmers also on the beach behind my hotel. Sunset over the sea, back to the hotel.