Florida Day Five. Key Largo. A Quiet January Day Hiking in the Dagny John Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park

It was a lot warmer on Monday morning when I awoke in Key Largo. Temperatures were in the upper 60’s. I was up early again around 6 a.m. I wanted to watch the sunrise in Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park, ( I’ll just call it Dagny Johnson).
Dagny Johnson was once the site of a planned real estate development, “the Mediterranean Minutes from Miami” that, thankfully, failed in 1982. I had posted a few blogs on the history of the park and they can be found in the archives in my blog website. The park contains the largest tropical hammock remaining in the United States. It does not offer spectacular views or an abundance of wildlife but allows one to walk though a large area of native Florida woodlands. And I have seen some interesting birds and wildlife here over the years.
I got off to a late start but was the still the only one at the park when I arrived , I missed the sunrise, it was already light when I walked in the hardwood trees in the park.
I have seen many birds , lizards and mammals in the park over the years. I wanted to learn the many Florida sub-tropical hardwood trees that grow along the trails of the park. but I can still only recognize a few , my favorite, the reddish gumbo limbo tree and , one to be avoided, the poison-wood tree. Well I also know the coco-plum and mangrove trees.
It was unusually quiet as I walked through the park. I usually hear many northern cardinals, gray catbirds, and palm warblers on my hikes. And, a lot more birds when I visit in March when the Spring migration starts. I didn’t hear a bird as I followed a new trail cut through the hammock that connected with the trail that led to a small bay.
This is where I watch the sunrise while hiking in the park.
I missed the sunrise. It was already high in the eastern horizon and was blinding to look at when I arrived.
I had my first wildlife encounter here, a turkey vulture flew overhead. There would not be many more.
I saw the double crested cormorants that are always perched on the poles in the waters in the bay.
There is a primitive camp here for kayak-ers but I have never seen it in use on any of my visits.
I left the bay and followed the trail along a canal that was dug for the planned development. I once saw egrets and herons wading in these waters but vegetation has grown along the canal obstructing it, and my view of the birds, from the trail. They are still there I heard a few egrets of herons making their croaking calls as I passed.
There were not many flowers blooming along the trail as there are in March. Only these flowers, gum-heads were blooming on this part of the trail. ( I am not a plant expert, I rely on a plant ID app, so please correct me if I am wrong).
There were also seed pods on the Manila tamarind or monkey-pod plants ( I believe ) In March they are already gone to seed.
The trail left the hardwood hammock and entered the mangrove forests along the shore.
I am always amazed how these plants can tolerate salt water by excreting it through their leaves.
The trail soon splits one looping back to the entrance and the other going through a wetland.
This wetland trail had been closed on my last few visits because of flooding. It was open today and it was pretty dry.
There was always a pool of water along the trail,
were the beautiful mangrove trees grew and their twisted roots grew.
I always saw white ibises on the trail. The trees and a pair of white ibises were there, but the birds flew off. The trees stayed.
I left the wetland and entered the hardwood hammock again. Here under these tall tree I have seen both birds and mosquitoes. It was quiet as to the birds, I didn’t see a one. However the mosquitoes were active and I was glad I used a lot of repellent.
About half way back to the entrance the trail I came the center trail.Here there is a clearing where, again , I often see birds. Not on this hike .
However there were some morning glory flowers and
jack in the bush flowers blooming in the clearing. And where there are flowers there are insects,
And a dragonfly. Again I’m not an expert and rely on Google lens for these identifications.
It was uncommonly quite as I continued my hike. I heard no birds which was so unusual. I walked along a quarry that was also part of the original land development. I sometimes would see herons and egrets here but nothing stirred this morning. It was one of the most quiet mornings I experienced in the park.
I still enjoyed hiking in the hardwood trees hammock but was a bit disappointed not seeing more wildlife.
It was near 9:30 a.m. and I was meeting a friend at the Shipwreck restaurant for breakfast so I had to end my hike. Here is a link to some more photos from my four mile hike in the park. Florida Day Five: Key Largo. Dagny Johnson morning hike January 13 2025.I drove to the Shipwreck and met my friend. We found it was closed on Monday. He was driving to the airport and didn’t want to drive back into the Key Largo traffic . We had a short, pleasant chat about old times.
I had stopped at the Hideout where I had a great breakfast with a view of the ocean.
I spent the afternoon making calls to my office, editing photos and getting a little sun. I wasn’t giving up on finding some wildlife and I was back at the Dagny Johnson park at 4 p.m
It was still sunny and a lot warmer. Temperature were in the upper 70’s.
I hoped the there may have been some more wildlife in the late afternoon sun but there wasn’t. It was very quiet again.
I began my hike on the same trail but took the shorter loop this time.
I finally I saw a couple of birds, an eastern phoebe
and than another gray catbird.
I began my hike back, and saw , a large group of turkey vultures roosting in the trees along the quarry for the night.
There must have been 30 of them,
flying from tree to tree, fighting for what seemed better positions for the night. Well , watching vultures was not the most exciting to see but was better than nothing.
I finished another quiet and uneventful hike in the park after walking about 3 more miles. I kept forgetting it was January and many of the migratory birds I see when I visit in March haven’t arrived yet. But I was surprised even the year long residents weren’t around. It was still nice to be out in the sub-tropical hammock woodlands. One of the years I will learn all of the trees here. Here is a link to a gallery with some more photos from my afternoon hike in the park. Florida Day Five. Key Largo Dagny Johnson afternoon January 13 2025.
I hiked another 7 miles on Monday and I was hungry. I decided to try something new, dinner with a sunset. I looked at my Google map and found the Black Siren may have a nice view of the sunset so I drove north on U. S. Route One and found this small but friendly little bar and restaurant.
I did get a view of the sunset and a great meal at this out of the way place. I had a delicious bowl of New England clam chowder,
a salad and grouper for the main course.
And , of course dessert, Key lime pie. It wasn’t the best I had on my trip.
I left the restaurant and returned to my hotel. I was a little disappointed in not seeing more wildlife this day, but it was nice seeing an old friend, and , I fell asleep looking forward to another day of hiking and exploring Key Largo.
“Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself.” –Henry David Thoreau
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