Florida Day Three: Everglades: Deer, Alligators, A Bald Eagle And A Spectcaular Sunset On The Old Ingraham Highwayi

Florida Day Three: Everglades: Deer, Alligators, A Bald Eagle And A Spectcaular Sunset On The Old Ingraham Highwayi

Florida Three Everglades Old Ingraham Highway evenng (33 of 45)
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I decided to return to the Everglades National Park and hike on the Old Ingraham Highway Trail again on Saturday, my third day in Florida. I love hiking and exploring. The start of every hike is an adventure.   I am always excited,  hoping to see something new and unusual, or,  just enjoy and appreciate the plants, animals and beauty of nature I have seen before. Another of my favorite experiences when I travel is the sunrise. I am usually up early  when I travel and get to see this spectacular event that occurs everyday and far too many people don’t see or appreciate often enough, including me.   I did on Saturday on my drive to the Old Ingraham Highway. 

A sunrise and a sunset are  always a wonderful and different experience.

The Old Ingraham Highway was the original roadway built in the Everglades and ended in Flamingo. It was abandoned in the 1950’s and now is a great trail to hike and feel the solitude of the vast wilderness in the Everglades.  However, this also means close encounters with swarms of mosquito, snakes and alligators, as I learned on my hike on Saturday.

The Old Ingraham Highway can be accessed by turning right at the fork in the road to the Royal Palm Visitor Center  which takes to to the Nike Missile base. Proceed straight on the the rutted, unpaved road at the next stop sign and you are on the abandoned Old Ingraham Highway, I decided to drive the  mile to Gate 15 and begin my hike there.  The abandoned  road continues for five miles and there is a primitive camp site  along the road but  a permit is needed.

It was a warmer than the previous morning, 67 degrees , and the skies were clear when I began my hike and walked past the tall reeds.

 and cypress trees at the start of my hike.

Perched in one was this turkey vulture, not the prettiest of birds, It may of thought the same of me as it quickly flew off as I approached. 

I saw a couple more graceful critters as I continued my hike on the abandoned highway. A pair of white tail deer.

I love whitetail deer. I have a small heard in my backyard back home in Northeastern Pennsylvania.  This was the first time I saw whitetail deer on the Old Ingraham Highway. The buck appeared to me to be nodding at me, welcoming to the Everglades. 

They first walked in the shallow waters along the highway, then crossed in from of me and sloshed through the reed covered waters on  the other side. It was a wonderful encounter, 

followed by another close encounter with a northern mockingbird, a bird that always reminds me of my dad.

An osprey flew overhead as I continued my hike on the old highway.

The  both sides of highway was now surrounded by the river of grass and reeds that is the Everglades. The grass and reed   glowed in the rays of the early morning sun.

A few cocoplum and cabbage palm trees grew along the highway.  On this part of the trail here was still some of the old asphalt from the highway remaining on the trail .

A few wildflowers bloomed along the trail including these marsh pinks,

and arrowhead flowers, both native to Florida.

After about a mile I  approached a large hammock on the right side of the highway,  A hammock is an area of higher elevation than the flat sea of grass of the Everglades where hardwood trees grow creating a unique habitat for plants and animals.

As I  neared the hammock I  heard the calls and songs of a few   different of birds. The most common were the yellow rumped  warblers.

There were also  just as many palm warblers,

and a few American restarts

and northern cardinals fluttering in the jack in the bush or blue mist flowers growing along the hillside of the hammock.

I also saw this ruby throated hummingbird hovering in a tree on the hammock.

The hammock was also covered with  hundreds of beautiful morning glories. . 

A trail led me to the top of the hammock. I to explore but not on this morning  I climbed back down and continued my hike on the old highway.

After leaving the hammock the trail passes through  thick vegetation, mainly two species of trees I have learned to identify,   by their  leaves, branches and trunks , one the toxic poison wood tree. The sap of this tree causes a very painful rash if touched . They should be avoided.

These are it’s leaves.

The other, the coco-plum tree. They produce a tasty fruit which I tasted for the first time on my visit here last March.

These are it’s leaves.

I hiked for about another mile on the trail ,seeing a few  great egrets,

tri-colored herons

and this, I believe a juvenile little blue heron.

After about a mile  the highway comes to a canal created with the original road was built . Here I saw an eastern phoebe and

this common yellow throat. It was  here I had a close encounter with an alligator while photographing one of these birds. I was busy taking photos to notice an alligator peering at from the waters of the canal. Well history repeated itself on this morning.  I wasn’t paying attention, and I should have, while taking a photo of these elusive birds,

When I finally  photos of the common  yellowthroat  and began walking I realized there  a large alligator only a few feet in front of me. I was entirely too close to this huge creature. I know how quick they are. Thankfully it wasn’t interested in eating me, and I quickly  walked past, my heart beathing rapidly.

I was a little shook up and forgot to take  photos of the large alligator , instead taking a video. I continued on my hike , keeping my eyes peeled, as I walked near the murky waters of the canal along the road.

I soon saw another alligator backing into canal , and heard the small cries of baby alligators. It was a mommy and I realized from the matted vegetation that is where it would lay in the sun during the day. I soon saw a lot more of these matted areas and realized there were a lot of alligators in this area.

I hiked out about 2 1/2 miles and started back, proceeding with caution. I was glad when a caravan of off road vehicles drove past me, the last a ranger, said they were working clearing the vegetation on the end of the trail. I told him about my alligator encounter. I walked back knowing the vehicles probably frightened the big alligator back into the canal. And they did , I saw no more alligators and, for the first time, was thankful. I want to photograph them not get eaten by them.

Mt return hike was uneventful, I saw many of the same birds at the hammock, and a lot of turkey vultures became active as the warm rays of sun created crested thermal vents allowing them to soar from the treetops that they  roost for the night.

Some high clouds appeared in the sky, but the sun continued to warm the cool morning air.

I saw a few American coots in the reeds and they would be the last new species of bird I’d see on my hike. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos of the birds I saw on my hike . Florida Day Three. Everglades Old Ingraham Highway morning birds January 11 2025.

As usual warmer temperatures brought about some insect activity and I saw a lot of white peacock butterflies fluttering along the trail .

I finished my five mile hike , learning my lesson again, to pay attention when hiking on the trails in the Everglades. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos from my hike . Florida Day Three. Everglades Old Ingrham Highway morning  January 11 2025.

Like the previous day I had  muy usual breakfast at the Farmers Market and returned to my hotel. I spent the afternoon editing photos and working on my blog. Around 3 p.m I drove back to the Old Ingraham Highway for another short hike, or so I thought.

I found a different scene when I arrived. Clouds had moved in giving the Everglades a somber look.

However, it was the Everglades and there is always life here, even on the coldest and cloudiest days of January.I walked toward the large royal palm trees near the highway. I have seen bald eagles here before.

And sure enough, pitched on a dead royal palm treetop was a bald eagle eating a fish.

I was able to walk up to tree and watch as he finished his meal.

I waited, patiently, for about 15 minutes, hoping to capture an image of him/her flying off the treetop .

I was distracted by this flock of greater yellowlegs, and while photographing them the eagle flew off.

I continued my walk into the Royal Palm  hammock,

hoping to see the great horned owl I heard  a few days ago. I didn’t see it, or any other wildlife so I  walked back to the Old Ingraham Highway.

Here I saw a few birds  , including this little  blue heron perched on a branch in the water,

 some pintail ducks,

and great egrets. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos of the birds I saw on my evening walk  . Florida Day Three. Everglades Old Ingraham Highway evening  birds January 11 2025.

The clouds started to slowly dissipate,  creating some  beautiful sky  so I continued my hike on the old highway.

I walked more than past Gate 13, more than I planned but I was glad I did.

A magical scene unfolded in the skies.

The  clouds  formed long streaks  in the sky and seemed to form a dome above  me,

and this  beautiful scene kept changing and becoming more enchanting.

I started  walking back  but , wanted too, and felt like I could,  walk all night.

But I knew the sun would be sitting and I heard coyotes earlier so I continued  my  hike back.

The skies continued to change above me as the sun began to sink in the western sky. . I would occasionally stop and just take in this awe inspiring scene

 

The sun  was setting as I approached my SUV, It was spectacular, one of the most beautiful I had experience and I saw many sunsets. It truly was heaven on earth.

I took in the wonderful scene, and then enjoyed the almost full moon, I wished I could have stayed out in the Everglades all night. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos from my hike . Florida Day Three. Everglades Old Ingrham Highway evening   January 11 2025.

However, I was hungry and tired.  So I left this enchanting scene  and drove back to town. I decided to eat at the Capri an Italian restaurant that opened in 1957 . I had wonderful  bowl of conch chowder,

and shrimp scampi my meal and a wonderful conversation with the bartender. ( there were no tables open) She told me stories about the restaurant , the owners and her 25 years of serving customers here, It was a delightful end to a wonderful day in south Florida and the Everglades.

Sunsets are so beautiful that they almost seem as if we were looking through the gates of heaven.
John Lubbock

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