nature – 3rin's View…

A Walk in the Park

The weather down here has been incredible lately, with daytime temperatures in the upper 70s and plenty of sunshine. On Sunday I drove down to Myakka River State Park. It was the first state park I visited in Florida when I moved here back in 2019, right about this time of year. While I’ve returned to wander a few times since, I don’t think I’ve had quite such an amazing experience before.

Northern Cardinal – Male (*Cardinalis cardinalis*)

As the afternoon heated up, I headed into the forested hammock. The thing about winter in Florida, I go through a lot of clothes! When I left my house it was 59° so I wore jeans and a long-sleeve shirt. By the time I parked at the trailhead, it was mid-70s and sunny so I switched into shorts and a tshirt. I started the day on an open trail but by mid-afternoon, the sun chased me onto a much shadier trail. We may not get showy Fall colors down here but as you can see, the foliage was definitely festive!

For the last part of my day, I trekked south along the much-diminished Myakka River. Though our dry season has just started, most of Florida is already in a Stage 1 drought. As a result, I was able to reach sections of the river that would typically be completely under water.

I perched on one of the trees downed by last year’s hurricanes and waited, knowing that low water levels elsewhere in the park would bring wildlife here. I didn’t have to wait long, as a steady stream of birds and even a raccoon soon stopped by.

Black-necked Stilt (*Himantopus mexicanus*)

As for alligators, you know what they say, if there’s water in Florida it’s a safe bet that there’s gators! I admire them from a distance because although they mostly laze about, they are surprisingly quick and agile. The momma gator in the video below swam over to warn me to stay away from her not-so-little babies.

American Alligator (*Alligator mississippiensis*)

2 months ago 0

Dismal, Indeed!

When mapping out my route from Raleigh to Chesapeake, Virginia I noticed the Great Dismal Swamp on the map. I didn’t know much about it but with a name like that who could resist checking it out?

Midafternoon I pulled into the Dismal Swamp State Park in northern North Carolina. A relatively small park, it provides access to a narrow swath of land alongside the historic Dismal Swamp Canal. My first stop was the visitor center where I was pleasantly surprised by both the history and nature exhibits.

Less than half of the original million acres of swampland remain, much of it drained for settlement and logging. The majority of the bald cypress trees that once towered over the murky water were cut down for building materials for the early colonists. As you might imagine, transporting the logs out of that morass was incredibly difficult.

During a visit in 1763, a 31-year-old gentleman farmer by the name of George Washington proposed building a canal in the landlocked area. Twenty years later work commenced. When it finally opened in 1805, the 22-mile long watery highway was a boon to commerce between North Carolina and Virginia.

Taking a hint from the name, I used up the last of my can of bug repellant before hitting the trails. Unfortunately, I was the only person on the boardwalk which meant I was the best food source around. The constant whine of mosquitoes I expected, but the fierce chomps of biting flies caught me off guard. Either I’m delicious or they were starving because they were relentless.

My curiosity wouldn’t be thwarted so I continued on to the path along the canal. In between swatting insects I pondered the struggle of the slaves who dug out the waterway over 12 long years. A testament to their hard work, it remains the oldest operating canal in the country, though these days it mostly just carries recreational boat traffic.

A fast-moving thunderstorm abruptly ended my explorations. A bit of a mixed blessing, I ended up soaking wet but at least the rain chased the insects away. The term dismal was given by early settlers to any swampy area, but its easy to see how this place earned the moniker Great Dismal Swamp. Dismal, indeed!

I ended my day with a brief trip to Virginia Beach, which I didn’t have much time to enjoy it as another big storm chased me off the sand. Some days are just like that…