Bangor University Florida Field Trip 2015: Day 9 6/3/15 Corkscrew Swamp

Day 9 saw another early start, 5.30 to see the sunrise. The weather was misty in the morning but cleared up around mid morning.

We went out on canoes, Matt, Molly, Sarah, Liv, Isaak, Harry, Owen and myself. When we first got in the canoes it was dark and a bit spooky and mystical canoeing through the mangroves. Unfortunately the mist was too thick this morning, so we didn't see the the sunrise, but I had a great time anyway.

Matt is in this picture!

We saw white pelicans, ibis and egrets.

Group canoeing

Corkscrew swamp

It is the largest and best maintained swamp in America
Most of the trees where chopped down for logging as the wood is resistant to rotting and the trees are tall and straight

An brown anole jumped on my camera, chest and walked around my neck.

Brown anole on my camera

The cypress tree 'knees' all lock together to protect from hurricanes
Cypress lose their needles and it creates a micro-habitat

We had an enjoyable few hours walking around the swamp and we saw a lot of vegetation and wildlife:

10.20 Red Shouldered Hawk sitting a tree

10.40 Eastern fence lizard

10.50 Brown anole eating a caterpillar

11.00 Red bellied woodpecker

11.05 2 Carolina anole displaying a orange piece of skin from the throat

11.10 Yellow bellied sapsucker

11.10 Woodpecker pecking the bark

11.15 Red bellied woodpecker feeding, jumping from tree to tree

11.30 Brown anole eggs in a hole in a tree

11.40 fungi on a tree

11.45 Hickory Tussock caterpillar

12.00 white ibis x3

12.00 juvenile white ibis x3

12.00 Leopold tree- 500+ years old, 98ft tall

12.05 Green anole jumping from leaf to leaf

12.10 Salamander like animal.

12.15 Woodstork searching for food in the foliage

12.40 Anhinga in a tree displaying its wings

12.40 Raccoon foraging

13.00 flock of great white egrets all sitting in the tree branches

13.00 Yellow crowned night heron

13.00 Black crowned night heron

13.05 Banded water snake

13.10 Alligator

13.15 Baby alligator swimming, stopped and perched on a log paused there for a few minutes and set of swimming again

13.20 Bard owl

The start of the trail at Corksrew Swamp

Red bellied woodpecker

Swamp habitat

Carolina anole

Raccoon

Hickory Tussock caterpillar

Cypress tree 'knees'

Green anole

Juvenile alligator

Eco-tone

When the left Corkscrew swamp we didn't have to stay in the convoy, so #TEAMTIM, went shopping for souvenirs.

After some free time for packing and starting the clean up for the trip home, it was time to walk to the Barefoot beach to watch the sunset on our time in Florida!

Florida 2015!

The whole group gathered and atmosphere was happy and excited, it was like we had all known each other for ages not for 10 days. We had all become close especially the individual teams.