March 11: Everglades National Park
A BIG day for the trip: departure from Mote Marine Lab at 0500 (breakfast at 0430!) en route to the National Park. The E.I. trip to south Florida will meet us there along with Hillary Burgess, a 2006 Albion alum (also an alum of Bio 207!) who now works for the National Park. She will guide both groups to some more secluded and private “special spots” and describe her work at Everglades National Park (ENP).
One of the spots that Hillary revealed to us contained a cowhorn orchid in bloom, these days a rare sight since they are highly prized by collectors. She suggested that even though illegal in the Park, poachers frequently raid these rare species and carry them away.
KELYN CARLSON:
“After rising before the crack of dawn, sleepy and slightly out of it, our class headed over to the Everglades to meet up with a group from the Environmental Institute. At our first stop we walked along the Anhinga and Gumbo Limbo Trails– the Gumbo Limbo has become my favorite tree due to its bright coppery bark. It was amazing to see so much flora and fauna diversity packed into one area! My favorite part of the trails was the nesting pair of Anhingas we spotted. The day got even better when Hillary Burgess, Albion Alumnae and Everglades employee, led us to a side trail where several wild orchids were in bloom. We trudged through a cypress swamp (and ran into a cottonmouth snake on the way, ahh) before we reached our final destination. The sight before us was beautiful! The tiny orchid blossoms were colored vibrant reds and yellows and there were several green outcroppings that resembled horns. This is probably where the Cow Horn Orchid name came from. It was very exciting to be able to witness something so rare in nature and this will definitely be a memorable stop on the Florida trip :)”
JEN HOPKINS:
“I had such a great experience walking along the Anhinga Trail of the Everglades. The Anhinga birds were so close and you were able to see their natural daily interactions. While peaking under a bridge you could see an anhinga swallow a fish whole. The most bazaar sighting was an Anhinga bird who was playing with a stick. He would toss it up into the air and catch it in his beak repeatedly. The trail was so tranquil and had breathtaking views. I really liked to see this site first hand as it is the habitat of my final presentation! This habitat is in need of restoration as it has much water loss since the construction of two canals after world war two. It would be a disappointment for this habitat to be lost, and (fortunately) there are therefore many programs to aid in restoration.”
KAITLYNN MACKIE:
While walking on the Anhinga trail through the everglades, I came across a beautiful Air Plant. It was very red in color. In that air plant were a male and female Anhinga nesting. Nesting is a beautiful thing to see, meaning new life in the world of biology. Anhingas are fun to watch because when they dry off their wings, it reminds me of a yoga pose.
The Everglades - like so much of the southern part of the U.S. - is suffering from drought conditions. The Anhinga Trail remains one of the few places where water can be found, and the wildlife - especially birds and alligators - tend to congregate around any location where water is abundant. Though the numbers were low, we did encounter a wdie varity of bird species including a nest with several eggs.
