Skywatch Friday: Ever. Glades.

Woohoo, I'm in Florida. It was sunny and warm out, at least for part of the day. Leon and I got into Miami in the wee hours this morning. We've spent the whole day at the Everglades. First stop: Mahogany Hammock. Hardwood hammocks are beautiful, but difficult to photograph. They're so densely wooded the the frame just fills with random green foliage. Still, they contain some cool stuff.

Mahogany tree in Mahogany Hammock

I had much more luck photographing things inside of the hammock than I did with panoramas.

Morning Glory

I saw numerous strangler figs. These are curious trees that germinate when their seed land (usually coated with bird poop) on the branches of other trees. They grow both down to the ground and up towards the sky, using the tree as a prop. Eventually they encircle the trunk of the host tree girdling (and killing) it. The host tree then decays inside the strangler fig, leaving it to reproduce and begin the cycle anew. And you thought that plants were peaceful, docile organisms.

Strangler Fig

There were other interesting denizens of Mahogany Hammock.

Barred Owl

We weren't seeing many insects, just a few dragonflies and a couple of zebra longwing butterflies. In search of more wildlife, we went the rest of the way down the road to Park Headquarters at Flamingo. And did we ever find some good stuff.


There were saltwater crocodiles lolling in the water.

White Pelican, winter plumage

An amazing abundance of waterfowl turned out.

You tramp, you look like a chorus girl!

We even got some close views of Roseate Spoonbills. Our day ended much chillier than it began. There was a frontal passage early this afternoon. We took our final hike through the pine rocklands at Long Pine Key, where we saw lots of interesting plants.

Pine Rockland Ecosystem


Acacia pinetorum


Lobelia sp.


Coontie - Zamia floridana


Ruellia sp.

I's wonderful to be out of winter for a bit. For more skywatch, go here.