Hey Does that Log Have Eyes?

 The American alligator is a marvel of efficiency. They are the largest reptile in North America and an apex predator. They spend much of their day sitting in the sun to help regulate their body temperature, since they are cold blooded. They are opportunistic feeders that hunt primarily by ambush. Sitting with just the top of their head above water they can appear like a floating log until something comes along. This way they do not burn up much energy hunting. Alligators are not picky and they will try and eat most anything that they can get into their mouths. They have existed in one form or another for over 150 million years, although in the late 1960s they were close to going extinct. Hunting, habitat loss and the predation of eggs forced the American alligator to be listed as an endangered species. It was removed in 1987 as there are now millions of alligators in the south eastern United States.

Big Cypress

 Big Cypress National Preserve is the United States first National Preserve. Much of the 720,000 acre National Preserve was originally intended to be a part of the Everglades National Park back when it was established in 1947. Unfortunately there were problems acquiring the land from its private owners so eventually that tract of the Everglades national Park was eventually scrapped.

Later in the 1960s a plan was unveiled to great the worlds largest airport in parts of what is now Big Cypress. Many locals joined with environmentalists, hunters and several Native American tribes to prevent the construction. Some of the locals and sportsmen were worried about access to Big Cypress if it was added to the Everglades National Park and so they came up with a compromise and the first US National Preserve was born.

Most of the Big Cypress habitat consists of fresh water cypress swamps. The preserve is the most biologically rich habitat in the Everglades Region. It is home to numerous species of bird, butterflies and dragonflies. It has a large population of American alligator. It also is home to nine federally listed endangered species including manatee, the Florida Panther, and the Florida sandhill crane subspecies.

American Alligator

The American alligator is the largest reptile found in North America. A member of the crocodile family they can get up to 18 feet long and weigh over 600 lbs. They live in rivers, creeks, lakes, swamps, ponds or most any other fresh water wetlands. In the U.S. they are found in the south eastern portions of the country, mainly Florida, Louisiana, and Texas where I took these pics.
Alligators have survived on the planet for over 150 million years. When their dinosaur cousins died out about 65 million years ago, the alligator managed to survive. However in the 1960s their population was so low that they were added to the endangered species list in 1967. Much of the decimation of their population came from people hunting them for their skins. Twenty years after they were listed, the American alligator was removed from the endangered species list and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pronounced a complete recovery. Today it is estimated that there are well over a million alligators in the south eastern United States.

South Padre Island Birding and Center

On our second full day in Texas we decided to visit the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center which is located on South Padre Island near the Convention Center. This is a pretty new park and facility which is associated with the World Birding Center. The center focus of the park is the visitors center which is loaded with interactive exhibits, auditoriums, classrooms, gift shop and topped off with a five story observation tower. The tower provides a great view of the entire park as well as parts of the island and the Laguna Madre. Just be careful or you might find yourself stuck like I did. I decided to go out on the balcony to get a better look only to find that no one had unlocked the doors yet, we got there right at opening, and so the door locked behind me. Thank goodness Michelle finally rescued me.

The park consists of 43 acres of various types of habitat including freshwater ponds, island scrub brush, brackish and saltwater marshes. Winding through the different habitats there is 4800 linear feet of boardwalks and paths as well as 7 different blinds.

The main subjects to photograph here were waterfowl and wading birds. We spotted six different types of herons and egrets, including the great egret, snowy egret, reddish egret, great blue heron, tricolored heron and the little blue heron, which is pictured above.

They were also some wading birds that we do not often get to see here in Minnesota such as the black-legged stilt, white ibis, endangered brown pelican, and the roseate spoonbill, which is pictured above. We were excited about the spoonbills, even though we have seen them on most of our trips to Florida, because this was the closest that we have ever been able to get to these spectacular birds.

Besides the waterfowl and waders there were also quite a few shorebirds including log-billed curlew, American wimbrel, least and semipalmated sandpiper.

However this park is not just for the birds. We spotted this turtle, which I believe is a red-eared slider swimming around one of the fresh water ponds. Red-eared sliders are often used as pets.

There were also a few predators hanging out in the park. At one point a northern harrier, sometimes referred to as a marsh hawk, flew lowly over the grass in search of prey and in the water there was an even larger predator. The American alligator often floats motionless on the top of the water, looking a lot like an old log, waiting for prey to get close enough where it can spring its trap.