It has been awhile since our last post. Tom is back from Michigan, taxes in the mail, and he brought back a few things to fit on the boat. Our plan is on Monday 4/15 to bring Cool Hand over to get her prop fixed and scrape, clean and paint her bottom. While that is happening we will be on land... wandering around Florida.
Today we took a trip to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. The effects of the drought are more than evident ... only a few places had water more like mud holes.
The sanctuary was established to protect the largest remaining stand of ancient bald cypress in North America.. Currently there are over 13,000 acres protecting this Eco system. There are Pine Flatwoods, cypress forest, and marsh. There are miles of boardwalk built out of a special tropical hardwood that requires no chemical treatment and was harvested in a sustainable way that helps preserve the Brazilian rain forest.
I brought both my Nikon and Fuji cameras and I am still sorting through the photos that I took. I hope you enjoy this first look.
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| Sculpture of Wood storks at entrance of visitor center |
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| I was delighted to see dozens of Bromeliads in bloom |
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Lichens are every where, generally three types
this one is Foliose or leafy and grows mostly on the trees |
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Inland Leaver Fern one of the largest ferns in Corkscrew
we saw some that were easily 14 feet tall. |
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| Tickseed- Florida State wildflower |
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| Black Vulture |
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| Resurrection Fern |
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Cypress Knees A cypress knee is a term used in the biology of trees to describe the distinctive structures forming above the roots of a cypress tree of any of various species of the subfamily Taxodioideae. Their function is unknown, but they are generally seen on trees grown in swamps. Some scientists have thought they may help in oxygenation to the tree's roots or assist in anchoring the tree in the soft, muddy soil.
Knees are woody projections sent above the normal water level, roughly vertically from the roots, with a near-right-angle bend taking them vertically upward through water so at least part of the protrusion will be exposed at low tide. [dubious – discuss] One early assumption of their function was that they provided oxygen to the roots that grow in the low dissolved oxygen (DO) waters typical of a swamp, acting as pneumatophores: mangroves have similar adaptations. There is little actual evidence for this assertion; in fact, swamp-dwelling specimens whose knees are removed continue to thrive, and laboratory tests demonstrate that the knees are not effective at depleting oxygen in a sealed chamber. Despite the fact that there is no expert consensus on their role, the supposition that they are pneumatophores is repeated without note in several introductory botany textbooks.
Another more likely function is that of structural buttressed support and stabilization. Lowland or swamp-grown cypresses found in flooded or flood-prone areas tend to be buttressed and "kneed," as opposed to cypresses grown on higher ground, which may grow with very little taper. |
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Adult Barred Owl - Ok I know its facing away but I did get
its back. This is a large owl almost 2 ft tall. Our guide said
their call sounded like
"who-cooks-for-you" |
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| Baby Barred Owls |
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| Bald Cypress that is approximately 400 years old |
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| American Bittern |
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Strangler Fig around a Cypress. They can grow
like a normal tree from the ground up, but when
birds eat their fruit they deposit the seeds high in the
trees so the roods grow down to the ground wrapping
around the tree. At Corkscrew frost limits strangler fig growth
and they do not kill their host trees |
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| Mom-ma Alligator, by Lettuce lake |
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| Immature Ibix |
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| Baby Alligators |
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| Blue Gray Gnatcatcher |
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| Male Snowy Egret |
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