Fakahatchee, Loop Road, Old Ingraham Highway

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Posted by Jeff Weber on 08:58:56 03/20/06

Last Saturday, Miguel Padura and I saw and photographed a Barred Owl perched conveniently near the road on Jane's Scenic Drive, in Fakahatchee Strand.

Next, we hiked the trail at Gator Hook Strand, near Monroe Station on the Loop Road. I hadn't done this trail before, and it turned out to be an excellent walk through large cypress domes. On the higher ground in the middle of one dome, we discovered the remains of several large wading birds (Great Blue Heron, a few Great Egrets, Black-Crrowned Night Heron), that were devoured there by some predator. We found it interesting that they were all brought to the same place for snacking. I would guess this was the work of a panther or a bobcat -- probably the latter, as I don't think panthers typically go after waders.

The rest of the Loop Road was spectacular, as usual, but it's really been discovered by toursists, many of whom think nothing of parking in the middle of the road and blocking all traffic.

On Sunday, I biked the Old Ingraham Highway in ENP, which is the 10 mile road beyond Gate 10, off Research Road. It was an excellent, gnarlly ride on the broken pavement, but all forward progress ended at mile 6.2, where several large trees had fallen across the road (presumably from Hurricane Wilma). We attempted to walk around them in the cypress swamp but couldn't find the trail on the other side. (Sure is easy to get turned around in there.) There were two Bald Eagles near the artificial "mountain" in the middle of the wetlands.

Just before the ride, we encountered an immature Barred Owl on a snag along the road to Royal Palm (just before Research Road, on the right). We heard both its parents calling to it, and suddenly mama swooped in with a pair of froglegs for breakfast. She carefully stripped the meat from the legs and fed it to the youngster right in front of us. I have good photographs of the whole thing, which I will ask Larry Manfredi to post for me as a follow up to this note.

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Comments:	: Last Saturday, Miguel Padura and I saw and photographed a Barred Owl perched conveniently near the road on Jane's Scenic Drive, in Fakahatchee Strand. : : Next, we hiked the trail at Gator Hook Strand, near Monroe Station on the Loop Road. I hadn't done this trail before, and it turned out to be an excellent walk through large cypress domes. On the higher ground in the middle of one dome, we discovered the remains of several large wading birds (Great Blue Heron, a few Great Egrets, Black-Crrowned Night Heron), that were devoured there by some predator. We found it interesting that they were all brought to the same place for snacking. I would guess this was the work of a panther or a bobcat -- probably the latter, as I don't think panthers typically go after waders. : : The rest of the Loop Road was spectacular, as usual, but it's really been discovered by toursists, many of whom think nothing of parking in the middle of the road and blocking all traffic. : : On Sunday, I biked the Old Ingraham Highway in ENP, which is the 10 mile road beyond Gate 10, off Research Road. It was an excellent, gnarlly ride on the broken pavement, but all forward progress ended at mile 6.2, where several large trees had fallen across the road (presumably from Hurricane Wilma). We attempted to walk around them in the cypress swamp but couldn't find the trail on the other side. (Sure is easy to get turned around in there.) There were two Bald Eagles near the artificial "mountain" in the middle of the wetlands. : : Just before the ride, we encountered an immature Barred Owl on a snag along the road to Royal Palm (just before Research Road, on the right). We heard both its parents calling to it, and suddenly mama swooped in with a pair of froglegs for breakfast. She carefully stripped the meat from the legs and fed it to the youngster right in front of us. I have good photographs of the whole thing, which I will ask Larry Manfredi to post for me as a follow up to this note.
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