My dad and I biked out to the wildlife refuge again today. We went up the Indigo Trail all the way to the end, retraced our steps (treads?) to the cross-dike path, then completed the loop on the main drive with bootless side trips to Colon's Point and the 0.25 mile path under the power lines to an overlook.
Highlights of the trip: six tricolor herons hunting and feeding at the observation area on the Indigo Trail; nine roseate spoonbills hanging out on their favorite tree; a six-foot alligator on the side of Wildlife Drive.
(Note to self: Next time, rollerblade out here and take advantage of the beautifully paved road around the refuge.)
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| Tricolor on the hunt |
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| Ibis flapping its wings on the water (presumably to stir up fish) |
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| My, what great claws you have! |
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| Tricolor with shadow |
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| Wings unfurled! |
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| Poised to strike! |
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| Look closely for the black wingtip on the ibises |
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When spoonbills rock their head side to side in the water, it looks like
the pendulum of a clock... |
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The unheralded end of the Indigo Trail. Past the cross-dike path,
it gets sandy and hard to pedal, and there's not much to see. |
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| Back on wildlife drive - the roseate spoonbill stands out from its neighbors.... |
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| Cloud formation |
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| On the left - white pelican with beak (and gullet) open wide!!! |
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This one was about 6 feet long (probably two feet smaller than the one we saw yesterday).
It also looked younger, because the bumps on its face and body were not as pronounced. |
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| I never saw its eyelids move... but the gator's eyes are open here. |
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| View back toward wildlife drive, from the overlook under the power lines |
The bike ride back from the end of wildlife drive added about 20 minutes to the return trip (45 minutes vs 25 minutes). Happily, we made it back in time for a glorious sunset that lit up the waters of the gulf.
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| Sunset at the beach |
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| Bliss - with an oncoming V of brown pelicans |
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