When I reflect on my field trip with my 8 year old daughter, I think of peaceful, birds chirping, friendly people, stress reliever, calming, nature virtually untouched, and interesting. At Corkscrew you can: bird-watch, photograph plants and animals, walk the boardwalk day or night, solar observing, digiscoping, watch film, gift shop, and visit the eatery. My daughter and I were very hungry towards the end of our journey but the eatery was closed.
Different areas of the sanctuary include...The Pine Flatwood area: There were many palmetto trees, saw palmettos, and pine trees. The trees were spread out and you could see birds flying through the sky if it weren't so cold when I visited. This area was not swampy and there was no lichen found in this area on the boardwalk. The trunks of most of the trees had been burned, but were recovered. The Wet Prairie area: It had no trees, just many types of bushes and grasses; however, trees bordered the open are simulating a mock fence. It was mostly made up of sand cord grass. There was no shade and no lichen. Someone there said that lichen likes to grow in shaded, moisture rich areas. The Pond Cypress area: This area was swampy and had lots of tall, skinny trees. I saw a brown lizard (brown anole) and lots of lichen on the boardwalk. The Bald Cypress area: I saw many bald cypress trees here, some of which were more than 500 years old. There were also strangler figs, air plants, and Spanish moss (Grandfather's Beard). It was very swampy and I saw a few birds in this area, including egrets and white ibis. The Lettuce Lakes area: This area had water lettuce, water ferns, and red lichen. I saw a momma Alligator and her two babies.
It is peaceful when you can tell where the wind is coming from, see and hear trees start moving from one end of the woods to another, hearing the crackle of some dead branches breaking and see a few pine needles falling down to the ground around me from winterizing cypress trees. I see animal droppings, scat, but no animals. It is in the morning, about 60 degrees and slightly breezy with white clouds and the sun hiding behind them. I am kept even colder by the shade from hundreds of cypress trees surrounding me. It is so beautiful. Nature is very serine and fragile.
I love being in the woods. I live at in Golden Gate Estates, Naples so the woods are all around me in this area. I have a canal along the side of my house. I have seen foxes, squirrels, rabbits, birds, raccoons, gardener snakes, cottonmouth snakes, bobcat, and an otter once. I love it out here.
I also love sharing my surroundings with animals, and some other people do also. After going to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, I saw that many people love plants and animals. There were so many people walking around on the boardwalk enjoying the day and environment around them. Every person I saw there had a smile on their face and was very friendly. Even though most of them were tourists, smiling faces are contagious.
The following is a poem about my wife's experience when she visited Cork Screw Sanctuary. This nice poem my wife wrote is more than worthy for my blog.
Swampy Getaway
Birds are chirping, flying tree to tree,
Throughout a land they can roam free.
Trees are swaying in the breeze,
Let this day last forever, oh please.
Animals, plants, and people enjoying their day,
In fresh air that's every which way.
Many smiling faces are around me,
Catching a glimpse of this rarity.
Everyone is so friendly and kind,
Checking out the swamp for new sights the may find.
Cameras are clicking towards beautiful scenery,
So images are saved forever in this greenery
~Max G.
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