Friday, February 24, 2012

Biking Shark Valley in Everglades National Park

This morning I biked the 15 mile loop in Everglades National Park with Dave from the Sierra Club kayak outing that had just concluded.  As I discovered the last time I biked the loop, abundant alligators were the highlight of the bike ride.  This guy was just feet from the trail...



...and this one was napping on the trail and only begrudgingly moved...


On the back loop, we enjoyed seeing this "triple-decker" of baby gators (click to enlarge).  We cautiously kept our eyes on mama gator who was watching us from the other side of the trail.)




Two cormorants entertained us with their diving for food and reappearing minutes later...



...while this male anhinga was drying its wings after emerging from the depths...


This white ibis with its distinctive curved beak was enjoying the sun from its perch high atop a tree...



Again, my favorites were the colorful purple gallinues we watched cavorting on water lilies with their oversized yellow feet plopping on the lily pads...


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