Day 5: Corkscrew Swamp - 6th March 2014

Abiotic Conditions

Temperature - 27 C

Humidity - 96%

Cloud Cover - Mainly bright sunlight, as day progressed more cloud rolled in leading to a thunderstorm.

On our 5th day we drove southeast towards Corkscew Swamp. Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is a national Audubon Society sanctuary.  It protects one of the largest remaining Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) and Pond Cypress (Taxodium ascendens) forests in North America. The protection came around the 1940s when logging pressures were extremely high and therefore the Cypress Forest had to be put under immediate protection if it was not to be cut down. However, conservation work had been going on since the late 1800s as volunteer rangers took camp in the swamp in order to prevent hunters from poaching the Wood Stork colonies that breed at Corkscrew Swamp.  A 2.25mile long boardwalk has been built through the Cypress swamp allowing visitors to get close to the wildlife and really experience the swamps without getting their feet wet!

The Boardwalk through the wetland prairie that leads to the swamps.

The boardwalk led us through a wetland prairie before entering the swamp.  A wetland prairie is an area of land which is elevated just above that of the surrounding area meaning it does not flood as often.  this provides an opportunity for more fragile vascular plants to take hold such as Tickseed and Sawgrass.  We then made our way into the Cypress swamp.  Straight away we saw a Painted Bunting (Passarina ciris) perched on a twig.  It is a very colourful member of the cardinal family and are renown for being very elusive.  

We continued are slow walk through the swamp and analysed the vegetation around us.  It was predominantly ferns with Aligator Flags occupying the deeper ponds.  We able to see some very impressive strangler figs and combined with the other vegetation gave the swamp a very prehistoric atmosphere. 

A Strangler fig growing down a large
Cypress tree at Corkscrew Swamp

We progressed further and came across a large Alligator that was sitting in one of the deeper pools.  At first it was mistaken for a floating log but as we got closer it began to move and passed directly beneath us before resting under the bridge we were standing on.  This "living Dinosaur" just added to the Jurassic feel of the swamps.

A large Alligator moving through the swamp, It was perfectly
camouflaged and when still can easily be mistaken for a log! 

Before we left for Florida we had been promised that Raccoons were so common that we would be falling over them.  It had been 5 whole days in Florida and we were yet to see 1 black and grey bushy tail!  However, much to the relief of the individual who had declared that we were guaranteed to see a Raccoon, one was spotted foraging right next to the boardwalk.  Raccoons have extremely sensitive hands that are very dexterous.  This could be seen for the Raccoon was hauling away leaf litter then probing his hands around   the base of trees in search of prey.  Whilst he did that his head was free to keep an eye of for danger.

The elusive Raccoon seen foraging through the leaf litter

Earlier, before heading to the boardwalk, we had a small talk from one of the guides at the visitor centre at Corckscrew Swamp.  He explained the history of the drainage of the wetlands.  He mentioned that a developer named Hamilton Distin began draining the wetlands in the 1800s in order to make way for agriculture (which was suited to the flatland) and development.  With this drainage came of decrease in wader population of a massive 95%.  

      He then began focusing on the Wood Stork (Myteria americana).  The Wood Stork is considered an indicator species for the health of a wetland eco-system.  It has been estimated that to fledge a Wood Stork chick you need 440 pounds of small fish per chick.  This is truly a vast amount if you are to sustain a whole colony.  Wood Stork populations have plummeted due to the loss of their feeding habitats (wetland prairies) and the alteration to hydrology.  The Wood storks require shallow ponds where fish are concentrated in greater numbers and are therefore easier to catch.  However, due to changes made by development, the ponds have either disappeared and become too deep making it too hard for the Wood Storks to catch the vast amount of small fish they need to fledge their offspring. The Wood Stork population used to number in the hundreds of thousands but since Corkscrew swamp became a sanctuary the largest breeding population they have had has only been 6000.  

Since development and drainage began in the 1800s
Wood Storks have seen their populations plummet. 

We left the swamps in the nick of time and as we got back to the visitor's centre a thunderstorm rolled in and lashed the trees with high wings and driving rain.  This transition from strong sunlight to thunderstorm seemed to take a matter of minutes and it just goes to show how volatile Florida's climate can be.