So I'm starting this one off with a trip to the Lake Apopka Restoration Area near Zellwood, FL on September 8, 2009. This region was formerly a home to muck farming, which caused high levels of pollutants to leech into the soil and lake. In the late 90s it was purchased by the government to be restored back to its original wetlands state. According to my copy of "Birder's Guide to Florida" by Bill Pranty (a must-have, even if it is a bit out-dated, still listing this as farmland), this was a good time for migrating shorebirds.
First of all? Never trust Google for directions to this site. I looked at the page for it on the St. Johns River Water Management District site, and thought "Hey! That's going the long way around. I bet there's a faster way." Enter Google, and its all-knowing (supposedly) directions. Well, once I got on the road, I learned that Google Maps is not quite as omniscient as I once thought. After driving up and down a road for close to an hour looking for a turnoff, I finally gave up and went the way that the site described. Bingo! 1 hour trip? Well, it became 3. I later discovered that the road I was looking for DOES exist... as a small dirt turnoff that's gated off. Figures.
In any case, I finally made it! ...and promptly locked myself out of my car. Whoops. But my gear was already on my back, so I shrugged and vowed to call AAA after my hike. I grabbed a map from the trailhead and set off!
Right off the bat I spotted a pair of North American river otters bounding across the trail. Lots of viceroy and gulf fritillary butterflies (
right) darted around, and I also spotted one of central Florida's ubiquitous red-shouldered hawks. And more red-winged blackbirds than I could count! I soon came to an intersection in the trail and, picturing the map in my head, confidently turned in the direction I imagined leading to my destination. I figured about .8 miles down the road I should find my turnoff! So I started walking along a path through wetlands.
As I walked, I spotted a few American alligators - a big draw for tourists, but a sight that locals are used to - and lots of cattle egrets, boat-tailed grackles, and red-winged blackbirds. In short, nothing particularly eye-catching. As I walked, the sun got hotter... and I walked, and walked, and walked...
I was beginning to tire when I saw a bunch of turkey vultures gathered around something up ahead. I wondered what it was, but even with my 16x binoculars I was too far away to see, especially with the angle of the sun. So I kept walking, checking every so often. As I got to within 75 yards or so, I started wondering if it was a dead deer. So I raised my binoculars one more time... and the ginormous lump moved. And suddenly stood up... scaring the crap out of me as I realized it was a BIG gator. I rarely see a gator standing up straight like that - usually they're flopped on their bellies. But this guy stood up tall and trundled off the trail while I stood rooted to the spot. The gator slid off into the water, leaving the vultures standing alone.
Me? I didn't want to run into a gator that active. But I wanted to get to the lake, too. So I inched my way along the far side of the trail, warily looking for the gator in the bushes. Luckily he had disappeared, and I passed by unmolested.
Like I said, I was getting tired and wondering why my sense of distance was so off. I should have been there already, but I kept walking with no end in sight. Finally I came to the edge of the canals and looked out over the muck farms. Finally, I thought, I knew where I was. I confidently started heading towards what I thought was the lake.
And again, I kept walking, and walking, and walking... by now I had realized that I was going the wrong direction. I knew from the surrounding landscape that I was heading back towards Zellwood rather than to the lake edge... but I wasn't sure exactly where. So after a long, hot walk, I decided to give up and head back the way I came. Of course, I was a smart hiker and brought water with me... but one bottle was not nearly enough on a hot day and a trail with no shade. I started rationing it as I walked back, feeling somewhat like I was stuck on a reality show on network TV. And to make matters worse, I wasn't finding any particularly interesting birds.
The trek seemed to drag on even longer on the way back. My feet hurt, I was hot, I was being swarmed by mosquitoes (even after slathering myself in bug spray), and I still faced the prospect of waiting for AAA to arrive and get my car open. As I finally neared the trailhead (oh, hallelujah!) I noticed a small sign along the trail almost completely obscured by overgrown bushes: "No Hiking." Whoops. The actual trail turned there, much sooner than I thought.
In my head, I was hearing Carlos Mencia's "duh-duh-duuuuh!"
I finally made it back to my car, and after 20 minutes on the phone trying to describe to AAA where I was, a locksmith arrived shortly... and even gave me an extra water bottle to try to rehydrate myself. Kudos! When I got home, I looked up my path on Google Earth... and found that I'd wandered out 4 miles east instead of a couple miles towards the lake. 8 miles roundtrip instead of 4 or 5. ("Duh-duh-duuuuh!")
Bottom line? I can't really speak either way to this one. Between the late time that I arrived (a bit after 9 am) and the fact that I took a little detour, I probably didn't see all that I should have. Better luck next time!
Species List
Birds:
- Red-Winged Blackbird (~150)
- Red-Shouldered Hawk (3)
- Cattle Egret (20)
- Great Blue Heron (1)
- Turkey Vulture (15)
- Common Moorhen (5)
- Osprey (2)
- Black Vulture (5)
- Belted Kingfisher (2)
- Mourning Dove (12)
- Northern Mockingbird (2)
- Boat-Tailed Grackle (50)
- Brown-Headed Cowbird (3)
- Snowy Egret (5)
- Green Heron (1)
- Eastern Kingbird (1)
- Anhinga (2)
Mammals:
- North American River Otter (2)
Reptiles and Amphibians:
Insects and Spiders:
- Common (Eastern) Pondhawk
- Banana Spider
- Zebra Longwing
- Viceroy (Limenitis archippus)
- Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae)
- Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus)
