1214 February 18, 2025 Florida Bay Boat Tour
Last evening after posting the blog, we went up to sit in the breezeway.
I took a short walk this morning because after sleeping in and talking to Kyle, I was running very late!
Tim took this video of the Florida Bay while he was out for his morning walk.
Today, we had reservations for the Florida Bay Boat Tour and ecotour. We met the captain of the Seahorse at the Everglades Marina. The wind was still and it was a gorgeous day to be out on the water.
The naturalist, Jennifer, was an avid birdwatcher. She knew a lot about the history of this area and she knew even more about the ecosystems and the animals that make the Everglades their home. This woman also had great energy. She was enjoying our cruise as much as we were! It was obvious that she loves what she does.
We made our way slowly out of the basin. We saw this great blue heron.
A little blue hiding among the mangrove roots.
Brown pelicans on a sand bar.
An egret resting in storm debris.
An osprey nest. One of the adults is sitting with two chicks. The other, was out hunting and we saw it fly in with a fish. After the eggs hatch, it takes only about two weeks for the chicks to be nearly adult size.
Another great blue.
A royal tern.
Circling vultures.
Solitary brown pelican.
Tricolored heron.
Birds in the mud flats.
Brown pelican perched in a treetop.
Migrating white pelicans…here for the winter…true snowbirds.
All at once, someone spotted Atlantic bottlenose dolphins. This mother and baby pair were hunting together. We watched them for a long time and then we began to see another group of four as well. I was taking a lot of pictures but then decided just to watch. It was thrilling to see the dolphins and it made my whole day happy!
The captain made a giant circle with the catamaran and a couple of the dolphins followed along in the wake.
White heron.
It is so pretty here!
I was the last person to get off of the boat. There were manatees in the marina and I really wanted pictures!
We went back to the campground for lunch and quiet time. I couldn’t wait to download the images from my camera.
Later this afternoon, I went over to sit by the dumpsters and start on the blog.
We went tot he Flamingo Lodge Restaurant for dinner and we had really good mahi.
Afterward, we went to the edge of the bay to see sunset.
