everglades national park

ibis

anhinga

beautiful anhinga swimming

anhinga with caught fish

do you see the fish it speared with its beak?

the anhingas can be seen airing their feathers out for long periods of time because they spend so much time underwater

the water was glassy and clear

running from the camera

no longer camera shy, ezra started posing for us

seriously posing

i think we started taking his picture because we were tired of looking for alligators

can you tell how hot it was by looking at his red cheeks?

and then....  we found one!

and another!

so dark and still and kind of creepy that it was only a few feet away

michael thinks the anhingas look like pterodactyls

ezra started taking pictures

and michael took these last two of a baby alligator

yesterday we went to the everglades national forest and walked along the anhinga trail suggested by a local friend.  it was awesome!  the wildlife viewing was exceptional and we were impressed by the birds alone.  we stopped at every bird and had a wonderful experience watching an anhinga fish underwater.  these birds, after which the trail is named, swim underwater for a long time and their bodies move gracefully like an otter or tiny seal.  we got to see one spear a fish.  it was awesome.  michael and i were busy watching that while riki, stephie, and ezra were up ahead on the trail when an alligator casually walked past them across a path into the water.  they were stunned.  we missed it (apparently ezra did too) but were glad our faraway visitors got to see what they came for.  it seemed that every other tourist on the trail was german.  we all picked up conversations with a few of the other travelers and by the end of our visit one had told us where an alligator was hiding under a bridge.  we ended our hour long hot sweaty walk in the burning sun with a great view of two alligators about 12 feet apart from each other.  one we saw just the head of, the other the entire body.  and then as a little gift on our way out, we spotted a tiny (maybe a foot or two long) baby alligator sunning himself on a branch.  it was a great experience.