Do Not Feed the Alligators!

Being from the west coast, I never tire of things Alligator!  This is at Magnolia Cemetery.

Winter Walk in a Swamp Garden

I decided to begin my year doing one of my favorite things - touring the Swamp Garden at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. Come along with me and I will share with you some of the special treats of winter in a swamp garden. There is so much hidden treasure that when I left I felt lighter and could breath easier. I will add a few pictures each day so come along and enjoy the tour.

I entered the park and before I could even get parked, I spotted a group of Peacocks grazing.  (is that what they do?)  So, I pulled over real quick and got as close as I dared to without frightening them.  After taking my requisite 6 or 8 pictures, I proceeded to the ticket booth. (I can NEVER take just one picture of something!)  In the summer when it is busy they have a person selling tickets to the swamp garden right there but this time of year, you have to go to the main ticket office and then get back in the car and drive to the swamp.  It is worth it!  My ticket for just the swamp was $8.  I know there is a way to sneak in but I feel like I get my money's worth out of this place and am happy to be able to be there.

I parked at the Audubon Swamp Garden and then used the code they had given me to open the big gate that leads to this great boardwalk.  You can see how brown it becomes in the winter.  And in the summer it is so green it almost hurts your eyes!

Searching for wildlife I almost missed this guy - he was swimming away from me when I saw him.

The trees were bare except for this large clump of mistletoe.

The sky was crystal clear and the sun was warm but my hands were freezing.  I kept searching the tree tops until I found what I was looking for -

This big heron is guarding her nest.  I always think of heron as "him" because they really look very masculine but don't you think this must be a female? 

Check back tomorrow for more!

Alligator Season

There really is no such thing as "Alligator Season" - I just like the sound of it! And, not being a native of the south, I am still really impressed by these frightening looking creatures.

The green "algae" is really called Duckweed and covers most of the waters at the Swamp Garden at Magnolia. Ducks do eat it and it can be useful but it can also cut out all oxygen if it covers completely.

Respect

This guys was just way too up close and personal for our comfort so we decided to show him the respect he was due and turn around and go back the way we had come from - after I got my picture of course!  And there was another one just a few feet away from this one....it really was an alligator day!

Best Buds

We see this all the time here in the Lowcountry.  Alligators and turtles just seem to love each other.  They are always sharing the sunning boards.

Lowcounty Wildlife

 I was taking a picture of the bird with his wings spread and when I got home and looked at it, lo and behold there is at least one alligator, maybe two.  You need to click and enlarge this one to see all the wildlife.

 There was a nice lady sitting on a bench with her two little dogs watching all the "ducks".  She corrected me and I am so grateful - this is a "Coot".

And there was no one around to tell me about these guys who were swimming and, I assume, eating dinner in the green algae.

Ah, The Warm Sunshine

I guess I was not the only one enjoying the sun today!  I was fortunate to be able to visit Magnolia Plantation and Gardens today and saw more alligators than usual.  I think it must have been that the winter has been so cold and today was warm so they came out to enjoy the sun, just like the turtles did!

Alligator

This big boy was swimming in the swamp with us.  Fortunately we were in a boat.  The alligators at Cypress Gardens don't pay any attention to the boats or the people and if you try to get close for a better look, they will swim away.  I used a telephoto lens for this so we really weren't this close!  I do respect them!

You really need to click on this photo to enlarge it so you can see him better!

Green Alligator

Here is a picture of an alligator covered in the Green Goo!  Do you think he cares!  Click on the picture to enlarge it and you will see that just the top of his head and his eyes stay above water (and green goo!).