Beidler Forest (4-13-14)
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Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest
Arriving at the visitor center. Though small it contains a wealth of information regarding the ecology of the forest. They also have guidebooks and binoculars that can be borrowed for a small fee...
Boardwalk Trail
Exiting the back of the visitor center we immediately emerged onto the 1.75 mile boardwalk which would take us through the forest...
Boardwalk Trail
Where the ground was higher and drier the understory was covered in clumps of Dwarf palmetto. Despite their small size these miniature palm are extremely long-lived, the oldest on record surviving 500-700 years!...
Boardwalk Trail
A busy sapsucker has left its tell-tale marks on this pine...
Boardwalk Trail
It wasn't long before the understory became much wetter...
Boardwalk Trail
Every so often we passed small shelters like this one which no doubt are handy escapes from the hot summer sun or in the case of a surprise storm...
Eastern Mud Turtle
Our first swamp resident of the day...an Eastern Mud Turtle catching some rays...
Boardwalk Trail
By nature, this swamp is an ever-changing place...this means that frequent repairs of the boardwalk are needed as you can see here...
Boardwalk Trail
Bald cypress and Tupelo gum are the dominant tree species in the forest. Of the preserve's 16,000 acres some 1,800 consist of virgin forest, part of which we'd be passing through on this hike...
Boardwalk Trail
Cypress knees, above water extensions of the Bald cypress root system, are a common sight in the swamp. Scientists to this day haven't nailed down their exact purpose, though one thing is for certain...the bigger the knee the older the tree it belongs to...
Green Anole
Running along the boardwalk rail ahead of us was this Green Anole...
Boardwalk Trail
Getting into the virgin stand of cypress we started passing some seriously large trees. Some of the cypress in the forest measure 10' in diameter and are over 1,500-years old...
Prothonotary Warbler
We had been anxiously awaiting a glimpse of one of the forests most popular residents, the Prothonotary Warbler. It didn't take long before we spotted one, darting in and out of his home in a nearby hollow cypress knee...
Boardwalk Trail
Wandering through the Four Hole Swamp...
Brown Watersnake
We spotted this Brown Watersnake lounging on a log next to the trail. It looked a bit like he had just had a big dinner...
Boardwalk Trail
At the eastern end of the loop the main trail heads right while a spur boardwalk heads left to an overlook at Goodson Lake...we'd head right first...
Boardwalk Trail
Making the turn right at the east end of the loop the boardwalk immediately became a bit more aged than the one we had been using to this point...
Boardwalk Trail
Our booklet stated that the preserve also offers guided canoe tours, I'd love to be able to do that someday...
Boardwalk Trail
A look at our lush surroundings as we began the south half of the loop...
Boardwalk Trail
The trees were starting to get big...real big...
Barred Owl
The highlight of the whole hike was being able to sit and watch this Barred Owl, not 100' off the trail, for a good 20 minutes. He seemed completely indifferent to us snapping pictures as he patiently waited for a tasty snack to pass by beneath him...
Boardwalk Trail
As you can see the terrain had elevated a bit and we were now crossing dry ground. Though we could hardly tell this was the 'high point' of the hike...
Boardwalk Trail
Winding our way between two immense old cypress...
Boardwalk Trail
Looking into the canopy, well over 100' above...
Boardwalk Trail
There were a number of these huge cypress stumps marking the locations of long-gone giants. Due to the rot resistant nature of the cypress these stumps persist for a very long time, on the order of hundreds and hundreds of years...
Boardwalk Trail
The dark waters of the swamps in this region are known as 'blackwater'...it gets its dark coloring from tannins, a chemical which leaches from the bark and leaves of the trees in the swamp...
Boardwalk Trail
Nearing the closed portion of the loop we passed what was likely the biggest cypress we saw on the hike...
Boardwalk Trail
Unfortunately the last half mile of the boardwalk loop was closed for much-needed repairs so we would have to backtrack from here...
Boardwalk Trail
A panorama of the surrounding swamp near where we turned back...
Boardwalk Trail
Four Hole Swamp...
Boardwalk Trail
Backtracking to the T-intersection, we next headed over on the spur towards Goodson Lake...
Boardwalk Trail
After a short time we arrived at the wooden overlook above Goodson Lake...
Boardwalk Trail
A swamp panorama near Goodson Lake...
Boardwalk Trail
Climbing the tower we got a good view of the boardwalk below...
Goodson Lake
Goodson Lake isn't so much a stand-alone body of water but rather a somewhat deeper section of swamp, too deep to allow trees to grow in it. As it is permanently covered in water, this is a popular place to see wildlife in the summer when the rest of the swamp sometimes dries up...
Goodson Lake
A panorama of Goodson Lake...
Water Snake
Another good sized water snake sunning itself along the dock at Goodson Lake...
Goodson Lake
Goodson Lake...
Boardwalk Trail
Time to head back...
Five-lined Skink
Where earlier we had found the Green Anole, now a Five-lined Skink greeted us along the railing...
Boardwalk Trail
Straining our necks to look at another huge cypress...
Boardwalk Trail
I don't know that I've ever been on a hike quite like this one...the virgin forest, the plethora of visible animal life, and just the overall quality of the experience left us with quite a sense of wonder as we departed...
