sunset, 10,000 Islands, western Everglades, Everglades National Park Chokoloskee Island

Pelicans in for their evening roost in the 10,000 Islands, western Everglades, Everglades National Park Chokoloskee Island

Ibis in for their evening roost in the 10,000 Islands, mangrove islands, mangroves, western Everglades, Everglades National Park Chokoloskee Island

Ibis in Flight heading for their evening roost in the 10,000 Islands, western Everglades, Everglades National Park Chokoloskee Island

I haven’t posted in a while due to the fact that I have been out in the world shooting and enjoying a bit of a vacation. So at long last here are a few pics of part of my recent adventure. It has been about 10 years since I was down in the Everglades. I was there on assignment for The Nature Conservancy at the time and looking for specific shots related to their conservation efforts. This time around we decided to head down in the summer months, since last time we were there in the winter. The park this time of year is wet, lush and verdant. The cypress are fully green and the river of grass is flowing nicely. The down side to being here in summer is that the wildlife seems to have found other places to hang out. The most common type of wildlife we found were mainly Germans and Dutch folks in mosquito netting, drenched in DEET looking at a few alligators. The main inhabitant of the Everglades this time of year is the mosquito! Having been to many amazing jungles on the planet, I can say that I am a proud Floridian indeed, because our mosquitoes are amazingly determined to drain you dry, more than any other place I have been.

So we decided that we would head west to the 10,000 Islands area of the Everglades at Chokoloskee Island. We rented a boat that was captained by a 6th generation Everglades fisherman by the name of Rodney. He was quite a character, but he knew the waters in high and low tides and in light or darkness. He took us out to this rookery where we hung out and watched the ibis, pelicans and egrets come in for their evenings rest. The mangrove islands are beautiful and full of many types of wading birds this time of year. It was a beautiful way to watch the sunset and the wildlife settle in for the night.

http://www.evergladesbackcountryexperience.com/