The best time for birding is during the dry season (Nov-Mar).

The next day we began our drive further south, towards the Everglades.  We reached the park after a few hours of driving, during which we managed to bypass Miami.  We drove in through the eastern entrance of the park, and stopped at the first visitor center to get a map and orient ourselves.

The gators were plentiful at Royal Palm.

We decided to drive in a bit, and stopped at Royal Palm on the way to Flamingo.  People were wandering around with large cameras, so we figured this would be a good first destination.  We walked over to the concrete path, and were immediately greeted by an alligator sitting at the base of an overlook.  We watched the gator for a bit, and then continued to wander along the path.

Vultures were also plentiful.

We saw a little blue heron, several other gators, and then about 12 gators and half a dozen black vultures causing a ruckus.  The gators didn’t mind, but they could have eaten the birds, if they had wanted to.  We also saw several anhingas drying themselves.  These birds were quite common in the Everglades.

Gators weren't the only animals in search of food.

The overlook with the dozen gators was rather crowded, so we kept walking along the path.  We were rewarded with seeing some more gators swimming lazily through the water, as well as some sunning themselves.  We overheard that there were an abnormally large number of gators there; perhaps because it was the dry season.  We walked back around to the overlook with all the gators, and enjoyed watching them for awhile.  Before the trip, Louisa was skeptical about seeing gators.

These owls were shy, but fun to watch.

In search of more wildlife and fun, we decided to stop at Mahogany Hammock about halfway through the park.  This spot provided shade, in addition to a great nesting spot for 2 young barred owls.

Osprey nesting at Flamingo.

We then continued on to Flamingo.  Most places there were closed, since they were damaged by a hurricane several years ago.  However, we did see a pair of nesting osprey, some white pelicans, and a very pretty sunset.