In the Swamps 0f Alabama ...where Beauty and Alligator's Live

In the Swamps of Alabama...where Beauty and Alligator's Live 

On our recent trip for our 17th Wedding Anniversary we did one of our favorite things and took a long walk in the Swamps ....it is so lovely there and the scenery changes every month with different levels of water and beautiful flowers, berries and fungi ....not to mention the wildlife .

We were thrilled to find a very large length of new boardwalk had been added to what used to be unaccessible area's ....It smelt so lovely with the fresh smell of pine ...now the swamp is totally wheelchair accessible ..how wonderful is that so everyone can enjoy it ..with all of the resent rains the water was the highest we had ever seen ....

We found lots of flowers and berries including these above ...it always amazes me that the Blackberries are already out and some are ready to eat ...as in England we don't pick our Blackberries till end of August, September time 

Vowing to go on as many nature walks as we can , since my surgery 6 months ago I wondered if I would ever be able to do them again ..but I can ..how wonderful and thankful I am for that ..so we went on another favorite walk at Bon Secour right down to the Gulf of Mexico and Gulf Shores ...I love the Spanish Moss on the trees ....the lower third of Alabama has Spanish moss growing on the trees it loves the heat and humidity 

As you can see here the water level was pretty high ...this is Gator Lake ...it is fresh water and has lots of Gators in it ...though today they seemed to want to hide away 

There was an abundance of water lilies ...and I wish I had captured the singing of the toads ...it was very loud and lovely to hear ..brings smiles to our faces and feeling privileged to be sharing the lovely chorus at this happy mating time ...it was so loud and they seemed to be everywhere but we never did see one

We usually see plenty of Alligators but I believe the water level was too high ...but we were very lucky to have found this cute little chap ....he was only about 12" long and a darling little baby ...he or she was sunbathing on the bank 

We unintentionally disturbed him just by being there, so he swam to the other side and ended up even closer to us ..perhaps he wanted to say 'hi there'

Lifting his head to see if the coast was clear he climbed up on the bank and resumed his sunbathing 

Beautiful water lilies ....the day was very overcast as we were to experience a massive flash flooding storm with enormous thunder and lightening that evening once we were back at our hotel safe and sound ...so the lilies never did fully open ...we can only imagine the beauty if they had 

We found these gorgeous Cacti everywhere showing off their beautiful yellow blooms 

Finally another look at our little ferocious friend ...one day he will be anyway ...I hope he has a long and wonderful life 

Thanks so much for joining me on some of our nature walks 

Hope you had a great time 

Happy Days 

Janet