Okefenokee Green Heron

Okefenokee Photography by William Wise. A nature photo journal exploration of Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp, the Land of Trembling Earth, one of the largest blackwater swamps in North America. The alligators, birds, snakes and wildlife of Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and Stephen C Foster State Park. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message

Green Heron along the Trembling Earth Nature Trail in Stephen C Foster State Park; Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia.

Tuesday, 4:13 PM - After pitching camp in the Stephen C Foster State Park campground, the game with my daughter was to see who would spot our first alligator. So we headed down the Trembling Earth Nature Trail and onto the boardwalk that heads into the swamp. On our way, two woodpeckers chased each other, spiraling around and through the trees; a doe and fawn casually fed on the grass near the cabins, and a Green Anole darted across our path.

Being primarily hikers, I was a bit disappointed to find only a short, 2-mile hiking trail. But it isn’t any fault of the park services, seeing as the majority of the refuge is under water! The trail gets its name from the English translation of the Indian word Okefenokee. The wide, ADA portion of the trail loops on solid, dry ground and is lined on either side with palmettos, downed wood and patches of standing water. A few tall pines and snags stand within the loop. Other than Catbirds and other small, flitting birds, we didn’t encounter any wildlife on that first portion of the trail. Near the back of the loop, a spur of the boardwalk heads 2,000 feet out into the standing water of the swamp. Underneath lies 2 to 3 feet of dark tinted water, but very clear to the bottom, revealing submerged debris, logs, grasses and vegetation.

As we neared the mid-point of the boardwalk, a Green Heron burst aloft between the bushes on my left and stopped on a limb to check out the intruders. An agitated rooster-like crown covered his head but then smoothed back as he settled on a perch; beautiful, shimmering, iridescent shades of blue, green, and tan.  To my daughter’s dismay (she was ready to see what lie up ahead), I stayed with the heron for at least ten minutes, following him from perch to perch, waiting for the opportune “Kodak moment.”
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As we continued, we ran into a few catbirds and spotted some Egrets feeding off in the distance. Although we found and photographed two snakes along the boardwalk (Amanda first spotting both), we didn’t see any alligators. Though we didn’t voice it, we were both a tad disappointed when we reached the end of the boardwalk: how can it be a swamp without an alligator?