01/28/2019
Here's the final gallery from my Everglades trip. The highlight of my trip was seeing a barred owl at very close range. I was photographing the purple gallinules at the Anhinga trail, but the light was fading, so I drove to the Pa-Hay-Okee overlook to attempt to see the sunset. I realized it wasn't a good spot for that, but I noticed a few people taking photos on the raised boardwalk, so I stopped by. There was a barred owl sitting on a tree at eye-level and probably less than 20 feet away! I was there photographing for a while and then we all heard a loud barking sound... about 30 seconds later another barred owl swooped in and started courting the other owl! Enjoy! (And stay warm Chicago/midwest, we are in store for one of the coldest stretches of weather in a long time on Tuesday through Thursday.)