This egret made a lovely reflection in the pond. Reflecting on the Everglades... we learned so much, some from taking a guided bike ride with a ranger. The land (the whole bottom end of Florida, is unique in all the world and luckily the Everglades have been saved, but they were only a part of what originally was a huge drainage area --now a few other parks, roads, canals, all have changed the shape of the land. The wildlife is reduced from what it originally was prior to settlement, but there are some indications that more water will be allowed to enter the Everglades as various projects are completed according to the ranger. I had pictured the land as just a sea of grass. It is far more than that, rivers, swamps, ponds, hammocks (tree islands) of pines, cypress and mahogany or other hardwoods. Throughout the land there is green algae that provides food for a myriad of creatures including apple tree snails and birds. We saw dozens of aligators while we were there. They seemed lethargic, probably due to the cold weather we recently had here. So many birds... Wonderful.