Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Okefenokee NWR - Georgia

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Georgia, with the southern boundary abutting Florida, covers 402,000 acres. 
It was established in 1937 to protect the 438,000 acre Okefenokee Swamp. The swamp is a bog in a saucer-shaped depression with peat deposits up to 15 feet thick. The peat makes the ground so unstable that it trembles in spots when someone stomps on the surface. "Okefenokee" is a Native American terming meaning "land of the trembling earth." The habitats include wet "prairies", cypress forestsscrub-shrub vegetation, upland islands, and open lakes. The water in the swamp is dark, tea colored, from tannic acid released by decaying vegetation. The principal outlet of the swamp is the the Suwannee River which originates in the swamp and drains southwest into the Gulf of Mexico near Suwanee, Florida. The swamp's southeastern drainage is the St. Mary's River, which forms the non-straight part of the boundary between Georgia and Florida (deep downard, then jumping upward, then angling southeast). The St. Mary's River drains into the Atlantic Ocean just north of Amelia Island, Florida.
Chesser Island, on the eastern edge of the swamp, is a small 592 acre island which was settled by W.T. Chesser in the late 1800s. His home, now part of the NWR, still stands. The Swamp Island Drive is a 7.5 mile drive that leads from near the visitors center to the Chesser home. The Chesser Island Boardwalk is a three-quarter mile (1.5 mile round trip) elevated Trex pathway through the swamp to the 40 foot tall Owl's Roost observation tower. 
When I visited in January 2018 I arrived before sunrise and immediately drove to the Chesser home with the idea of doing the boardwalk in the early morning. The boardwalk is very impressive, stable and wide. I heard lots of swamp sounds as I walked. The most exciting moment happened when a river otter right next to the boardwalk darted out with a fish in its mouth and quickly disappeared into the water before I could try and get a photo. That is still the only river otter I've seen in the wild. I also saw woodpeckers with red heads, all-red cardinals and a red shouldered hawk. 
The boardwalk starts out through a stand of moss covered trees. 
To the side is lots and lots of water, which the elevated boardwalk allows you to avoid. 
Eventually things opened up and you can see that the sun was starting to rise. 
But still, water was everywhere.
Toward the end of the walk I found another stand of trees.
And the observation tower was at the end of it. 
For those of us not used to the south, these moss covered trees are fascinating. 

From the tower, in the distance, it looked like a river (perhaps the St. Mary's?) was meandering through. 
Once back from the walk, I drove slowly back to the visitor center looking for wildlife. 
This pond surrounded by trees reflecting in the water was too good to pass up. 
Near the visitor center, Okefenokee Adventures offers a 90 minute boat tour on a 24 foot canopied flat-bottomed boat that takes you out into the swamp. I caught the first boat of the morning. 
We started out going down part of the Suwannee Canal, which was built by the Suwannee Canal Company beginning in 1891. They intended to drain the swamp and grow rice, sugar cane and cotton. They spent three years and went 11.5 miles before they quit. 
The reflections on the water that morning were amazing. 

Eventually we ventured out of the canal into the swamp. At one point the driver stopped and had us use a paddle to find the ground beneath the water. It was only about 1.5 feet deep. 
The black water filled with floating, colorful leaves was impressive. And even more impressive were the occasional alligators. Note the alligator in the center of the above photo. 
Some more alligator photos.

We also saw a juvenile little blue heron with an amazing reflection. 

What I believe to be a northern mockingbird.
What appears to be a great egret flying across the swamp. 
An American bittern.
The Okefenokee Swamp is a wonderful place to visit, but very difficult to penetrate. I would love to go back again. Okefenokee Adventures offers a two hour sunset tour and a four hour extended excursion by boat (or canoe or kayak) which would be perfect for searching for wildlife. Those would be great ways to extend into the swamp. 


  1. Those reflection photos are amazing. The water must not have been moving AT ALL. You would think there would be fish or gators or something ruffling the surface.

  2. Great photos! Load the other gators, bittern and egret to iNaturalist. Great find with the bittern. They are always so very hard to spot. William