A Full-time Life

Category: Six Mile Cypress Slough

Six Mile Cypress 2026

We walked at Six Mile Cypress Slough last week. We visit this County Preserve at least a couple of times every year and I’ve posted about it almost as often. It’s a treasure that feels familiar — and yet different — every time we go.

Unfortunately, it has been extremely dry this year and the watery places that attract wildlife were either dried up or close to it. The pond above was much shallower than usual. I always hope to get the perfect picture of familiar birds but that didn’t happen this time. The collage below is a collection of herons from last year’s visits.

Great blue herons, night herons, and Little Blue herons frequent the Slough (in a good year).

ISix-Mile is located within Fort Myers city limits but it feels as if you’re in the middle of a wild place (except for the fact that you’re doing your hike on the well-built boardwalk shown above on the left.) There are several strategically placed “pull-outs” along the walk.

.We took advantage of this one in order to find out whether Henry David Thoreau was correct when he said “You learn that if you sit down in the woods and wait, something happens.” It’s good of the park volunteers to place that sign right here because by that point in our walk we needed to ~~rest~~ wait for something to happen.

While we “waited” we watched a couple of squirrels building a nest. They would stop to nibble on twigs and leaves as they worked. So Thoreau was proved right — something always happens.

There’s a welcome update as I finish editing this post that I started last Sunday.. That morning, it began to rain (with crashing thunder and lightning). The cooler, wetter weather has continued as I finish writing the post a few days later. We really need the rain in this area and we are grateful.

Linking this week to the following sharing opportunities. Thank you to the hosts.

SATURDAY CRITTERS; NATURE NOTES; MOSAIC MONDAY; SIGNS SIGNS ; and THANKFUL THURSDAY;

March 20, 2026
It’s a Jungle Out There…

Not speaking metaphorically (at least not here on this blog) – only about the great outdoors. Specifically, several of our favorite nearby places to walk. They call them swamps or sloughs or just nature preserves around here, but they are about as close to a jungle as I'll ever get.

It's beautiful and quiet out there, but it can seem a little closed in — almost claustrophobic, especially to anyone used to wide open spaces.

But then you come to a clearing where the beautiful blue sky magically appears. Bright and clear, even when you look down.

And there are birds .. everywhere if you pay attention:

Look up:

There's a Florida Wood Stork looking like the King of the Hill!

Look Across:

Spot something bright red through all the greenery … It's a Red-Bellied Woodpecker finding a meal in an almost fallen tree.

Look Down:

A Green Heron patiently waits for dinner to swim by

Once in a great while, I'm even able to identify some of the plant life:

These are Resurrection Ferns — the top row looking their best (from April last year) and in the second row unresurrected in February this year. But they will come back — fittingly, right around Easter Time.

Yes, our Jungles are full of life and beauty when you look for it.

Tri-Colored Heron, Six Mile

Anhinga, Loop Road, Big Cypress

Limpkin, Six Mile

And of course if you're walking in the jungle, you better be looking down for your own safety, eek:

This is a Cotton Mouth, one of Florida's poisonous snakes. (We were actually on a Board Walk well above this sleeping creature. ) Too bad about the branch spoiling a perfect shot, but we certainly weren't about to move it.

One more picture to end on a pretty note. At first glance, Limpkins are an unassuming brown bird, but this close-up shot I think shows that they're quite handsome with their interesting feather pattern.

I'm grateful to have there are quite a few places near us conserving nature and animal life. I hope the work continues.

Linking to the following sharing opportunities, with thanks to the hosts:

NATURE NOTES; MOSAIC MONDAY; THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY and SATURDAY CRITTERS;

March 30, 2025
Back to the Slough

Six-Mile Cypress Slough used to be one of our regular nature walk places , but it had been a couple of years since we'd visited. So it was great to get to go back one day last week.

Green Heron on Alligator Lake

We didn't even get all the way around the trail because there are so many overlooks and places to spot wildlife. This Green Heron was waiting patiently for a fish to swim by as he perched on a lily-pad raft at the edge of the lake. (We didn't see a single Alligator on the Lake named for it .)

Cypress Tree Forest Wetlands

It's the end of the dry season here in Florida, but there's been enough rain to turn the forest floor green. The Cypress Tree needles are still brown. They'll turn green during the wet season. The white spots on the trunks are lichen and they are signs of healthy trees.

Not really lily pads floating in the sky. It's the beautiful blue sky reflected on the surface of the Lake. I like seeing upside down skies.

A little natural Valentine floating in the water — and some pretty blue pickleweed on the edge of this pond.

There was a pair of Tri-Colored Herons enjoying the puddles in the Cypress Forest.

Six Mile Cypress Slough got its name in the early 1900s. Travelers in wagons would get stuck in this low, swampy area (the Slough) on their way to Fort Myers. They knew it was six miles more to town once they got unstuck.

In addition to providing a sanctuary for plants and animals, this forested wetland is important because it stores water during heavy rains and cleans that water before it flows into Estero Bay.

Florida Softshell Turtle

We didn't see alligators, but did spot this variety of everybody's favorite reptile. The Softshell Turtle was crawling through some pretty dry looking habitat, probably on its way to the nearest water. These turtles are big ones! They can get up to 24 inches across.

A little more Plant Life in the Swamp. The plants in the top photo are Resurrection Ferns — they'll come back in the next wet season. I don't know what the one in the lower photo is but it looks like a miniature sun.

There was a hawk nest up in these trees — I saw the adults flying back and forth and spent too much time trying to get a picture with no luck. But it was fun to watch. And at at least I got a picture of the blue sky while looking up at it.

We had a lovely morning at Six Mile. This is the time of year when we're grateful we can stay later here in the sunshine state than most winter visitors do. We like to pretend we're local — and we're happy to enjoy the less crowded conditions.

Linking to the following sharing opportunities. Thank you to the hosts.

NATURE NOTES; MOSAIC MONDAY; THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD Wednesday; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and SATURDAY CRITTERS

May 12, 2024
Fly Away Home

Yes, it's time to close things down here on the Canal and head back to Oregon. So FullTime-Life is on a planned blog break for the rest of June. We're taking the long way home and doing some traveling, but as is the norm most years lately, we'll be home in July. With pictures I hope.

We leave the Canal Cottage in good shape and with fingers crossed that it will still be the same next season. In spite of all the hard work, it hasn't been a bad season. We enjoyed some good getaways and are grateful for all accomplishments. (Although I hope we never have to repeat what it took to get to this point.)

Hope everybody enjoys the beginning of the new season wherever you are.

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June 4, 2023
Welcome Back to the Slough

I missed visiting Six-Mile Cypress Slough last year. It's one of my favorite natural places. Follow along on my first walk of this season.

Sometimes I wish this sign were portable so that I could take it with me wherever I go. Not always — but sometimes.

It's the end of the rainy season here and there was still water in the slough. And beautiful greens as a result.

Dozens of songbirds flitted around on one branch of the trail — they were loving the berries or seed pods on these trees in particular. I sat on a bench for a while and watched the feeding frenzy. Most of my pictures are of places where the birds used to be. But there's a glimpse or two of a downy woodpecker.

I don't know what this little one is, but it did stop long enough to show a face. (The photo is highly cropped — I really wasn't close at all.) Addendum: My knowledgeable blog friend Sondra (her blog is here) identified my bird: It is a female Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher. Thank you Sondra.

Cypress trees love the water — they literally grow in it. Hard to tell which are the trees and which are the reflections.

Creatures of the slough. (Cypress knees.)

Six-Mile is a good place to sky watch – looking down or up.

Grateful for beautiful walks….

and for the magic of the rainy season.

LINKING this week to these sharing opportunities. Thank you to the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES; THROUGH MY LENS; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY BLISS; and SATURDAY CRITTERS;

December 19, 2021
FLORIDA WINTER

Six-Mile Cypress Slough Preserve, Fort Myers

It was a beautiful day for walking Friday at Six-Mile Cypress Preserve. Birds were a little scarce, but I had fun chasing woodpeckers around their trees (with my camera, from a good distance). I saw red-bellies (the one above) and downies. Also lots of warblers flitting about including a very nice sighting of a black-and-white (but no pictures), and a hawk or two.

So, yes, Friday was a good walking day — but it was cold (for Florida) earlier last week. How cold was it, you ask? It was so cold ….

Obviously not my picture. I (virtually) clipped it from a website

…. that the Iguanas fell out of the trees. Iguanas become cold-stunned when the temperature drops into near-freezing. Their breathing slows and they enter a state of torpor which causes them to lose muscle control. They live in trees and when that happens to them, they fall. People are reminded not to pick them up or move them — they are not dead and when it warms up, they'll be off and running — well, moving anyway.)

This is an original — from my Florida archives –an Agama lizard, not an Iguana

But it wasn't really quite that cold here — we live in NW Florida and although we woke up to temperatures in the low 40s on a couple of days, it never actually got down to freezing here on the Canal. Still a little chilly in the mornings, but the sun warms things up during the day. I don't think our lizards had much to complain about. Neither did we.

Wood Duck Pond, Six-Mile

Like all reptiles, alligators don't generate their own heat. When it gets below 70 (F) they've already slowed down and stopped feeding. In really cold weather, they will burrow into a den in the bank and go dormant until it warms up. They can even live under ice while in a dormant state (according to Google — I've never seen an alligator where there was ice. And don't want to.)

Wood Duck Pond

The Alligator on Wood Duck Pond was sharing the same log with other critters — quite a group of turtles and an Anahinga drying its wings at the other end. (It was just a little above 70 degrees — all critters were safe!)

Brown Anole at Six-Mile

It's rather reptile-heavy around the blog today, isn't it? Apologies to those who think they're a little creepy. Personally I find them fascinating in all their prehistoric glory. But I wouldn't get real close to the larger ones. This brown anole is definitely not one of the large variety.

Through the magic of a zoom lens, it's possible to get better pictures — but it can also distort our perception of size. This guy is very tiny — about the size of my little finger. That Alligator above was around eight feet long. The Agama Lizard in my archival shot was probably around a foot.

Cypress Knees in the Slough

There was a lot of water in the slough — and that's a good thing. The Cypress Knee families were happy. (They look to me like hobbit people.)

Six-Mile is one of my favorite places. It's part of the reason we have been happy to come back for all these years — the natural beauty of this State (so green) is not what people who have never been here usually think of when they think of Florida. We certainly learned quickly that the Pacific Northwest doesn't have an exclusive corner on emerald green nature.

The same patch of sky — looking down and looking up.

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities: Thank you to all of the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY; ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY ; WANDERING CAMERA; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY BLISS; SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING

January 26, 2020
MAGIC ON THE PLANET

It is the wet and warm season in Southwest Florida. Very wet and very warm on an afternoon walk at Six Mile Cypress Preserve last week.

The magic of water was much in evidence.

(And not a lot else. It was too wet and hot for most birds and most people.)

So for another kind of magic, in honor of the day this is being posted, from the archives here are pictures of some of Nature's Mothers:

Burrowing Owl Family, Cape Coral Florida

Wood Stork Family, Wakodahatchee Wetlands, Fort Lauderdale

Great Blue Heron feeding baby, Wakodahatchee

Eagle Pasture, North Fort Myers

And from "our very own" Eagle Nest down the street, the beautiful Harriet and two of her eaglets.

And finally: Florida sky, water, and birding magic, from our March trip to Ten Thousand Islands.

LINKING to the following sharing opportunities: Thank you to all of the hosts.

NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; SAY CHEESE; WILD BIRD Wednesday; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY BLISS; SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING

May 12, 2019
SIX MILE CYPRESS SLOUGH end of January

The Florida winter weather we know and love is back and we had a great day for a walk at Six-Mile Cypress Slough Preserve.

I'm not sure how it's possible that it took almost two months before we found time for our first visit of the season.

I'm grateful to those who preserved this area for all to use. It's perfect for a close-to-home walk — just a short visit, but part of one of life's great adventures.

The turtles seemed in awe of the Great Blue Heron, who is King of the Raft. The Cormorant must be the court jester.

The Downy Woodpecker was just one of several flitting though the brush. Lots of small perching birds too. Too flitty for my camera skills, but fun to see and identify.

White Ibis posing as a tree-top ornament. Ibis are very common around here, even in developed areas. But they look so much better in natural surroundings.

Another Great Blue, making a huge racket. There were quite a few people on the Boardwalk, but it was really nice because on this day everyone seemed happy to quietly enjoy nature. You could hear birds singing (and squalling) and very little human noise.

Something to see everywhere. We looked up, we looked out, and didn't forget to look down…. When we did we saw this baby Cottonmouth enjoying the sunshine. And getting ready to shed his first skin. (We were safe on the Boardwalk above it, but in any case he was paying no attention.)

Six-Mile is one of our most familiar walks, but there is always something different. This time, it was evident that our weather has been rainier than usual. Parts of the preserve that are usually dry or almost dry during the winter were more like lakes on this day. This must be more like the way the Slough looks during the summer, which is Florida's wet season.

Linking this week to the following sharing opportunities. Thank you to the generous hosts.

NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; SAY CHEESE ; WILD BIRD Wednesday; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY BLISS; SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING

February 3, 2019
SWAMPED

A visit to Six Mile Cypress Slough.

Here is the Merriam-Webster definition of the word Slough:

Definition of slough. 1a : a place of deep mud or mire or less commonly slew or slue \ˈslü\ (1) : swamp (2) : an inlet on a river; also : backwater (3) : a creek in a marsh or tide flat. 2 : a state of moral degradation or spiritual dejection.

While sadly it would be apt these days to write about the last meaning, today (as usual) in an effort to stay happy in spite of the news, I am blogging about the first definition: a swamp.

Six-Mile is a place we visit several times every year, but it never gets old.

Different times of day, different light, different seasons — all of it changes what you see and hear …

and each visit is different.

Even if you don't wait a long time — something happens in the Slough as long as you walk quietly.

Below are some things that happened while we were there this time:

(From top left: Ten little turtles sitting on a log, Egret almost sitting on the head of a friend; pied-billed grebe,two different immature night herons — in two different lights)

This beautiful County Preserve is an easy drive for us – we don't have to plan on spending all day when we go.

All of these pictures (and many more) were taken during a two-hour walk late Saturday afternoon.

Black-crowned Night Heron

My favorite bird shot of the day.

It looks as if water-loving hobbits or elves could be living here.

(These are really Cypress Trees and Cypress Knees)

Linking this post to: ALL SEASONS; NATURE NOTES; MOSAIC MONDAY; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY; WEDNESDAY WATERS; and SIGNS SIGNS

WITH thanks to all of our generous hosts.

January 29, 2017
PART OF OUR WORLD

Birding isn't really the only part of our world, but once again this week, it is the only part that got any blog-worthy attention from my camera.

On an early morning walk around the RV Park, a red-bellied woodpecker played hide-and-seek with said camera.

I stop to check on the world-famous North Fort Myers' Eagles whenever I'm out and about and have a little extra time. (It's on the way to grocery shopping, the Library, and other vital every-day activities.) This is Harriet on the nest. Her two nestlings are doing well so far. I hope to get some better pictures for a later post.     But the truth is, you can see all the "action" live and read all about it on the Eagle-Nest webcam or their Facebook any time you have a few minutes.

Six-Mile Cypress Slough is one of my favorite places to walk and, usually, take pictures. I do  a weekly Yoga session there every Tuesday. (Believe me, you don't want to see pictures of that activity). Last year, I followed up almost every week's class by walking the boardwalk, camera in hand. This year it has been so wet and chilly that I haven't yet been able to get all the way around the walk. (We've had nice days, but they just don't seem to occur on Tuesday, unless I have another appointment and don't have time to hang around after class. Then, of course, the weather is perfect.)

The skies last week were just a little threatening, but it wasn't raining yet, so I decided to go early and walk before class. I got as far as the first viewpoint and was able to get a few pictures of this Great Blue Heron. Just as I was deciding whether I had time to walk a little further, the skies opened up and the rain came pouring down in buckets. In case you wondered, soaking-wet clothing does not enhance the Yoga experience one little bit.

The Sun Will Come Up Tomorrow

(It was beautiful the day after class and we haven't had any more rain since. Things are looking up.)

LINKING TO OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; and to WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY.

Thank you to the hosts: Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy, Gattina, and Arija for OW and Stewart for WBW.

February 29, 2016