Honey Island Swamp is located near Slidell, Louisiana, about 35 miles north of downtown New Orleans. I went with my daughter on a tour boat in 2008 and thoroughly enjoyed the 2 hour trip along this marshland of the Pearl River and the West Pearl River. It is a 70,000 acre government protected wildlife area. Below are a few of my photographs of some of the wildlife there. They also have racoons, wild boar, nutria, bald eagles and many songbirds, as well as black bears; none of which I saw on my trip, however.
Yellow-Crowned Night Heron
I was thrilled at this, my first ever sighting of a yellow-crowned night heron, in Honey Island Swamp. I was on a tour boat and was only able to take two photographs of this bird before the guide moved the boat away. This is the only shot that came out. I intend to paint this scene one day.
Great Blue Herons like those above are a special treat for me. You don't see them here in Hawaii; well, I recently found out that there are suppose to be Great Blue Herons on Oahu in a couple of isolated areas that I intend to check out one day.
There were many alligators to be seen everywhere. Yes, they did come up close to the boat we were in. Below is a shot of one of the tour boats. You can see how open they are,
There was a lot of spanish moss within the swamp, as seen in this photograph. That enclosure on the water is a protective covering for a couple of boats, which is not easily observed at first glance.
It would be wonderful to go back to Honey Island Swamp in order to capture more wildlife with my camera. There is one critter there I don't want to see if the legend is true: a 7 foot swamp monster with yellow eyes !! But you know how these tales can go; much exaggerated and not true.
Thank you for visiting here with me !
