A Plethora of Gators

We went birding but found more gators than birds

My friend Gina and I go on birding trips a few times each year. We don’t go far and aren’t gone long. Luckily, we have plenty of stellar birding sites in our county.

Our last birding trip was in February. My husband’s decline in health and the agonizingly hot summer weather deflated our desire to be in nature searching for birds. On Wednesday, with air temperatures a little less excruciating, we headed to Sweetwater Wetlands Park and La Chua Trail. Still, it was 83F with no shade. Not tortuous, but not what I would call comfortable either!

Did we find birds? Definitely. Limpkins, Eastern Phoebes, Double-Crested Cormorants, Tri-Colored Herons, Little Blue Herons, Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Mallards, Common Gallinules, King Rails, Red-Winged Black Birds, Snail Kites, Carolina Wrens, Pied-Billed Grebes, American Coots, Ospreys, Red-Shouldered Hawks, Great Crested Flycatchers, Ruby-Crowed Kinglets, Swamp Sparrows, Gray Catbirds, and Turkey Vultures.

But the creatures we saw the most? Gators.

More gators than we have seen on all our birding trips combined.

Gators sunning on dry land.

Gators alone and gators in pairs.

And gators in gator communes.

Gators partially dry and partially wet.

Long, lean gators and . . .

gator heads without bodies.

And lots and lots of gators in motion.

La Chua had the most gators. I stopped counting after 36 but could see dozens more beyond where I stood. It looked like a horror film. The water was rippling with gators swimming past and circling around one another. The shores were lined with gators, often snout-to-snout or tail-to-snout.

Look closely at the lead photo. The large gator in the forefront is obvious, but did you see the gators on the shore behind him or the two swimming by? That was the scene for many yards on that side of the waterway. The gators stretched farther than I could see.

It was a freak show like nothing Gina and I have ever seen.

The question is: why?

We are in a drought. The wetlands are much less wet than they usually are. There are acres of dry land where there were once deep pools and muddy marshes, forcing the large gator populations to share what little water remains. The gators were always there; we just didn’t see all of them because they were spread out over acres and acres of water.

Because of their proximity, we also witnessed skirmishes. Nothing lethal, but I’m certain larger gators are killing and eating smaller ones. If the drought continues, the gators will significantly cull their own population. I also hear stories of gators spotted in unusual places, such as parking lots, backyards, and roadways, as they search for water.

It was thrilling to see so many gators, but it was also troubling and confirmed the seriousness of our drought. It’s been weeks since we’ve had measurable rain. The soonest predicted rainfall is for late next week, but only 30 to 40 percent. We need days of rain to recover, and we are entering our traditionally dry season. I’d welcome a tropical storm right now.

Meanwhile, the gators are doing what they need to do to survive. And the biggest ones will still be around when the drought ends.

© Dennett 2023