Happy Easter from all of us at the swamp!

Happy Easter to you and yours from everyone here at Orlando Air boat Tours. 

Happy Easter

The Easter bunny made his appearance in the marsh.  Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend.

Spring is here!

Wonders of the water...

What a great way to spend a day.  Vacations are a great way to try new adventures.  One great experience is to take an airboat Eco-Tour through the Everglades.  It's exciting and you learn to really appreciate nature.

Nymphaea Odorata Fragrant Water Lily

 

Fish of West Lake Toho

Besides alligators, west lake toho is home to tons of fish! In fact, people come from all over the world to fish in this lake. Some times it is for recreation, other times for tournament! To name a few of the most common fish that inhabit this area:

1. Large mouth Bass

2. Tilapia


3. Pickerel


4. Alligator Gar/ Longnose Gar

5. Shellcracker/Bluegill
 

6. Black Crappie

7. Catfish

8.Bowfin

9.Sunfish

It's amazing what beautiful creatures lie beneath the water here in Kissimmee Florida.

Cottonmouth Snakes....

....often referred to as water moccasins live in the swamp marsh wetlands here in Central Florida.
These snakes have an average length of 3-4 feet & can reach a length of 6 feet.  Mating season is early spring.  Females can have litters of 1-20 live offspring every 2-3 years.  Young Cottonmouths
are generally 1-2 feet at birth.  Don't be fooled, these babies are just as venomous as the adults.
They are opportunistic feeders.  Eating just about anything they come across, from amphibians to

turtles, lizards, baby gators, other snakes, mammals, birds and fish.   Well camouflaged, a keen eye needed to spot.  Can you see it hiding?

The Life of an Air boat Captain

         Lots of people who take our tours often wonder what it is like to drive air boats, and what it would be like to drive an air boat as a job. Well, our captains would tell you it's a dream job. Most air boat captains come to be, because of the love they have for nature and the feeling that being outdoors gives them.

From left to right: Captain Rob Woody, Captain Bill Hoosier, Captain Jim Passmore, Captain Randy Dumars

BABY GATORS - our lake is covered with em!
 This guys start out at the size of your hand and after many many years, can get up to 15 feet LONG! When you get near these cute little guys, they make a distinct squeal almost like a bark. That's when you should know the mother will be around soon. The babies are very hard to spot because of their size and their camouflage with the dark swampy water.
             Want to see some up close yourself?
Visit http://www.orlandoairboattours.com to plan out your swamp adventure!

Also be sure to check us out on FACEBOOK! at https://www.facebook.com/OrlandoAirboatToursFL and make sure to like us! We would greatly appreciate it!

Nesting Sandhill Cranes

Recently we had a caught a glimpse of a nesting pair of Sandhill Cranes.  Usually the hen will lay 2 eggs to hatch.  As you can see in the picture the hen laid only a single egg. 

The baby hatched out not long after this picture was taken.   The Crane pair are very protective of their young, and as to not disturb this family we kept our distance.

Spatterdock

We get into the thick of it out here....  and never get stuck.
This is one of the species of flora out in the marsh that you'll
see on one of our Eco Tours.  This plant produces a yellow bud at
various times.  There is a cut worm that lives in the stem of this
plant which eats the cellulose.  The Purple Gallunule bird species
has special adapted feet and can walk over the top of the plants. 
These birds have very acute hearing and can actually hear the
worms eating.  When they find the worm they will peel away the outer
layer of the stem to get the worm.  Hens will feed them to their chicks as well.

 

 How beautiful and amazing our everglades are.

Birds of Beauty...

One of the species of birds we have out in the swamp are the Purple Gallunule.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Purple_Gallinule/id
Swims like a duck...walks like a chicken. 
This beautiful species of bird lives here in Central Florida in the swamp.

An unusual bird with brilliant color and big feet is well adapted to the swamp.