We spent Earth Day hiking some new terrain in one of our favorite Lee County Conservation 20/20 properties – the Alva Scrub Preserve. It is a highly disturbed landscape (in some areas) but with a lot of diversity, interesting terrain, and critters. Today we watched otters fishing in the last bit of water on the property, swallow-tailed kites bringing snakes and lizards to a nest, and some of the prettiest interior of a cypress dome I’ve seen in a while.

We did our bird patrol bird count today and listed about 20 species – having gotten a late start during the quiet time of the day. But we also saw otters, gators, frogs, toads, and gopher tortoises, so all in all it was a fabulous trip and great way to celebrate Earth Day.

If you’re ever in SWFL, take time to visit some of these great public preserves.