Birded all day, and went into the depths of Florida. The most disturbing after-image of the trip is the sprawling, overbearing, and just plain massive amounts of development. It is like a giant mouth swallowing up the last wild places. Even in those remote areas you can see the huge amounts of change brought on by people. The non-native species have moved in and in many cases have totally overtaken the indigenous plants and animals. The guide on this journey often spoke bitterly of a population that lives here only in winter but demands to take over the place all year round. They go to their regular homes as soon as spring hits and leave their borrowed real estate empty for most of the year. I ask at what price? So that more species can go extinct? If you are going to live in this land of unbearable traffic and choking development, then have the guts to stick it out in the very hot summer. He mentioned that 11 Florida panthers died from car fatalities this year because of the roads that now dissect their habitat. They will certainly disappear within the next couple of years. He expressed his bitter sadness at the giants of housing that hold the cards and manage to get high rise condos built in mangrove swamps despite the ban on disturbing the mangrove habitat. Florida is on a fast-track to ecological ruin unless we stop it; where the wildness that attracted so many here in the first place will soon fall to yet another strip mall. So I looked at it, studied it, marveled at the true saw-grass Everglades, watched the butterflies, smelled the marsh-mellow scented plants, and walked through small pockets of old cypress stands. At least I had a moment, but I wish I was here 5, 10, or even 15 years ago. He said things were so much different then.