Okefenokee Swamp-Owl's Roost Tower
N 30° 42.635 W 082° 10.299
17R E 387807 N 3398113
This look-out tower is located at the end of the Swamp Walk Trail boardwalk.
Waymark Code: WM2B5R
Location: Georgia, United States
Date Posted: 10/06/2007
Views: 52
The boardwalk begins at the parking lot at the end of Swamp Island Drive. It gently winds through cypress trees and open prairie marshlands. It extends 3/4 of a mile into Chesser Prairie, an area characterized by grasses and other vegetation. These wet prairies make up about 20% of the Okefenokee Swamp. Along the way to the lookout tower, you may encounter carnivorous plants such as pitcher plants and bladderworts as well as cinnamon ferns, sphagnum moss and many other plants. As these plants partially decay, they accumulate in layers as peat on the sandy bottom of the swamp. By definition, part of the Okefenokee Swamp is not a swamp at all. It is actually a bog, a peat-accumulating wetland which receives most of it water from rainfall.
The Owl's Roost Tower looks over Seagrove Lake and Chesser Prairie. The base of the tower is ideal nesting habitat of prothonotary warblers, who normally seek cavities in trees to raise their young. These brilliant yellow birds are inquisitive and may fly near quiet visitors to inspect them. The tower is 50-feet high and will take you to the tree tops for a bird's eye view of the swamp.
Common sights from the tower are great egrets (large, white wading birds) and great blue herons. Although not a s common, three other white wading birds may be observed from the tower. Snowy egrets are completely white and have a black beak and yellow feet. Cattle egrets are often found in more grassy areas, as they are insect, rather than fish, eaters. They have a yellow beak and during breeding season may have a rusty hue. Wood storks have a black head and black on the wings.
(Most of the above text was copied from the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge Swamp Walk Trail Guide.)