Most people will never stand in a wetland as the sun rises. The sunshine is a rheostat that moves ever-slowly, illuminating the world as it transitions from darkness to daylight, waking the living things that thrive there. The sounds of frogs and crickets give way to birds and buzzing insects. There is a symphony of life.
At dawn and dusk, wetlands are alive with wildlife. There are bellowing alligators and splashing otters, singing birds, and the occasional fish flop. There are raccoons and rabbits, squirrels and turtles, and more. Snakes, too. And butterflies. Some wildlife lives in the wetland full-time while some birds and butterflies stop to rest there on the way to South America in the fall or points north in the spring.