On the River

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Blog 02-16-14 Sunday
There was a ranger led walk scheduled for 9 am this morning so I got up and moved early. I met the group on time and we headed down the trail. Our ranger’s name was Pat and she took a very slow stroll observing all the plant life and budding spring. Yes, it is spring here in southern FL. Apparently it has been unseasonably warm and the plants are springing to life, even the pine trees are full of pollen. So this is where the warmth for the northeast is.
There was a very noisy Osprey in a tree, maybe trying to attract a mate, maybe protecting it’s territory, whatever the reason it is mating and nest building season here is FL. Pat said she saw an Osprey flying very fast near some trees and in a second it had grabbed and broken off a dead branch from one of the trees. Wow, what a feat of courage. What happens if the branch doesn’t break, what happens if the branch is too heavy….Dangerous work this nest building.
It seems that the Osprey are excellent nest builders. They intertwine the branches locking them into place and they seem to know just where to put what. These branches are large ones, some as big around as a half dollar and 3 or 4 feet long. There is a nest still standing and used that survived a hurricane with 120 mph winds. I am more amazed at the strength of the tree but I guess that is all part of the building, site selection.
Our little group moved on and as the ground changed so did the vegetation. Some areas being very wet, while others are very dry all in a small area. Pictures show the blossoms.

I went back to camp and took Oscar for a short walk as it was already warm and only 11 am. The sky was very blue and the wind was light so I decided it was time to take the kayak out on the river. There were many boaters about as it was Sunday and normally I would have waited for a less busy day but I thought if I got into any trouble there was plenty of help available. There are pictures of my mode of transportation for the kayak to the boat ramp which is only a 5 min walk but I wasn’t going to carry the boat that far.
I decided to go up stream and up wind to start so if I got tired I could just float home. My small camera came along for the ride in it’s nice little rain suit, a zip lock. It was very enjoyable passing the mangroves at a slow pace, watching the birds flying around and observing the other water craft. It was a beautiful day out on the river.
I wanted to get to the more upper part of the river where it narrows and becomes a cypress filled wet lands but I ran out of steam. I made it to the boat dock in the park which turned out to be a lot further than anticipated. The river winds around and back on itself separated by mangrove forests. I could see other kayakers on the other side of the mangroves but getting there was a mile away. So I explored a little lagoon where a great blue heron was fishing then floated down and paddled slowly taking it all in.
Back at camp I felt really tired so I sat in the sun and read my book for a while.
About 5 pm Oscar and I went to Mt Murphy. It is the highest point in southern FL and is right here in the park. It reaches a height of 84 ft., imagine that, and was once home to a military installation that was top secret. It was during WW II and they were working on radar and so secret the men who were stationed here didn’t know where they were. There is now an observation platform on top of the hill and from it you can see the Atlantic and the entire park. Pictures…
Heading home my thought was to go to the boat ramp and see what sunset looked like but as we were going along the road I saw a man with a huge camera lens with a tri pod on the edge of the road. He was photographing a bald eagle in the top of a dead tree. Well, who am I to pass up that opportunity! Got the car off the road safely, don’t want to bog down in muck, grabbed the tri pod and camera and took one picture before he decided to fly away. Then I found my spot, assembled the tripod and camera, adjusted the settings and focus and snapped away. Every time the poor eagle blinked, it was captured on “film”. The lighting was that perfect evening light that many of you have heard me talk about. The man next to me had a 600mm lens where I only have a 300mm so he must have seen every feather. I was happy with my shots and stayed for a while just to see what the bird might do next. We had quite a group of onlookers before long and everybody was thrilled to see him. It seems an eagle sighting is fairly rare in these parts. Again I felt very privileged and blessed to have experienced seeing him.

By the time we got home it was getting dark so one last walk around the loop for Oscar and we were in the camper. My neighbors had invited me to their campfire so after I downloaded the pictures I went over and talked with them for a while. They love Hawaii and hope to move there one day. They were kayaking there and happened on a large school of spinner dolphins and they were able to photograph them under water with a go pro camera. What a fabulous experience to have had.

I came back home and found I was just too tired to write the blog so I am finishing it this morning. It’s really hard to deciding what eagle picture to include in the blog, so happy to have that problem.

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Photos

shell wind chime
I made this from shells I collected down here. There is room for adding on.

Comments

[Pammy K]

I haven't seen a pileated woodpecker since living in the poconos, love them.