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Published: February 20th 2019
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Sat. 02-16-19 was another beautiful day and even warmer. Marg and I went into Flagler again and had breakfast at our favorite place, The Funky Pelican. We were able to get a seat right away at the counter overlooking the ocean and we watched Osprey fishing and men surfing. Pictures. The temperature was perfect with a slight breeze to keep the bugs away and we loved all the goings on.
We spent the afternoon on the beach, I took some bird pictures then it was time to head back to get cleaned up for dinner. We did a repeat of the night before on the deck but warmer this time and the clouds were a brilliant pink. Perfect.
Sunday 02-17-19 we got up early and left the house at 8:10 to drive about 50 min to Blue Springs State Park. We had reservations for a 10:00 am scenic boat tour and wanted to see if there were manatee in the spring before the tour. There were several, maybe 20 or so, some with calfs just laying there under the water coming up to breathe every once and a while. The mom's bring their calfs into the spring when the
river temperature gets too cold. A Manatee needs temps above 68 degrees and the babys will die if it is too cold. The spring is a constant 72 degrees so the Manatee have learned to come to the spring when it's too cold in the river. The drawback is that there is no food for the moms in the spring run so they have to venture into the St Johns River every day to feed on the aquatic plants they need. This trip sets them up for a possible boat strike which can kill them so this section of the river has a posted speed limit which most boaters obey.
The spring is basically a hole in the limestone ground where water pours out at a rate of 104 million gallons a day. yes that is millions. This section of Florida has underground aquafers and there are several spring through this section. The water is clear which makes viewing of underwater life easy and exciting. There are several different kinds of fish and plants and the manatee. Bird life is abundant also and the occasional alligator, one huge specimen. Pictures
Our boat ride was all we hoped for
and more with lots of birds showing off for us. Hooray, I had new models. The most exciting for me was seeing a limpkin feeding it's young chick pieces of an apple snail while two other chicks waited their turn. There was a pile of empty shells near the nest.
There was an osprey with a newly caught fish sitting on a branch. The fish was huge, we wondered how the bird was able to take off with it. Picture.
We returned by 2 pm to let Watson out and take him for a walk. He sure was glad to see us. We waited til after dark to go out for dinner so Watson could come in the car with us and not roast in the sun. This night it was Mexican and we combined our trip to include grocery shopping and gas.
The night was beautiful so we went to sleep with the windows open to hear the pounding surf.
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Denise Lipman
non-member comment
I've been there
I think I was there with you also. Oh I miss coming this year. I'll try for New Mexico