Haulover Canal

Horse Shoe Crab

Dolphin

Crab...Horse Shoe Crab...Today we went back to Haulover Canal, which is one of our favorite places to go kayaking because the great variety of wildlife it offers. Add to that the fact that Mom wanted to try fishing and it was an easy call. We had a heck of a day. Even took Mom for a short kayak trip, thanks to my wife persuasion skills, and she saw a dolphin and many manatees. Her excitement was priceless and I am so glad she liked it. We were lucky enough to see a dolphin hunting at Bair's Cove, I will explain later, and she enjoyed it a lot.



Put In / Take Out: This link, Haulover Canal, will take you to our first post about Haulover Canal in this blog. There are links there that will provide you information about this place and also the location of this jewel. Feel free to leave me a message if you have any questions. Probably will not know the answer right away but will find it for you.

Flying Ibis

Brown Pelican and its chick

Wifey and I did our usual YDT, Yak Dave Tour after who I consider my kayaking mentor (dang I do not think he knows that), with one difference. We did it clockwise this time since a group of four kayakers  went that way in front of us. That means that we kayaked from the south east to the north east part of the island west of Haulover Canal on the Indian River. The name of the island is Mullet Head Island and it is a bird sanctuary, you cannot land there and the signs will let you know how far you can go in. Most of the times we can take pics from the signs but today we were not able. The water level was so low and we found ourselves stuck in the sand or the vegetation. Wifey was not too happy about that detail but she took a deep breath and enjoyed the moment. The island was full of very active birds. Many flew near or over us and many others were wading in the shallow waters around the island. Brown pelicans, egrets, cormorants, herons, and some more. It was like a buffet for wifey who did not know when to stop shooting pics. Talking about herons, take a look at the following pic. Do you see what is in the Great Blue Heron's leg?...Come on folks. Be aware of those kind of things. Protect the wildlife and just follow the freaking rules.

Great Blue Heron with something in the leg that SHOULD NOT be there.

Manatee with a calf at Bair's Cove

After leaving Mullet Head Island we did head back to the canal area. As part of the YDT we followed a small canal south from Haulover. It is named Dolphin Cove since dolphins can be seen there in a small cove at the end of it. Today it did justice to its name as a dolphin was hunting in the area. It left shortly after we arrived and we did go to Bair's Cove. See? Told you I was going to explain later...Did not I? Bair's Cove is where the boat ramp is if you want to put in a motor boat in Haulover Canal. But it is also the Manatee Hilton, figurative speaking. If you cannot find a manatee in the whole canal area, go to Bair's Cove. They will be there. There were many today and pretty active too. Some other kayakers joined us at Bair's Cove but we separated from them. We have learned not to go after the manatees. Stay still and they will come to you since they are so curious. A group of kids decided to jump into the water and harass the manatees while the dad, or whoever was the person in charge of them, thought that it was funny and was taking pics with his cell phone. Wifey was uneasy and tried not to get involved but at one point one of the kids tried to ride a manatee and she just exploded. She looked and the kid and raised a finger and said: "Stop it....No..." It was enough and the kid backed off.

Manatee

Great Egret

We spent some minutes at Bair's Cove and after that we went back to look for my Mom and my son, who was "fishing" with her. They were not at the area where we left them so we assumed they were at the put in and there we found them. We took a break there since it was really hot at the time. While we did not complete our YDT I thought we had enough in a really hot day. But wanted to give Mom a ride in the yak, which she declined yesterday at Alexander Creek. Wifey was able to talk her into it so when I came back from taking the trash to the containers Mom was ready with her life jacket and everything. Nicely done wifey. Before Mom had second thoughts I helped her to seat in the yak and jumped in too. I took her to the canal thru Dolphin's Cove. I showed her a Great Egret and a cardinal. She loves seeing birds so she became more and more relax as we saw wildlife. At Bair's Cove she had the chance to see the manatees and a dolphin hunting. She was sad the dolphin ate the little fish.

Dolphin hunts at Bair's Cove

The opening pic was taken as we circled Mullet Head Island. Wifey thought it was a gator but told her it did not look as one. She was pointing to me that it had eyes as she looked thru the camera. Since it was so shallow we stuck the yak in the sand and she did stand up. Then she realized it was a horse shoe crab and the star of this Did You Know That?

Horse Shoe Crab

Did You Know That?: American Indians used to called it Se-ekanau. In 1588 a British naturalist called it "horsefoot" crab, probably because the shape of the crab. Somehow "horsefoot" was corrupted to "" "horseshoe". Despite the threatening appearance, the horseshoe crab is harmless, and its long, spike-like tail is not poisonous,as people may think. The crab uses its tail as lever to right itself when it has been overturned by a wave or a thoughtless person. The horseshoe crab may be harmed if handled by the tail. In addition, the claws of the horseshoe crab are not sharp and do not pinch very hard.

Roseate Spoonbill

I know this is taking too long but it was a heck of a day. So, with that being said, here are more pics of what we saw today...

Great Blue Heron

Brown Pelican

Sea Gull

Cormorants

Flying cormorant

Brown Pelican, Cormorants, and Reddish Egret

Reddish Egret

Reddish Egret and a cormorant

Cormorants flying

Ibis

Brown Pelicans

Roseate Spoonbills

Roseate Spoonbill

Ibis

Little Blue Heron

Little Blue Herons

Great Egret

Reddish Egret

Reddish Egrets

Great Blue Heron

Tri Colored Heron

Tri Colored Heron

Dolphin

Laughing Gull

Red Bellied Woodpecker

Red Bellied Woodpecker

Great Egret

Green Heron...in a rush!!!

Osprey

That is it for this post. Sorry about the many pics but, believe me, left many behind. More pics in the Photobucket album. Check them if you wish to do that. Here is the link Haulover Canal

Hope you come back next weekend for another Views From Our Kayak.


Thanks for reading!!!!!

Brown Pelicans at Mullet Head Island