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| Prothonotary Warbler |
A solo near home paddle today, in a familiar place. Typical day in the lower section of the Wekiva River, all but the scene at the put in, where today there was not a fleet, but the whole Central Florida Armada. When I arrived at Katie's Landing had to wait for a couple paying at the box. Once I paid and drove down to the river it was incredible. Cars everywhere, even after the sign that says "No vehicles beyond this point" or something like that. I guess that if you are running a business the rules do not apply to your costumers. I did drop my yak and parked in the area in front of the rest rooms, that was completely empty. Had to wait to put in since there were too many yaks already lined up. I overheard they were going to High Banks. Great...I thought. Now they are going to scare everything on their way.
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| A two for one...Ibis(front) and Great Egret(back) |
Put in / Take Out: Katie's Landings. Please refer check this link,
First Lower Wekiva River post, for information about this location.
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| Limpkin |
There is not too much to say or show for this post. The Wekiva River is low, clear, and fast. A strong wind coming from the North negated the current and pushed me to the South each and every time I stopped paddling. Waited about fifteen minutes after the last paddler on the Armada left but took my alternate route down river.I like this area better than the area in front of the houses in that part of the Wekiva River. Today made two passes that produced Wood Ducks, Great Blue Heron, Red Shouldered Hawk, Limpkin and a Little Blue Heron. Did paddle down river for about three hours total, including pic stops, turned around, took a 30 minutes break and back to Katie's. Saw four kayakers, three motors boat(all very polite), and a few fishermen. The scenery? Outstanding as usual. That is the summary of my day on the Lower Wekiva River. I will spare the pain of my story telling and will share the pics. Not Wifey Rated, but that was the best I could do this time.
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| Ibis |
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| Moorhen |
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| The Phantom...ehrrr...Glossy Ibis |
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| Coot |
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| Little Blue Heron |
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| Wood Duck(male) |
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| Wood Duck(female) |
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| Wood Ducks Ducklings escape |
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| Cardinal |
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| Little Blue Heron |
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| Great Blue Heron |
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| Prothonotary Warbler |
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| Prothonotary Warbler |
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| Osprey |
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| Green Heron |
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| Green Heron |
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| Gator |
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| Turtle |
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| Turtle |
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| Gator |
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| Wekiva River Tiki Bar hosts a gator |
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| Juvenile Little Blue Heron |
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| Little Blue Herons. The white one is a Juvenile. |
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| Tri-Colored Heron |
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| Mottled Duck |
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| Pied-Billed Grebe |
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| Wild Turkey |
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| Glossy Ibis |
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| Glossy Ibis |
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| Red Shouldered Hawk |
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| Great Egret |
That is it for this one. Here is the link for the Photobucket Album with all the pics of this and past trips to this Central Florida jewel,
Lower Wekiva River. Thanks for reading and hope you come back next week for another
Views From Our Kayak.
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| Lower Wekiva River |
Wifey has definitely rubbed off on you in a positive way: these are AWESOME photos!
ReplyDeleteReally appreciated your comment is Brenda. I will be sure she reads it. :)
DeleteLove "the phantom" and the prothonotary warbler caught in midwarble. As far as the crowd, it could have been worse. http://www.paddleflorida.org/stjohns/ramble.htm This group planned to put 100 people on Rock Springs Run, Saturday, and the Wekiva, Sunday. A reliable source tells me 40 went down Rock Springs Run, many in long sea kayaks. Seems to me the organizers know nothing about Rock Springs Run.
ReplyDeleteLuis, your pictures from yesterday are wonderful but I know how disappointing it can be to anticipate a quiet paddle and run into a mob. This was a meet up group that I belong to. Nice folks, but Katie's Landing is not well used by such a large group.
ReplyDeleteIf you email me at jobol@embarqmail.com, I can give you the links to the 4 meet up groups I belong to and you can be sure not to go where they are going.
Dave and Joanne; Maybe did sound grumpy but in reality have no problems with a large group paddling the same place I do. When that happens I just time my paddle in such a way we do not interfere with each other. Anyways the river is for all of us to enjoy and many people actually enjoy going in groups as much as we enjoy seeing and taking pics of wildlife. I am OK with that. One of my best experiences was in Silver River, where tens of paddlers left before we did due to a race.
ReplyDeleteI do have an issue when the rules are not followed. Last Saturday at Katie's there were cars parked even down in the put in area, blocking the round about, all over the place. Had to do a three point turn after dropping my yak when there were lots of parking spots available at the designated areas. That bothered me a bit because I do obey the rules and expect the same from others. If they have a permit to park everywhere because how crowded it was I do not know. But there were plenty of empty spaces available without blocking the way.I just hope it does not become a regular thing.
Thanks for the compliments about the pics. Do appreciate it.
Would have been interesting seeing those big sea kayaks in the narrow and shallow Rock Springs Run.
You didn't sound grumpy at all, and paddling with or near very large noisy groups is something I avoid when I can. Do you mind if I pass on your second paragraph here to the organizer of that meet up group? He's a really nice guy and was probably just not considering that not everyone who paddles there is a member of the meet up.
ReplyDeleteI was not there, by the way. I was doing volunteer river patrol at the state park. I get my fill of crowds there, and prefer more remote places for my enjoyment.
Luis, may I just send him the link to your blog?
ReplyDeleteNo problem with that.
DeleteLuis, I think I had an email from you, but when I went back to read it, it was gone along with several others and I can't find them. If you did email me, please re-send.
DeleteThanks, sorry for the inconvenience.