Rock Springs Run

Deer on Rock Springs Run

Have been kayaking for almost two years now and only have seen deer in maybe four or five trips at the most. Also we may have no more than three deer pics. Bottom line. Bambi has been very elusive for us. But today all changed in a 20 minute span. Keep reading and you will know what happened.

Green Heron

Put In / Take Out: Did use the facilities at Wekiwa Springs State Park. But be aware: It is not an easy task. Be sure you have a cart to take your kayak to the launch site. Today, since it was a solo paddle and was using my little Perception Tribe 9.5', did not use my cart and carried the yak to the lagoon beach, that is the launch site. It was not a big deal in the morning, going downhill. It was a whole different story in the afternoon after kayaking 5 hours and carrying the yak uphill. The cost of using the facilities is $4 per vehicle. For more information please check the Wekiwa Springs State Park.

Wekiva River Partners

Great Egret

Was a blink away from not kayaking today. Wifey did not want to come and I had a hard time motivating myself to make this trip alone. Bottom line, was in the waters of the lagoon out of the Wekiwa Springs at 10AM. Three gentlemen left before I  did and gave them about a 10 minutes lead. Did explore the area for a little more than 30 minutes when kept going down the Wekiva River looking for the confluence with the Rock Springs Run. It was a warm morning, with an occasional breeze. Lots of gators in the river, and to my surprise, many more in Rock Springs Run. Personally I have not seen so many gators at The Run on my previous trips. Will get back to that later. A group of three kayakers were coming up river, apparently from a camping site for the load on their kayaks, told me about otters playing in the river about 100 yards downriver. Of course, I did not see the otters and quite frankly, was not expecting to see nothing special on this trip because the late start. Am just glad that it was not like that.

Pileated Woodpecker

Juvenile Ibis

The paddle up run had its exciting moments. The first open area offered a bird prone section where saw limpkins, ibis, herons, and lots of little birds I was not able to shoot pics at. Then, at the covered area, that was a welcome shelter from the sun, gators ruled. Most were small gators but saw a three over 7 feet long. One of them was in the middle of the run in a shallow area so when I approached it went under and swam to the only place my yak could go without being stuck in the sand. It was an unique experience to see the reptile swimming under and then beside my kayak. Tried to shoot one and only one pic from of the gator but did not come right. I mean, you can see the tail and the head but it is not clear. Did not try again because the current. Did not want to come that close to it again. Also tried an underwater pic but it was too far and the gator stirred up the bottom a bit. Other than that nothing else happened on my way up. Saw three kayakers, the same ones I let go ahead at the lagoon, and four canoes. All were coming down already. The run was low and fast making going upstream a bit of a challenge. I was paddling very slow to be able to listen to the sounds of the forest and that made my trip harder than it was supposed to be.

Limpkin

Thought about turning around at Otter Campsite but once there decided to go all the way to Big Buck Campsite, stretch my legs for a few minutes and then start my paddle down the run. But when arrived at Big Buck it was occupied, or at least an inflatable kayak was there so did not stop. Took me three hours to arrive at Big Buck, my watch had 1pm when finally turned around my kayak to return to Wekiwa Springs. At this point I was a little dissapointed. Another Rock Springs Run paddle without seeing deer but then, in a bend, saw one moving in the forest in front of me. Only saw the body and the tail, did not see the head, and heard it. But was not able to find a spot to shoot a clear pic and, as hard as I tried, came out empty abandoning the area after five minutes. Heck, at least saw half a deer. That is greater than zero deer.

Deer at Indian Mound Campsite

Carolina Wren

Was thinking about that when made it to Indian Mound, another camp site. It was right there, feeding on something at the edge of the trail when the deer saw me and I saw the deer. The ears went straight north and looked at me like thinking: Who the heck are you? I pointed the camera and tried to shoot forgetting that it was off. When turned it back on and pointed it again guess what; exactly...the deer was not there anymore but stayed in the area. Was able to find a spot where took a pic, not a great one but good enough for me. Cool, after not seeing deer in 3 hours saw two in 15 minutes. Wait, it got better, shortly after that came out of a bend and there was another one in front of me. Luckily for me, it did not see me until I shoot the pic that made the opening one for this post. Three deer in about 20 minutes. And that was it. No more deer the rest all the way to Wekiwa Springs. Here are more pics of what I saw yesterday...

Little Blue Heron

Little gator in the lagoon

Green Heron

Little gators at the lagoon

Sunning little gator

Gator

Wekiwa Springs Arc

Somebody give the gator sunglasses

Limpkin and chick

Young Limpkin

Tri-Colored Heron

Juvenile Little Blue Heron

Turtle

Yellow Crowned Night Heron

Yellow Crowned Night Heron

Gray Catbird

Ibis

The following is a sequence and happened almost at the end of the trip, same gator...

Gator says...

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

Thank you...

Great Egret

And that is it for this one. Here is the link for the rest of the pics from this and past trips in Photobucket: Rock Springs Run. Thanks for reading and hope to see you soon, maybe tomorrow. Not sure yet. Anyways, one way or the other, see you soon.

On my way to Rock Springs Run via the Scenic Wekiva River