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| Black Crowned Night Heron |
A wise man once wrote...Never go to a state park on a Holiday Weekend. I did not put that advice in practice today and had a short but really good time at the waters near Blue Spring State Park. Made it there early enough to beat the crowds and get out of there just in time to beat the weather. It was almost perfect and said almost because had to speed up my return to the state park, where I did put in, because thought it was going to rain on me.
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| Little Blue Heron |
Put In / Take Out: I used the facilities of the
Blue Spring State Park in Orange City. Please click on the link for information about this location.
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| Great Egret |
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| Anhinga (male) |
Started my day on the water at 8:30. Arrived early at the park but had to wait twenty minutes for the gate to open and my van was #12 in the line. Was the first one in the water since all the ones before me where more interested in other activities involving picnic, coolers and stuff like that. Once on the water paddled to the Blue Spring Run. Did not stay long there since knew that was going to rain near noon time and wanted to have time to kayak Snake Creek. Once out of the run headed to the small island across the end of French Avenue. It is, most of the times, a great place to see wildlife. Have seen manatees in those waters on a couple of times. No manatees today but it was not disappointing. Came out of there with a few nice pics of Snowy Egrets, Great Blue Heron, Limpkin, Little Blue Heron, Great Egret, Anhingas, and Ibis. Saw a Red Shouldered Hawk but was not able to obtain a pic.
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| Anhinga (female) |
Once I left the island headed to Snake Creek, which is located South and West of the State Park. From the kayak and canoe launch area go South on the St. Johns River and enter the first opening to the right. Paddle close to the North bank, to your right, and will find the entrance about maybe 400 meters ahead. Be aware that I am horrible estimating distances and that Snake Creek may be blocked or impassable due to vegetation issues. Has happened before and will happen again.
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| Snowy Egrets |
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| Gator...I am watching youuuuuuu |
My watch showed me 10:30 when I entered the mouth of the Snake Creek. The entrance is narrow and had a thin cover of vegetation at the beginning. But once that was cleared, with the exception of two locations, it was clean. I had no problems pushing my way thru those locations. Did not even slow me down. The wildlife was there but it was tough to catch a break and obtain a pic. A Great Blue Heron kept flying away from me when I was close to it, so did a pair of Wood Ducks, and then a Little Blue Heron and a Great Egret joined the "Here comes a crazy guy in a green kayak!!!!!" party. At one point I was just hoping for them to fly in the opposite direction so I did not have to see them doing that. But did not happen. Birds usually fly away from you when they are scared. Saw many little gators in the banks of the creek. Seems like the day care season has started. Another Red Shouldered Hawk flew across the creek in front of me, perching too deep into the forest. I was observing the clouds very closely because did not want to be caught in the rain. The Sun was in and out all the time and I was wondering what to do once at the end of the Snake Creek, where it joins the Hontoon Dead River. My options were; Complete the loop thru one of the old canals to the South, or paddle back Snake Creek on my way to the park.
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| Limpkins |
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| Limpkins |
Did You Know That? Today we will dedicate this section to the Limpkins.Limpkins are divided in 5 subspecies. Some are found in South America and the others from Georgia to Florida. They can reach up to 28 inches and their diet consists basically of freshwater snails and mollusks. Their name comes from the way they fly. It seems they are limping with their legs dangling and the wingbeats jerky. Limpkins are not good fliers but can swim. They are very noisy and their sad call also gives them the name of Cry Birds. Once the Limpkin was considered a good food birds and were almost wiped out in Florida and Georgia. Today are protected and have regained good population numbers. When nesting the Limpkin will lay 4 to 8 eggs per clutch, which both male and female will incubate. Will roost in trees and nest in marsh grass or low bushes.
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| Black Crowned Night Heron |
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| Osprey |
The highlight of the paddle at Snake Creek was when spotted a couple of Black Crowned Night Herons. One was a juvenile, the other an adult. They flew away from me a couple of times but I have seen BCNH before at the creek, usually in the same general area and they have the tendency to fly in the opposite direction after a couple of tries flying away. The most recent time my wife caught one in flight and this time I was ready when they flew towards me. Got it!!!!! A Green Heron also also was pic friendly and did not mind letting me shooting a few pics at it. Saw no one in the creek until reached the Hontoon Dead River where saw a motor boat. At the moment it was cloudy and windy so decided to go back thru the creek instead of facing the wind in the open Hontoon Dead River. Here are more pics of what I saw...
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| Little Blue Heron |
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| Snowy Egrets |
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| Juvenile Little Blue Heron |
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| Juvenile Little Blue Heron |
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| Great Blue Heron |
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| Limpkin |
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| Snowy Egret |
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| Great Blue Heron |
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| Anhinga |
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| Anhinga |
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| Ibis |
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| Gator...This one played chicken with my yak. Luckily for me it went under like 20 feet away from me. |
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| Small gator enjoys the Sun |
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| Great Egret |
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| Black Crowned Night Heron |
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| Great Egret |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Green Heron |
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| Green Heron |
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| Limpkin |
And that is it for this one. Hope you like these views. Thanks for reading and see you soon, from somewhere in beautiful Florida, to share more Views From Our Kayak.
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| Snake Creek scene |
Great Heron in flight and I have never seen a juvenile Little Blue..Thanks!
ReplyDeleteCindy, the juvenile Little Blue Herons tend to mix with other white herons and egrets. They do not start to show the blue feathers until a year. They are abundant, are everywhere, and it is not rare to see them with Great Egrets, Ibis, Great White Herons, and Snowy Egrets. I did read once that those species are very tolerant with the Juvenile Little Blue Herons. You may have seen them but maybe did not realize because did not have any blue feathers like the one in the pics. The first time I saw one had to ask what was it. Glad you like the BCNH pic.
ReplyDeleteWe put in at Hontoon Island and did the loop all the way around using the southern most canal. We thought Snake Creek looked to congested but I guess not. So what did you decide to do at the end of the creek- Dead River or Canal or back track?
ReplyDeleteWe were there saturday- when were you there? It took us 6 hours to do the whole loop!
ReplyDeleteI was there Sunday morning for 4 hours. Back tracked my way back to the state park. It was very windy and did not want to face it in the open waters of the Hontoon Dead River. Snake Creek offered some shelter from it. The creek is passable as I write this. In two or three more weeks that may change. Thanks for your comments.
DeleteLuis- loved the blog and you are inspiring me to try some new routes. Paddling back up the the Dead Hontoon was brutal with the wind, but I think going back via the St. Johns would have been worse!
ReplyDeletehttp://studiohourglass.blogspot.com/2012/05/completing-long-watery-circuit.html
Very good info! I am a beginner, just got a used kayak (Necky Manitou II) this week for my son and I to go fishing, learn/enjoy wildlife, bonding, exercise, etc. I'm concerned about any dangerous wildlife such as larger alligators, etc so it would be great to know what the water is like at newer entries of yours; e.g. "Water was tannic and shallow with lots of gators", or "Water was crystal clear and safer".
ReplyDeleteI have your site as a favorite already above any others because of the wealth of information. Thank you SO much for continuing to update this for all your followers and 'google' searches.
Kindest Regards,
John~
John, I am a beginner too but will make an effort to have better descriptions in future posts. One thing I can tell you: As long as you respect wildlife, alligators included, there is no such a thing as dangerous wildlife. We, humans, are more dangerous. It is perfectly safe as long as you follow the safety rules(safety vest, whistle, etc), and very important...never ever feed wildlife. That is the root of all problems in the wild. One last but very important advice; Go to the sources...Dave's Yak Tales and Green Wave Forum. There are links to both sites in my Favorite Links Section. Thanks for reading and hope you come back.
ReplyDeleteLuis, these pictures are wonderful! As always, my favorite is the Anhinga, but the lighting in the Ibis picture is exquisite. So glad you were able to get back out there. Is your back okay now?
ReplyDeleteGlad you like the pics. My back took a turn to the South. It was a little sore yesterday after kayaking Sunday but decided not to skip my workout routine. That was a mistake. Was not able to finish my workout for the day and now is really hurting. Am not doing a thing today to see if it can get better with rest. Thanks for asking and for the Little Wekiva entrance pic. Will give it another try as soon as I can.
DeleteOH, I am sorry to hear that. Take it from the voice of experience, lay off until your back feels 100% improved. A lousy back for the rest of your life is not something to have if you can avoid it.
ReplyDeleteWOW! I had to scroll through this post 3 times to read it because I kept getting distracted by all the great photos. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteLOL!!!! Sorry about that. It is not the intention. I will not take it personal if you said that did not read it. I was told by a co-worker that it is not the easiest blog to read. :) (We need Blogger to add smileys)
DeleteThanks to you for checking our blog.
"A wise man once wrote...Never go to a state park on a Holiday Weekend"
ReplyDeleteSounds like something I'd say. And not follow my own advice.
Yep. It happens!!!!
Delete