Upper Wekiva River - Out of Wilson's Landings

Pileated Woodpecker

Today went on a solo paddle at the upper section of the Wekiva River. Put in at Wilson's Landings and also that was my Take Out spot. It was supposed to be windy today and thought that the Wekiva River confines would make the paddle easier. Well, it was windy and it was good to paddle in a closed area so it was the right call.

Coots

Wilson's Landings

Put In/Take Out: Wilson's Landings in 387 Malekean Trail in Sanford (FL). It is just the second time I use this location. It is not a bad facility but is not as good as Katie's Landings. Here you had to carry/drag/cart your boat for maybe 250 ft. When you use this location will enter the Wekiva River South of the SR46 bridge over the river. This section of the river is open and depending on how thick is the vegetation, will have to look twice for the main channel. I pushed my way thru a thin layer of aquatic plats today. There is no charge to use the facilities but, watch out, getting in or coming out of the kayak may be tricky.

Green Heron

Little Wekiva River

The plan was to paddle to the confluence of the Wekiva River with the little Wekiva River. The previous time I did paddle here missed it but a friend sent me a pic of how it looks. Only problem is that it was a few months ago and I did not do my homework so had to trust my memory for this one. Have to say that I did find the confluence but at the time was a little tired and decided to try the Buffalo Tram Primitive Camp site and see if it was empty. Just wanted to stretch my legs and rest a few minutes. Made it to the camp site and spent 30 minutes there but when it was time to go back the weather turned ugly. The confluence of the Little Wekiva and the Wekiva River is about 20 minutes down the river from Buffalo Tram. When I made it there it looked like was going to rain at any moment and the wind was strong. So after less than 5 minutes on the Little Wekiva decided to turn around.

Eastern Phoebe

The Wekiva River is clear and it is not too fast nor low. On my way up river had the river to myself, well...almost. Saw a couple in a canoe just before arriving to Buffalo Tram. That was not the case on my way down when saw two large groups of kayakers and three motor boats coming up river.

From the Wekiva River looking into the Little Wekiva River

Did You Know That? The Little Wekiva River is about 15 miles. Did a research and found this link. It is interesting since I was wondering what type of river this Little Wekiva River is. Check it out: Little Wekiva River.

Little Blue Heron

And your favorite part of the Views From Our Kayak posts. Summary time. Here are more pics of what I saw today:

Ibis

Pileated Woodpecker

Wekiva River

Pileated Woodpecker

Anhinga

Eastern Phoebe

Limpkin

Green Heron

Turtles

Gator

Red Shouldered Hawk

Immature Little Blue Heron

Immature Little Blue Heron

Turtle

 

Green Heron

Great Blue Heron

Anhinga

Downy Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

 

Red Shouldered Hawk

Red Shouldered Hawk

Red Shouldered Hawk

Great Egret

And that is it. Missed a pic of an eagle and an osprey. Actually, it was the highlight of the day. The osprey was carrying a fish when the eagle came out of nowhere and started the pursue. Actually the osprey let the fish go and the eagle grabbed in mid air and flew away, with the osprey now in pursue. All happened too far for a pic. Did shot a few in desperation but did not come right. Anyways...thanks for reading and see you soon in another Views From Our Kayak.

Econlockhatchee River - The Eagle's Nest

Eagle's Nest

Since this was the purpose of this trip thought that it deserved the opening spot, even if it is not the best pic of this trip. We kayaked the Econlockhatchee River from and to Snow Hill Bridge. A short trip where the pics chances were not many at a low and fast Econ River.

Econ Turtle Reflection

Put In & Take Out: For this trip we did put in at the Snow Hill Rd bridge over the Econ, went up river past the Flagler Trail bridge to the eagle's nest and then back to Snow Hill Rd bridge. I am not too warm about this put in/take out location since it is a bit tricky: steep with lots of loose stones which makes going to the river a slippery adventure. Just be careful and do not fall on your six when using this facility.

Red Shouldered Hawk

We started our paddle just before noon. Do not remember the exact time but the whole trip did not last more than four hours. We did not see anyone else in the water on our way up river. Did see a two groups on our way down. One of young kids, maybe 8 of them, and then three guys with one of them in a dingy. The Econ is very low and fast in the few narrow areas it has. There are lots of obstacles in the form of fallen trees.

Anhinga

I will keep the writing to the minimum and let the pics tell the story. The best part of the paddle was when we spotted an eagle and an eaglet at the eagle's nest. If you are wondering how did we know about it we did not. We know the nest is there but had no clue it was active. My wife saw the adult eagle first and then I spotted the eaglet. The pics came out really bad because we were too far away from it. We had to to be able to see the eagle at the nest. Will share a few anyways. Here are the pics of what we saw today...

Turtles sunning in the Econ

Turtle

Turtle

Red Shouldered Hawk

Red Shouldered Hawk

Anhinga

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron...even these guys are skittish at the Econ

And flying away it goes...

Not before giving my wife a chance for a nice Great Blue Heron flying pic...

and she scores!!!!!!!!

The terrible eyes lurking...

Gator

A rare sighting at the Econ... an Osprey. 

Osprey

Osprey

Great Blue Heron

And this is what we wanted to see today. The angle did not allow us to come closer to the nest without sacrificing the view so my apologies for the bad quality of the eaglet's pics.

Eaglet at the eagle's net

Econ River Eaglet

Red Shouldered Hawks

Lazy gator...is there any other kind?

Osprey. We saw that one diving head first into the river. Pretty cool scene.

Osprey

Belted Kingfisher

Belted Kingfisher flying away

Even when we did not have the best paddle, almost went eagle-less and gator-less today, we agreed to return to the nest, maybe in two or three weeks. By that time the eaglet, or eaglets, may be more visible since hopefully will be stronger. This is it for this one. Thanks for reading and hope you come back soon for another Views From Our Kayak.

An eaglet can be spotted at the left side of the nest's cup. Click on the pic to enlarge it.