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| Spoonie feeds a young one |
Only at Haulover Canal you can have your day ruined by the rain and still come out happy. It happened to me today. Two weeks ago I wanted to bring my friends to kayak here but the weather conditions were not the best ones to do so. Friday night the forecast was "light chop" for the intra coastal waters. That is not a deal breaker so to Haulover Canal I went. Was int the waters of the Indian River at 8:20 AM.
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| Indian River Osprey |
Put In / Take Out: End of the dirt road North and West from the draw bridge over Haulover Canal. Here are the coordinates for you to plug them in your GPS:
28°43'50.5"N 80°45'40.3"W
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| Great Blue Heron |
The conditions were perfect as I started the trip heading to Mullet Head Island, as always do when kayaking here. Mullet Head Island is a bird sanctuary and is like a mile away from the end of the Put In. The Indian River was flat and there was just a light breeze. Those conditions were not going to last too long. Here are some pics from the beginning of the trip...
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| Mullet Head Island ahead on the Indian River |
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| Osprey. This one did meet me at the Put In |
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| Roseate Spoonbill (Spoonie) |
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| Spoonie |
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| White Pelican at the South East tip of Mullet Head Island. |
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| White Pelicans |
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| Brown Pelican |
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| Brown Pelican |
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| White Pelican |
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| Reddish Egret |
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| Reddish Egret |
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| Reddish Egret |
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| Mullet Head Island Scene. This one should have been the opening. We have a Spoonie, a juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron and a Reddish Egret. |
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| Spoonie |
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| Reddish Egret & Juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron |
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| Spoonie |
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| Juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron |
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| Juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron |
That most recent times kayaking here I did circle Mullet Head Island clockwise trying to take advantage of the sunlight. This time, tracking the spot where I saw some Spoonies flying to, did go counter clockwise. Entering to the North side of Mullet Head spotted a gator patrolling the area. It was then when thought that maybe was going to come back home with a Florida Trifecta, as my mentor (Dave's Yak Tales) calls when a gator, manatee, and dolphins are seeing during a trip. Got the first, and the hardest one to see here, member of the Florida Trifecta...two to go. (Gator- Manatee - Dolphin)
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| Gator in the Indian River |
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| Gator...Two to go for the Florida Trifecta |
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| Spoonie chick |
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| Brown Pelicans' nest |
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| Spoonie |
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| Spoonie |
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| Great Egret in breeding plumage |
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| Brown Pelican chicks |
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| Spoonie and chick |
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| Spoonie chick being fed by a parent |
I was taking the pictures above when heard the sound of an chainsaw behind me, only that it was not a chainsaw. The gator was bellowing and it looked awesome. Head and tail lifted, open mouth. But I was not in a position to take a picture as it was exactly behind me. As soon as I got into a position and lifted the camera, of course it stopped doing that. Am 0 for 2 in that department but will keep trying to get a pic of a bellowing gator. Back to our regular programming. More pics of the scenes around Mullet Head Island...
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| Gator at the Indian River |
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| Cattle Egret |
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| Cattle Egret and chicks |
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| Cattle Egret chicks |
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| Cormorants |
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| Cormorants |
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| Cattle Egret |
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| Brown Pelican |
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| Great Blue Heron |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Brown Pelican |
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| Cormorants' huddle. It seems like a drill Sargent inspecting the platoon |
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| Spoonies in flight |
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| Reddish Egret |
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| That is a new one for me. Any idea what is that? |
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| Brown Pelican |
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| Sea Gull |
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| Reddish Egret and chick begging for food |
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| Reddish Egret |
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| Brown Pelican |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Brown Pelicans in flight |
It was then when saw dark clouds and rain coming down South and West of my position at the time. I even felt some water droplets in my face. The wind suddenly picked up too so decided to start paddling back to the canal area. Was on my way there when saw a trio of dolphins. Great...Now have two of the three members of the Florida Trifecta...(Gator- Manatee - Dolphin). I was 100% sure to get the Trifecta on this trip...
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| Do not worry. The boat came out unharmed |
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| Dolphins in the Indian River |
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| Dolphins |
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| Dolphins Trio |
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| Dolphin |
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| Dolphins |
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| Dolphin |
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| Dolphins |
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| Dolphins |
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| Dolphins |
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| Dolphins |
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| Dolphins |
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| Dolphin |
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| Dolphin...Two down...One to go for the Florida Trifecta... |
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| A Storm is coming |
It got really bad on my way to Haulover Canal. So bad that I skipped the usual entrance through an alternate channel South of Haulover Canal and got in directly there. As soon as I made it to Bairs Cove the rain finally came in, giving me time for just one pic...a manatee...and with that got my Florida Trifecta for this trip...(Gator- Manatee - Dolphin)
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| Manatee at Bairs Cove |
I put my camera deep inside the cockpit of the kayak and waited patiently for almost 40 minutes. The rain was not going away and I was soak and wet at the time. So decided to go back to the Put In, look for a towel in the mini van, dry myself, wait for the rain to go away, and then go back to Bairs Cove, which I did...
