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| Silver River |
Cannot remember a paddle when we had so much fun like this one at the Silver River. No wonder is one of our top three paddling locations. Wifey returned to the kayak and even when we ended up exhausted by the brutal heat and humidity, went back home very satisfied. We laughed, fought, talked, and...did I say it was fun?
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| Turtles |
Put In / Take Out: Ray's Wayside (or Ocala Boat Club). The fee is $5 and it is a very nice facility. There was an attendant this time but if not, there is the honor system, meaning you put your money in a provided envelope, deposit it in a box, and put your stub in a visible place in your car. I do not know what would happen if you do not pay and they catch you but it cannot be good. Do not try it.
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| Sliver River Monkeys |
Started our paddle at 8:40 AM. The put in was not busy at all, something that surprised me a bit. Turned right at the end of the canal leading to the Silver River on our way to the beautiful Silver Springs. Here are the pics of this leg of the trip...
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| Wood Duck (looks like a young male) |
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| Wood Duck and Turtle |
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| Wood Duck |
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| Wood Duck |
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| Wood Duck (female) |
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| Pileated Woodpecker |
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| Pileated Woodpecker |
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| Little Blue Heron |
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| Green Heron |
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| Yellow Crowned Night Heron |
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| Yellow Crowned Night Heron |
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| Moorhen |
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| Moorhen |
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| Anhinga (male) |
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| Anhinga (female) |
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| Brown Snake (???) |
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| I only know that is a snake...Brown Snake (???) |
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| Juvenile Little Blue Heron |
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| Juvenile Little Blue Heron |
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| Cormorant |
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| Cormorant |
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| Cormorant |
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| Ibis |
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| Green Heron |
A trip to the Silver River cannot and should be complete if you do not see at least one gator and tens of turtles.
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| Gator in the mat |
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| Gator |
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| Gator |
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| Gator |
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| Turtles |
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| Turtles |
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| Turtle is missing a shell piece |
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| Soft Shell Turtle |
There is a rookery a few meters from the head springs. We stopped there on our way down river...
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| Cattle Egret |
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| Anhingas |
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| Cormorants |
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| Cormorant chicks |
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| Little Blue Heron |
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| Cattle Egret |
I was thinking that my streak of seeing monkeys at the Silver River was coming to an end when my wife spotted a monkey inside a pontoon boat docked at private property on mile marker 2.6. The monkeys made themselves comfortable using the chairs...
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| Guess what I am asking Santa for Christmas |
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| Rhesus Monkeys at the Silver River |
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| Silver River Monkey |
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| Silver River Monkey with baby |
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| Silver River Monkey |
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| We are family!!!!! |
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| Strong Bond |
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| Silver River Monkey |
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| Silver River Monkey |
And that is it for this one. I guess that we should not take two cameras with us on our trips because this is what happens: Too many pics and a little time to select them. Check our Facebook Page where we have a video summary of this trip, including underwater takes of gators, cormorants, and turtles. Will also find a short video we made with monkeys as the stars. Thanks for reading and hope you will come back soon to share with you more
Views From Our Kayak.
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| Silver River |
Luis,
ReplyDeleteYour blog is a great inspiration for my wife and me. We just started kayaking 3 months ago and have immensely enjoyed your blogs as well as Dave's Yak Trips. We have recently done the Hillsborough River and did part of the Silver River several weeks ago. They are our favorites. One question - how do you get such great photos from a moving kayak? What camera / lens do you use? Any tips will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the great blog.
Steve
Steve...Shooting pics from a moving kayak it is not as hard as it may look...for a pro. For me it is a huge challenge. I have to shoot a gazillion pics in order to get a few good ones. We use a Rebel 2Ti and a 4Ti. The lense we use is a 400mm which has a couple of tricks: we have to be far waya and also does not have image stabilization. We often use a 70/300mm, which is more friendly and forgiving than the 400mm.
DeleteAbout tips, just enjoy the paddle and the wonders of Florida. The rest will fall in place.
Thanks for you encouraging words.
Brown water snake.
ReplyDeleteThanks!!!!!! Am not too fond of snakes. Made an effort trying to locate them during the paddle and only saw two. I am sure Joanne would have seen many more.
Delete