Rainbow River

Wood Duck

Good news and bad news. Good news first. Wifey and I paddled together again. Bad news now: This was one of the worst paddles we have had in recent memory. It was terrible. The heat was brutal. Hundreds, if not thousands, of tubers at the river, motor boats all over the place, and not even talking about the visibility. To make things worst our main camera suddenly stopped working. Still managed to have a few pics chances and we will share them with you.

Turtles

Put In / Take Out. This time we put in at the bridge over the Withlacoochee River in Dunnellon. When you put in here you start at the Withlacoochee River and paddle upstream for maybe half a mile to find the confluence with the Rainbow River. You cannot miss it. The contrast on the water in obvious and there is a sign too.

Moon over the river

Am keeping the comments to a minimum. Already said at the beginning most of what it is needed for this post. Let us go to the pics.

Lady Wood Duck

Moorhen

Turtle

Little Blue Heron

Little Blue Heron

Great Egret

Great Egret

Cormorant

Cormorant

Anhinga

Green Heron

Green Heron

Green Heron and Juvenile Moorhens

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

Cormorant

Cormorant

Wood Duck

Wood Duck

I mentioned about the huge number of tubers at the Rainbow River. Here are some pics as supporting evidence. The tubers came down river in waves and the motor boats were present all the time...

Tubers

Ingenuity or common sense?

K.P. Hole -  Marion County Park

The leaders of this group were actually picking up trash out of the river

More pics from the river...

Cormorant

Ibis

Anhinga

Tri-Colored Heron

Tri-Colored Heron

Cormorant  Close up

Cormorant gets lunch

Turtles

Green Heron

Juvenile Little Blue Heron

Two for One.

Gator. A little one but it was less than 90 feet from tubers going down river

Cooper's Hawk

Young Male Wood Duck

Anhinga

Little Blue Heron

Cormorants

It was not the best paddle but made the most of it. This place is much better than this. I will go back in the winter. The camera malfunction did not make it better. This is it for this one and thanks for coming. Check also our Facebook Page where  we will post a few more pics from this trip and you can also see pics from other places. We will going out again soon and will share with you the Views From Our Kayak.

Turtles

Haulover Canal

Belted Kingfisher

A dolphin-less paddle in the waters of the Indian River and the Mosquito Lagoon, which are connected by the Haulover Canal. It was a cloudy dark gray day and it did not help the pics. But got a few and will share them with you.

Indian River

Put In / Take Out: End of the dirt road North and West of the draw bridge over Haulover Canal. No fee. Carry insect repellent.

NASA Helicopter

Started the paddle at 8:30 under a cloudy sky. The Sun was On a and Off. Did what I usually do here and headed to Mullet Head Island, circled it, paddled back to the canal through the alternate canal South of the Haulover, and visited Bair's Cove looking for manatees. Then paddled to the East end of the canal, Mosquito Lagoon, looking for dolphins. That was it. Let us go to the pics...

White Pelican and Cormorants

White Pelican

White Pelican

Juvenile Brown Pelicans

Juvenile Brown Pelican

Cormorants

 

Tri Colored Heron

Tri Colored Heron

Not sure but I believe this one is a young white morph Reddish Egret

 

Reddish Egret (young white morph version)

Reddish Egret (young white morph version)

Juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron

Juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron

Juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron

Reddish Egret

Reddish Egret

 

Cormorant

Rudy Turnstone

 

Rudy Turnstone

Can never remember what is that one

 

Great Blue Heron

Headed back to the canal. Tried to get a pic of manatees in Indian River. They were mating so kept my distance. The one posted is the best one I was able to get. It was gray and dark by then. No dolphin at Dolphin Cove so had fun trying to take pics of a pair of Belted Kingfisher. They seemed to be pretty agitated. The Ospreys were out in big numbers but there were some other subjects too...

Indian River manatees

Green Heron

Belted Kingfisher

Belted Kingfisher

Osprey

Osprey

Sea Gull

Great Egret guards Bair's Cove entrance

Bair's Cove Manatee

Little Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

Left Bair's Cove, where also took a break in the dock, and headed to the East end of Haulover Canal, the Mosquito Lagoon. Was hoping to see dolphins there but did not.

Flock over the Mosquito Lagoon

Snowy Egret

Snowy Egret

Downy Woodpecker (female)

Downy Woodpecker (female)

Downy Woodpecker (female)

Downy Woodpecker (male)

Downy Woodpecker (male)

Downy Woodpecker (male)

Green Heron

Ended my paddle at 1:30 PM and headed back home. At the Max Brewer Causeway saw dolphin in the Indian River. Having zero dolphin pics decided to try to get one and parked at the Sand Point Park. Was able to get a decent one.

Dolphins in the Indian River

And this is it for this one. Thanks for coming and hope you return next week. We will be sharing more Views From Our Kayak....

Perception Sport Conduit