Views From Our Kayak: St. Francis Dead River Run (Via St. Johns River)

Red Shouldered Hawk

Trying to be a good study visited one place where my mentor was recently; St. Francis Dead River & Run. Was a good day. Eagles, Ospreys, Hawks, Swallow-Tailed Kites, and some more. Five hours total in the water minus a 30 minutes brake we took at the St. Francis Run, where my wife took the pic above.

Tufted Titmouse

Put In / Take Out: Please click on this link, Ed Stone Park, for the location of this place. It is mainly designed to launch boats but there are spots to put in a kayak.

Gator

Bald Eagles

Our day started at 10AM sharp. It was at that time when we left the small canal leading to the boat ramp area at Ed Stone Park. Headed North in the St John's River under a gray sky, which was not good for the pics at the time. We crossed to the West bank and decided to keep paddling on that side of the river. A Great Blue Heron was the first wildlife form to pose for pics. As we found later, there were plenty of them to take pics during this paddle. Then it started to drizzle and that was something that almost finished our day. Wifey put the camera in the case and we waited for the drizzle to finish and it did end in about 5 minutes. When we continued our paddling, we came under the power transmission line over the river. Looking to the top of the towers on the East bank saw two shapes that I could not id. They looked like shadows in the top of the pole but one of them moved and was able to catch a glimpse of white in the head. Wifey was looking thru the lens and I asked her if the shapes were Bald Eagles. She said she was not sure but suddenly said that those were indeed, Bald Eagles. How about that? A pair of eagles at the start of the paddle. It was a shame the lighting did not help us. Would have been nice pics.

Bald Eagle in flight

Great Blue Heron

Want to make a parenthesis here to give you an advice. It is early in the "Spring" but do not forget to apply sunscreen lotion when in the outdoors. We did not do it today and paid the price. Even when it was gray when we started it became sunny later. Even when it was not hot we have sun burns to remind us not to forget sunscreen next time. Now back to the post. The St. John's River was crowded with motor boats. I do not know if that is the norm here but would think that it is since there are boat ramps at Ed Stone Park. That was the only part of this trip we did not like. We were rocked several times by the wakes of the boats. A few slowed down a bit when near us but most of them never gave a hoot. After a the first three times we learned how to deal with the wakes so no harm, no foul. It was an enjoyable paddle anyways. One think we enjoy for the first time were the markers. Check this link, St Francis Dead River Run to follow our route. We went from 1 to 6. I do not remember paddling in any place where we saw markers until today. It helped a lot, specially when wifey asked how far we still had to go. Knowing how many markers and seeing them regularly made her feel relax and also the fact that the pics chances came frequently. Actually it was special because every time you have a chance to obtain pics of the Florida Air Force in the same paddle trip, that makes it a good paddle. Since that point is mentioned let me present you the members of that group.

Bald Eagle

Osprey

Red Shouldered Hawk

Swallow-Tailed Kite (this one is a guest)

And now that we are on this mood, let us go flying...

Sea Gull(???)

Great Blue Heron

Limpkin

Great Egret

Little Blue Heron

Sandhill Crane

Juvenile Little Blue Heron

Red Shouldered Hawk

We made it to the St. Francis Run in a little less than two hours. At that time just wanted to find a place to land and stretch my legs. A minute into the run wifey saw a Red Shouldered Hawk that made her highlight. The raptor was perched looking at the vegetation in the water and did not mind us being there shooting pics at it. It even looked at us like saying..."May I have a minute? I am trying to make a living here folks". That made the opening pic of this post. Wifey was changing the settings of her camera when the hawk came down hard into the vegetation, came up with a snake in its talons, and flew back to the forest with it. It was really cool to see that, specially since I hate snakes. After the hawk photography session we saw a place to stop, a high ground, but a small group of kids, with two adults, were already there and wifey did not want to stop at the time so we kept going up the run. Did not go all the way to the end and turned around maybe after the midpoint. Told my wife we were stopping at the high ground, St Francis Trail, because really needed to stretch my legs and drain the water out of the kayak. Told her that if the group was still there was going to ask if they did not mind us stopping. Did not have to ask the group as they were leaving as we arrived. Nice, we ate our lunch and rested for about 30 minutes before started our paddle back to Ed Stone Park.

The Hawk spots its victim

Snake to go for the hawk

Here are more pics of what we saw today at the St. John's and the St. Francis Dead River and Run...

Anhinga (female)

Bald Eagles

Great Egret

Limpkin

Gator

Juvenile Little Blue Heron

Anhinga (male)

Osprey

Belted Kingfisher

Great Egret

Osprey

Osprey net

Little Blue Heron

Little turtle

Sandhill Crane

Juvenile Little Blue Heron

Red Bellied Woodpecker

Palm Warbler

And that is it for this one. Here is the link for the Photobucket album: St. Francis Dead River. Thanks for reading and see you next week on another Views From Our Kayak.