Chassahowitzka River - In memory of Matthew Strauss

Chassahowitzka River Bald Eagle

If I tell you that the opening was not the highlight of my trip...would you believe me? Well, it was not. It was a heck of a day at the Chassahowitzka River. Got the Florida Trifecta; Manatee, dolphin, and gator. Also the Florida Air Force; Eagle, osprey, and hawk. Not bad. It was GREAT!!!!

Great Egret

Making a parenthesis here so excuse me. In case you are wondering Matthew was a friend that left us too darn early. He was a Professional Engineer, Environmental, and we shared the love for the outdoors and for dogs. Mat had an unique sense of humor. If he was funnier he would have been a professional comedian. When it seemed like life was at its best for him things went South in a hurry. Not going into the details but he deserved better. He left a sense of void and sadness among his friends and we will miss him. Mat left us on February 18 and was 34 years old. 

Mat...this one is for you!!!

Yellow Crowned Night Heron

Put In / Take Out: 8600 W Miss Maggie Dr in Chassahowitzka, FL. The fee per vehicle is $5. Excellent facilities. They have an improved kayak launch area and if you do not have one, they rent kayaks there. The Chass was very low, maybe because the tide was going out???? Still beautiful but have something to say. The Chass is really sick. The nitrogen and nutrients are doing a number on this beauty. More than once felt like was paddling in green sludge. The hydrilla and algae are overtaking the river. It was sad to see that.

Bacon!!!!!!!!!

Made it to the Campground at 8:15 AM. Was getting ready to launch when two dolphins made an entrance into the area. Cool thing to see in the clear waters of the spring fed Chassahowitzka River. They made a couple of passes and jumps looking for fish. But when I was ready to join them in the water continued up river. The attendant, a nice lady, said, "They will be back in 5 or 7 minutes on their way out. This is the only way up and down here." I started paddling up river to follow them but had the Sun in my face and was afraid of missing or seeing them when it was too late for a video. So turned around and waited for them near the campground, in a narrow area where if they swam right or left from me, I was going to have a shot anyways. It worked. Was able to capture the video that follows and that was the highlight of the day...

Followed the dolphins as long as I could but they soon left me behind. The Chassahowitzka River is a heck of a place and displays so much wildlife that I decided to focus on what I had in front of me. Here is part of what I saw...

Dolphin swims up the Chassahowitzka River

Nesting Great Blue Herons

Brown Pelican offers a hug

Brown Pelican

Paddler splits the dolphins' path at the Chassahowitzka River

Dolphin

Dolphin

Dolphin

Cormorant

Anhinga

Osprey

Osprey

While shooting pics at the osprey heard some weird sounds on the bank of the river. Not a bird, not a gator, nothing I recognized so made it closer to the area. Three otter pups were having breakfast and did not mind my presence...

Otter

Otter

Otter

Otter pups

Otter Pups

After spending a lot of time watching and taking pics of the otter pups decided to keep going down river. My plan was to explore at least one of the creeks that feed the Chass but it did not happen. I am too undisciplined and will take my time with a subject to be able to get a good pic. Anyways, made it to the entrance of the refuge after spending more than one hour trying to get a manatee video that was not any good, and some manatee pics that did not come out as good as I hoped...

Brown Pelican dives for food

Belted Kingfisher

Yellow Rumped Warbler

Little Blue Heron

Little Blue Heron

Wood Ducks

Tri Colored Heron

Brown Pelican

Great Egret

Great Blue Heron

Wild Pig

Yellow Crowned Night Heron

Yellow Crowned Night Heron

Gull

Moorhen

Red Shouldered Hawk

Young Bald Eagle

Young Bald Eagle

Gray Catbird

Green Heron

Gator!!!!! ( Love this pic)

Green Heron

Was taking pics of the Green Heron above when it looked up and it seemed to be in alarm. It was the second time in the day a bird did that. The Yellow Crowned did the same thing when the Juvenile Bald Eagle flew nearby. This time I herd the adult Bald Eagle first. Was able to react and took some pictures of it trying to get a fish. One of the pics made the opening of this post...

Bald Eagle. Sorry for clipping the wing but it was the eagle's fault for moving too fast

And the eagle scores!!!!!!!

After the eagle, heard a manatee and paddled in the direction the sound came from. There were maybe four of them but getting a video or a good pic was a tough task. Long story short, here are the rest of the pics for this post...

Manatee under the Chass

Manatees

National Refuge sign. That was my turn around point

Manatee snout

Manatees mating at the Chass

Manatees mating at the Chass

Manatee

Snowy Egret

Snowy Egret

Belted Kingfisher

Belted Kingfisher

That was it for this one. Had it finished and pushed the wrong keys in the laptop and lost it. Had to start again. Sorry for the delay. Always check our Facebook page for more pics from this and past trips. Thanks for reading and hope you come back soon. We will be sharing more Views From Our Kayak.

Chassahowitzka River

In memory of Mat...1980-2014