Rainbow River

Young Barred Owl

After the previous trip to this river it was my intention not to come to Rainbow River in a weekend. We gave it another try just because this river is so unique. Did not come out dissapointed. For this one I will let you decide how to rate it. We spent 8+ hours in the water and it took a toll on both of us. But at the end of the day we were really satisfied with it. Wonderful scenes, lots of wildlife at a beautiful river with crystal clear waters. Not even the legion of tubers and gazillion motorboats were enough to take anything away from this one.

Northern Parula

Put In /  Take Out: The trip before this one we put in at the CR484 bridge over the Rainbow River. It is called the Blue Run Park. This time we put in at the boat ramp on the bridge over the Withlacoochee River. This is just where the Dunnellon City Hall is. There is no charge and in the weekends you can park at the City Hall parking. This location will give maybe an extra mile in the river. When you put in here, if you are going to the Rainbow River, start paddling to your left, or South East, and you will find it.

Northern Cardinal

Otter in the Rainbow River

It did not take long for us to reach the waters of the Rainbow River. There are signs, the same ones I missed my first time here, indicating which direction you need to go. If you do not see the signs, just follow the clear water. Took us an hour to complete the section between the put in and the bridge over the CR484. We made several stops for different reasons. To let motorboats go by, to take pics of wildlife, or just to enjoy the view in a shade. A family of otters gave wifey a chance to shoot pics. It was a shame that a motorboat blocked our view of an otter in the river bank. We had to settle with pics of the otters in the water. Very unique to be able to see them going under the clear waters of the Rainbow River. Because of the motorboat the otters became separated and the smaller ones that stayed in the side we were starting making sounds to call the big one, assumed to be Mama Otter,  or maybe just to scare us. They went under and did not come out again until the big otter that went out the river came back to look for them. Then the three of them swam down river away from us and we did not insist in more pics.

Mama otter swims back to her little ones

I going to take my wife out for breakfast and to buy her Mother's Day present. Talking about Mother's Day, take a look to the following pics...

Sandhill Crane -  It was nice to see how, several times, mom offered whatever she was catching to the chick

Less delicate, much less than the Sandhill Crane, but as effective - Mama cormorant feeds her chick

Moorhen with chicks

Female Wood Duck and ducklings

Mama anhinga feeds her chick

And, since promised my wife that was not going to spend too much time on this post, more pics of what we saw at the Rainbow River...

Ibis

Great Egret

Great Crested Flycatcher (???)

Black Crowned Night Heron

Little Blue Heron

Tufted Titmouse

Anhinga - Juvenile

Red Bellied Woodpecker

Anhinga chick

Anhinga - Juvenile

Need help to ID this one. Have no idea. Behaves like a hawk but does not look like one. Dark feathers and white body. It was too high in the sky to see details. Thought it was a Swallow-Tailed Kite but do not think it is.

Cattle Egret has lunch

Red Shouldered Hawk

Red Shouldered Hawk

Tri-Colored Heron

Wood Duck

Carolina Wren

Female Wood Duck

Spotted Sandpiper

Moorhen and chicks

Moorhen chick

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak - Female

Wood Duck Family takes cover

Turtle enjoys a beautiful day in the Rainbow River

Juvenile Little Blue Heron

Pied-Billed Grebe

Racoon

Snowy Egret

A busy swim area at Rainbow Springs State Park

And as a bonus coverage let us take a look under the Rainbow...

Anhinga goes under

Turtles

Under the clear water of the Rainbow River

That is it for this one. Here is the link in case you want to see more pics from this and past trips to the Rainbow River. Thanks for reading and hope you come back soon so we can share more Views From Our Kayak.

Happy Mother's Day to all. God Bless You!!!!

Rainbow River view from Rainbow Springs State Park

Haulover Canal - PM Edition

Reddish Egret feeding the chicks

Great Blue Heron - Mullet Head Island

It was a late decision. I invited wifey to Haulover Canal when the clock was showing 3:00PM. At 4PM we were in the water. A short but very exciting paddle at one of our favorite places. I mean; how many things can happen to you in a little less than 3 hours? Let me see...Maybe a pair of mating manatees can swim by your kayak and give you a ride and left you all wet from a huge splash. Most likely a dolphin will give you the pic chance of your life swimming close to your yak, so close that you can almost touch it if you extend your hand. Or maybe you can get caught in the rain and finish your paddle in a hurry and then, to finish, you can be in the middle of a wildfire. Never a dull moment. That without mentioning the wind changing speed and turning a light chop in a pain in the eye chop. But hey!!!! Am not complaining. Had a heck of a time in the water, and almost ON the water.

Mullet Head Island Scene - Brown Pelicans and Roseate Spoonbill

Put In / Take Out: Please check previous posts for Put In and Take Out information. We always use the same location. General description would be the end of a dirt road just northwest of the draw bridge over Haulover Canal.

Dolphin at the Indian River

Osprey takes dinner home

We started our paddle in the waters of the Indian River, the West end of Haulover Canal(Mosquito Lagoon is in the East end). Headed West to circle Mullet Head Island, a bird sanctuary. It is not permitted to land on the island, that was really busy during our visit. It was very hard to shoot a pic of a just a bird since there were many species together all over the place. My wife was like a little girl in a doll store. It was nice to see her relaxing and enjoying the time after a tough week. As we always do, started at the southeast end of the island moving counterclockwise. A nice breeze was coming from the east at the moment but a gray cloud covered the Sun for several minutes. I did not put too much importance into it, thinking that there was no way it was going to rain. Maybe I should quit my job and start a career as a meteorologist. I did as well as they do predicting the weather(sarcasm involved).

A Female Red Breasted Merganser (if someone can confirm this ID will be appreciated)

I am taking a shortcut with this one and you will probably like it. Here are the pics of what we saw at the half of Mullet Head Island. I say the half because the wind shifted and picked up very fast, this time coming from the South. Looking for some shelter went back to Haulover Canal the same way we came in, leaving half of the bird sanctuary behind us.

Brown Pelican

Cormorant

Mullet Head Island bird gathering - How many species do you see?

Reddish Egret

Tri-Colored Heron

Juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron

Two for one - Tri-Colored Heron and Reddish Egret

Roseate Spoonbills flying formation

Double feature - Reddish Egret and a Roseate Spoonbill (Spoonie)

Brown Pelicans nesting

Mullet Head Island view - Spoonies, Snowy egrets and more

Snowy Egret

Royal Tern

Osprey

White Pelican

Osprey

Feeding time - Reddish Egret feeds a chcik

Reddish Egrets - The chick is at the right of the pic.

Roseate Spoonbills - A chick and andult

Roseate Spoonbill feeds a chick

Great Egret

Juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron

Birds Tree - Spoonies and Ibis

Brown Pelicans nesting

Brown Pelican

After a bumpy and wet paddle back to the canal area we decided to also skip the alternate entrance to Haulover Canal (an alternate route South of it) and entered it thru the main channel. It was there were we saw the Female Red Breasted Merganser we showed you in one of the previous pics. I spotted a dolphin at what is called Dolphin Cove, where the alternate route finally brings you back to the canal. It was a cool experience because the dolphin was hunting and put a show for us. Also, at one point made several passes very close to our kayak. One of those passes was as close as 3 feet from the yak. It was awesome!!!. Let me shut up and show you the pics...

Speedy dolphin - Just want to show you how fast it can move. Can you see the fin?

Dolphin at Dolphin Cove

Dolphin Cove dolphin

Dolphin

Dolphin comes close to the kayak

Very close to the kayak

After the dolphin experience we moved to Bair's Cove to look for manatees. Before entering the area it was obvious there were manatees present as a mating pair was being too splashy. We kept our distance and a couple of manatees came close to our kayak. We have found they will usually come to you if you stay still and do not harass them. It worked again as they were very curious and friendly. They even pushed us around. At one point, and that was my fault as I am supposed to be watching while my wife takes pics, the mating pair came too close to us. So close that gave us a lift and left me soak and wet from a huge splash. I took the worst part of it. Just glad we did not end on the water since my wife would kill me if that happens. Anyways, here are the pics of the manatees.

Mating Manatees

Curious manatees

Manatee checks our kayak

Again the mating pair

Is it giving us the...flipper?

Manatee upside down

Manatee

Good bye dudes

It started to rain very hard while we were at Bair's Cove so we cut it short. We did not mind since we had such a good time. Not even after having to turn around and exit the area thru the North side of the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge because a wildfire. It was impressive.

Wildfire

Fish and Wildlife agents fight the fire

So...that it for this one. Sorry for the delay. Check this link for pics of this and past trips to Haulover Canal. Thanks for reading and hope you come back to share with you more Views From Our Kayak.

Mullet Head Island