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Paddling Journal February 2008 The outage is on the radar - last chance to paddle freely for a while. Trips this month: 10
2/1/08
My boat stayed on my rack all week in the hopes of getting another paddle in during the month of January but weather and other things kept it secured and dry. Today, the weather reports called for rain in the morning and winds gusting up to 30 mph in the afternoon so I was pretty sure that I would, once again, stay ashore. As the afternoon wore on, however, the skies cleared to a beautiful, dark blue and the winds remained relatively calm so when my work day came to an end I headed to Hannah Mills and paddled toward the ICW. I decided to head to the old marina first and then make my way north along the waterway to one of the many places where Hannah Mills empties out and return to the put-in that way. Not much of a trip as far as wildlife is concerned and the few shots I got didn't turn out too well since I forgot to check the settings on my camera and took them at an ISO setting that was way too high. Still, it was a beautiful evening and I was glad to get out on the water. Winter evenings on the water in Florida are a real treat with the brilliant colors as the sun sets. See the pictures from this trip
2/3/08
As I reviewed my journal for last February I noticed that on this Sunday a year ago I put-in at St. George, Ga and paddled down the St. Marys to a new place - Emmaus Church road. That Sunday, like today, was Super Bowl Sunday and since i needed to come up with something to eat while we watched the Pats and Giants, I decided to head back to St. George so that I could get some ribs at the "Shack by the Tracks". I got going a little after 7 and following the directions on my GPS was in the water less than an hour later. It was overcast and a bit chilly as I set out against a pretty strong current but with my fleece and long paddling pants I was able to leave my spray skirt off. I passed a family camping along the beach near the railroad trestle and then made my way south. As is usually the case on the St. Mary's, wildlife was pretty scarce, but I flushed out some Wood Ducks who were perching up in some trees and on several occasions would here their distinct whistle as they flew away unseen. I began to see several Robins flying through the trees on both sides of the river. I took a few shots but with the sun still low behind the trees to the east it was too dark for clear pictures so I concentrated on paddling, occasionally shooting the beautiful cypress and tupelo formations along the banks.
Occasionally, I could hear the sound of gunfire coming from the woods on each side of the river which is pretty common around here at this time of the year. Just before reaching the area where I knew Emmaus Church road would be, I had to pass through a couple of major snags, made more difficult by the swift water. Apparently, in the year since I was here last, a few trees have fallen into the water making it a bit tricky to get past. After about three hours of hard paddling I rounded a bend and spotted a couple of trucks parked on the sandy shoreline along with some people out on the banks fishing. I paddled on a little further and then got out to stretch my legs before heading back toward St. George. As I was floating along, I heard my voice mail go off on my cell phone and since I was expecting a call from Hope, I pulled off to listen to the message. The signal was weak so I wasn't able to hear much of the message but as I prepared to push off again something caught my attention up on the beach. As I watched, I saw a very unusual looking Woodpecker who was clinging to the trunk of a tree as it drilled evenly spaced holes into it's side. I knew that it was some kind of Sapsucker and I later identified it as an immature Yellow Bellied - my first sighting. After a few minutes, I set out again and let the swift current carry me back to the ramp.
As I got close to the ramp I began to hear the sound of a truck roaring unseen in the woods accompanied my some loud metallic clanking. This continued as I loaded up my boat but after a while it stopped and a few seconds later a pair of tiny little boys emerged from the woods accompanied by a scruffy looking dog and a young man who looked to be barely 20. I was about to offer him a ride into St. George when I heard him tell the person on the other end of his cell phone (probably the boy's mama) to "come get me at the ramp - I'm stuck!". Since I knew he was taken care of, I headed out and stopped by the Shack to get a slab of ribs and then headed home. It was all I could do to not tear into them as they filled my truck cab with their smoky smell - especially when I had to set at a rail crossing for several minutes waiting for a slow moving train to clear. I managed to resist and the ribs arrived home unscathed to be devoured later as we watched the Giants upset the Pats in Super Bowl 42. I think I have found a new Super Sunday tradition! Hopefully, next year we will be watching the Jags while munching on Shack ribs. See the pictures from this trip
2/8/08
I had to attend a school all week at work which meant four days of sitting on my ass for 8 hours a day bored stiff. Since Hope was only back in town for a few days before she took off again, I decided to ignore the fantastic weather and spend some time with her. By Thursday afternoon, I was itching to get back on the water, but they decided to extend the school another day and I was offered the opportunity to earn some real easy overtime money - which I badly needed. However, a dentist appointment early Friday morning gave me the excuse to at least make it optional and I decided to load my boat before I headed out on Friday to Fernandina for the dental appointment. I decided that if the weather was as terrific as forecast, I would put in on Egans Creek and either explore that stream or cross over the ICW to explore the Tiger Islands.
My dental appointment was completed a lot sooner than I expected and since I had spent the previous evening trying to make our income match our debts, I made the decision to be responsible and headed back toward Jacksonville to earn a few hours of overtime. It killed me as I drove down A1A, crossing the Nassau Sound, Ft. George inlet and the ICW - especially since the whole way down I could see the steam rising from our cooling towers going straight up in the air against a backdrop of a pure blue winter sky. I gritted my teeth and after stopping by the house to give the puppies their meds and picking up my gate badge I headed into work. I knew I had made a mistake when I walked into class and was informed that the instructor had told everyone that he only intended to stay a few hours before packing up. When I told some of my co-workers about how great the weather looked, they too started itching to "get to the sea." The class finally, mercifully, ended and I was able to leave the plant at 3 and since my boat was already loaded, I headed to Pumpkin Hill to catch the outgoing tide.
The water was low but still heading out as I set off. The breeze had kicked up a bit since the morning but it didn't affect me down in the stream bed. On the sandbar opposite the put-in I noticed a group of distinctly colored birds asleep in the afternoon sun. I was surprised when I checked with my binoculars and discovered that they were Hooded Mergansers. I have never seen these shy birds out of the water - much less sound asleep and motionless. Since they were above the water and still I was able to get some of the best shots I have ever managed as I crept forward. They didn't allow me to get too close before the alarm went up and they flew off in a flurry. I assumed that encounter was an aberration but as soon as I rounded the first bend I realized that I was wrong as another large group of Mergansers were gathered on a sandbar. Throughout the day - this was repeated on several occasions so I guess the best (and only) time to shoot these little guys is on a late afternoon at low tide. Apparently, that is nappy time for Hooded Mergansers.
I rounded the bend by the trails and was floating down the run when a flash of white against the dark clay bank opposite me kept getting my attention. I assumed that it was a shorebird of some kind but as I got even with it, I check with my binoculars and was stunned to see a Bald Eagle sitting on the bank. He was surrounded by a mass of downy feathers that were stuck to the dark clay bank behind him and he was intently working on something at his feet. I paddled over to him, shooting as I approached but when I was about 20 yards away he flew off and perched in a pine tree near the little point where he seemed to watch me. I continued over to the bank until the low water stopped me and I could see that the Eagle had indeed been eating some unidentified fowl. Ironically, while he had been eating, a couple of Willets had been calmly hunting the mud nearby. I guess they figured they were safe as long as he was satisfying himself with their buddy Bob.
I headed on around the bend and made my way toward Tiger Point not seeing too much on the way down. As I rounded the final bend I found myself just a few feet away from another group of Megansers who were lounging on the sand but I didn't have my camera ready and was only able to get a couple of shots of them as they flushed. I made my way past the point and into the bay east of the flats but after not seeing too much there I headed back. I stopped to shoot some Oyster Catchers and then stopped at the point to stretch my legs. As I stood looking across to the Edwards Flats I could see a mass of white in the middle that I knew were the heads of the Pelicans who reside there. As I set out from the point a lone White Pelican came swooping low over my head and landed in the water ahead of me. He was too far away to shoot so I paddled with the now incoming current toward the next bend. As I rounded the bend near where I had seen the Eagle, I got my camera ready to shoot just in case he had returned to finish his meal. The sun was now just above the horizon so it was difficult to see anything on the western bank but I could see that he was not at the place where I had seen him earlier. I could see the same Pelican ahead of me so I started to paddle toward him.
A few yards up the run, I spotted a couple of large birds on an oyster bed, silhouetted against the glare of the setting sun. When I checked with my binoculars I wasn't surprised to see the same Eagle sitting there tearing into something at his feet but I was surprised to see another Eagle - a very young one - sitting a few feet away watching him. The glare made it nearly impossible to see and I was too far away to shoot but I tried anyway as I floated in with the current. As I got closer, the Eagles were now directly in the glare of the sun but I could see that the pair of them suddenly flew up in the air and appeared to briefly scuffle with one another. I watched as the Mature Eagle flew off and perched again at the little point but the youngster stayed put. I was able to paddle up a little further until I was even with the bed he was sitting on and since he was now out of the glare I was able to get a few shots of him before he finally flew off to a separate tree several yards away from the where the mature Eagle was now watching me. As I sat there watching the pair, a vulture suddenly swooped in and landed on the oyster bed to finish the meal the Eagles had left behind.
Although, at first thought, it appeared that the two Eagles were related and perhaps the youngster was the offspring of the older Eagle, I have read that Bald Eagles do not acknowledge their offspring and will chase them away from their nests if they try to return. This pair may have indeed been related but now that the youngster is out of the nest they are rivals vying for food and the scuffle I witnessed seemed to confirm this. Even though they perched in trees near each other after a few minutes I watched the youngster fly off and leave the area while the elder one stayed put and waited his opportunity to steal his food back from the interloper. There was an Osprey perching near where the Eagles had landed and each time one of them moved he chirped in alarm reminding me that Eagles and Ospreys definitely do not get along. Finally, I left and as the sun set I finally caught up with the Pelican whom shot in the dim light before loading up and heading home. See the pictures from this trip
2/10/08
I decided to put-in at Cedar Point this morning so that I could paddle up and check out the nest that I believe is an Eagle's there. After my Eagle encounter at Pumpkin Hill on Friday I am convinced that there must be at least one nest in the area and I wanted to see if anyone was working on this one or if there might even be some chicks popping their heads over the edge.
Low tide was at 5 am so by the time I got in the water a little after 7, there was barely enough water to paddle in. It was pretty cold and the forecast called for winds up to 15 mph coming from the north but I knew that at low tide I wouldn't feel it until I was heading home and by that time it would be at my back. I had an easy and pleasant paddle around the first couple of bends and started toward the confluence point. On an oyster bed that jutted out from the banks, a pair of Raccoons were searching for their morning meal so I stopped to shoot them before they scampered into the grass. On the oyster beds at the sea daisy island near the confluence point were gathered a variety of Plovers, Willets and Dowitchers who were mostly dozing in the bright morning sun with their beaks tucked under their wings. After stopping to shoot them for a while I let the swift incoming current carry me north toward Cedar Point. As soon as I entered the stream I spotted yet another Raccoon at the grass line searching for food. He gave me a surprised look as I floated by on the current. Once I arrived I was a little disappointed to find the point and its environs empty of birds with not an Eagle in sight.
I headed up the branch that heads toward the road and soon was in sight of the nest. There was no sign of the Eagles but the nest looks as if it has been well maintained. I took a few pictures to compare to the ones I took back in October and then headed further north to check on the boat squatters. They were still there, although their skiff was missing the their whole operation looked a lot neater than it had when I first found them almost a year ago.
I made my way back to the point and as I rounded the bend a very young Eagle flew out from the trees and headed to the north toward Pumpkin Hill. I'm not sure if it was the same youngster I had seen on Friday but it looked to be about the same age. I beached my boat and got out to stretch my legs. Nature called and as I was answering it an Osprey flew up with a fish in it's claws and perched above my head. Since my hands were occupied, I didn't react and try to grab my camera so the bird never saw me. I was able to walk around the point and shoot the female bird from a pretty close range as it tore into the still writhing fish. Some of the shots came out pretty good with the Osprey framed by the branches of one of the big oaks and the back-lit Spanish Moss. I moved around until I was directly beneath the base of the dead palm tree where she was munching on the fish and occasionally a chunk of fish would come dropping down near me. I moved carefully so as not to disturb her - moving only when she plunged her head into the fish and I was able to keep the thick moss shielding me as I made my way back to the boat and I carefully shoved off - shooting her a few more times as I passed by. The wind had picked up considerably while I was up the branch but the current was now slacking off as it reached high tide so that I had an easy paddle back to the put-in. As I got close to the launch point, I spotted a large group of ducks floating ahead of me. At first I assumed that they were Mergansers but after they didn't flush I checked with my binoculars and was later able to identify them as Lesser Scaups. See the pictures from this trip
2/11/08
I finally located the Duck Hunting schedule for Guana and so I headed that way to celebrate the re-opening of the north end for non-hunters. I arrived at 8:30 and could see that the area directly in front of the ramp was full of Coots who were calling back and forth to each other. I had seen on the Guana web site that they were seeing Eagle chicks popping their heads above the nest located near the dam so I headed south to check out the one that is located about a mile south of the ramp along the western shore. Along the way, I could see that the primary occupant of the lake was the ubiquitous coot who kept up their exotic cooing as I passed by accompanied by the the sound of dozens of webbed feet scurrying across the water as they tried to fly away. There were also several groups of Lesser Scaups in amongst them - the same bird I had seen on Cedar Point the day before.
I angled my way to the SW and since the water level was still quite high was able to pass through the small grass islands that mark the end of the marshy area of the lake and the beginning of the open area. I kept checking with my binoculars, the location where I knew the Eagles nest was but never detected any movement, either from the nest itself or the nearby trees. When I was still pretty far away I spotted a large, dark bird flying away from near the tree line heading toward the ICW. Finally, just as was approaching the grass line near the shore - a mature Bald Eagle flew out of the nest and immediately perched on the adjacent pine tree. I spent the next 20 minutes or so shooting and watching as it moved to several different perches on trees within a few yards of the nest. Although I never saw or heard any signs of chicks, I am sure that there must at least be eggs on the nest which explained why she was unwilling to fly very far away. She didn't seem to be worried about my presence and sat there calmly watching me while she groomed herself.
After eating breakfast, I set off to the north along the channel that runs along the western shore. When I set from the ramp the wind was still and the morning sun beating down on me caused me to shed my heavy fleece, but by now the wind had picked up out of the north and I was forced to put it back on. I saw a Raccoon working his way along grass line searching for food - the fourth one I have seen in two days. Except for the Coots and Scaups I didn't see much but as I was approaching the huge, prominent pine tree that is roughly parallel to the ramp I watched as a Bald Eagle came flying along the tree tops from the south, swooping up into the lower branches of the pine. I took a few shots and began paddling up the stream which ran directly beneath the base of the tree. Of course, the Eagle wanted nothing of my company and soon flew off.
I continued up the small channel and soon entered an area where small flat islands of grass appeared. As soon as I began to think that this would be a great place for Gators to sun themselves on such a cold, sunny day, I spotted one that looked to be about seven feet long ahead of me. He was sound asleep but as soon as he woke up he turned and slid into the water. A few yards further up, I caught a glimpse of two much smaller Gators flopping into the water from another tiny grass island. A little further north and I began to see what looked like brand new Wood Duck nesting boxes. I have seen a few older ones scattered about the north end of the lake but these are very new and all along the channel that runs along the western shoreline. It will be interesting to see if any baby Wood Ducks start to appear nearby. I still remember the wonderful experience I had a few years ago on the Suwannee River with a Momma Wood Duck and her ducklings. From there, I crossed over to the eastern bank and began working my back toward the ramp along the channel that runs along there and arrived at the put-in after a three and half hour trip. Not much out there as far as variety of birdlife is concerned but it was nice to have Guana back as a paddling option. As spring approaches, the migrating birds will find their way back to the lake and hopefully, I'll be able to make a few trips before my schedule gets crazy to see it. See the pictures from this trip
2/17/08
For years, I have referred to my usual Sunday morning paddling destination, Pumpkin Hill, as the First Church of Nature at Pumpkin Hill. As a part of Hopey's sabbatical that she is taking, she has decided to attend other churches and so we had planned to do a sunrise paddle at my church at some time during her time away from St. George. We had actually tried to do just that while I was still recuperating from my knee surgery but the weather turned cold and windy on the day we had chosen, so we wound up just eating breakfast at the put-in while we watched the sun rise and then went hiking in the park. We had a great time but it wasn't quite the same as getting out on the water and experiencing the area the way that I usually do.
I rolled Hope out of bed and into my waiting truck and we headed down Cedar Point Rd. We were at the water's edge just as the sun rose above the trees on Black Hammock island and a few minutes later were setting out into absolutely glassy waters. It was peak high tide and with no wind we were barely moving at all as we sipped our coffee and enjoyed the quiet beauty of the sanctuary. The only sounds that we could hear as we floated slowly down the creek were the constant calls of the Clapper Rails and the occasional crow of a Rooster coming from Black Hammock.
We rounded the bend by the trails and began heading down toward my shrimping spot. With the water levels high I didn't expect to see much birdlife, except for up in the trees and as we approached the little point we could see that it was full of herons and Wood Storks. Since there was plenty of water we floated in under the big oak tree where they were perching and took some pictures before heading back out into the main channel. A few minutes later, I spotted a slick head popping out above the water ahead of us. I pointed it out to Hope and told her that I was happy that we got to see at least one of the "big three" - Otters, Dolphins or Bald Eagles". As we floated around the bend near where I shrimp and began heading toward the point I explained to Hope that church services here tend to vary quite a bit depending on the tide. At this tide, things were pretty sedate but at low tide the place resembled a Pentecostal church with a lot of arms being raised, squawking and even some holy rollers when the shrimp are popping. Hope said that today would be called a "contemplative prayer service".
We made it to the point where we got out and were promptly swarmed by gnats. On top of that, we realized that I had forgotten the spoons for our yogurt so we had the bacon I had cooked for our bacon and egg sandwiches before I realized that we didn't have any bread. Ah -well! We were still able to drink coffee and munch bacon while we swatted gnats. We walked around the point a bit and as I was pointing out the flock of White Pelicans across Edwards Flats, a large, brown bird streaked in white flew from behind us heading toward the Broward Islands. We watched the young Eagle as he swooped over the flats and I told Hope that I was glad that she got to see 2 out of 3 of the things that I count as making any trip here special. We decided to head back home before the outgoing current got too swift and the breeze picked up too much. As it was, I knew that as easy as the trip down had been that the trip back would be a chore. I promised Hope that I would keep her out of the worst of it so we started the long trip back. We didn't see much and we stopped a few times to take a water break as we paddled into the choppy water. We made good progress and were back at the put-in in about 90 minutes. See the pictures from this trip
2/22/08
This is my last free weekend before the outage so I had planned to get as much paddling in as I could. Unfortunately, the other unit - unit 1 has been having a "Leak a Week" and once again was down with a tube leak - the second in less than a week and seventh since January so I didn't get off work until 4:30 am. When I got up after a few hours of sleep, the weather forecast was pretty "iffy" - lot's of rain in the area and breezy conditions so I decided to stay close to home and do something easy.
With the tide already close to peaking out by the time I got ready to go - I decided that Browns Creek would be a good place to explore and was in the water at 10:30. With the wind coming out of the SW, I was pretty sure that the trees along the water on the south side of the first island would be empty and a quick check with my binoculars proved that to be true so I headed to the east side where I could see the pine trees already full of Great Blue Herons. As I approached, I watched as the Herons flew out and then returned, often landing in a tree already occupied by a Great Blue with a nest a few feet below. I counted at least four nests but there were probably more that I couldn't see. I rounded the point and began paddling along the northern shoreline as I headed west. There were several Herons perched in the trees that I shot as I cruised along out of the wind.
I crossed over the main channel on the west side of the island chain and headed toward the runoff pond which I found empty except for the main Osprey nest that lies along the western shore of the pond. The massive construction project that is ongoing at the plant has made it nearly impossible for me to get out to check the remote areas of the plant where most of our varied wildlife lives so this was one of the few times I have been able to see the Osprey couple who has occupied the same nest for many years. I could see one of them in the nest working on it and then it flew off. Not long after I left the pond I spotted it, or it's mate, flying along the shoreline with a large amount of nesting material clutched in it's claws. I paddled along the shoreline, marking some landings on my GPS and then cut across to the main channel that loops around the northern side of the island chain. As I approached the northernmost big island I could see that it's trees were full of dozens of Snowy Egrets and other Herons who had found a refuge from the breeze. I floated by shooting them as well as a young Great Blue who was perching in the trees above. I made my way around the island and into the main channel and headed back to the bridge. The breeze had picked up as expected and was roaring up the channel against the outgoing current causing the water to become quite choppy. It was an easy paddle in spite of the rough conditions and I was soon back at the put-in. See the pictures from this trip
2/2408
Hopey was spending the weekend on a retreat at Camp Weed near Live Oak so we made arrangements for me to meet her there, spend the night and then go paddling on my final day off before the outage. It was also going to be the last day we had to spend together before she headed off with her Mom and Sister to Europe for a couple of weeks so we wanted to some quality time together. I got up early and loaded up her boat and headed out about 8 am to find a place in the vicinity to spend the day on the water before I met up with her. After looking at the river gage at White Springs I realized that the water level on the Suwannee River was up quite a bit from what it has been lately so I decided to head to Fargo, Ga and put-in at the Visitor's Center. The last time Hope and I were here - back in December of '06, the water level was so low that we couldn't make any progress and ultimately gave up. When I crossed the 441 bridge at Fargo I quickly realized that not enough water was going to be my last problem as only a few feet of ramp was uncovered and the water was all the way up to the bulwark surrounding the building.
I realized that, if anything, this might become an aborted trip once again, due to the fact that the current was so strong. I set out and was soon around the bend of the river that loops around the area and under the railroad trestle. Although the current remained swift I was able to make steady progress against it and was quickly out of earshot of highway 441 and into the very remote swampy woodlands that lead into the Okefenokee Swamp. I had purchased a paddle the day before to replace my seven year old Aqua Bound that was being held together with electrical tape and it was nice to have one that I felt confident in. As I set out, I saw and heard several Red Shouldered Hawks flying above but none ever perched within sight of me. A couple of Wood Ducks flushed ahead of me but on the day I saw very little in the way of birdlife. I had pulled over to the side out of the current to take a swig of water when a violent splash occurred a few yards ahead of me that I was sure was a Gator flopping into the water. A few seconds after I pushed off, I spotted another Gator sunning himself on the opposite bank so I paused to shoot him. Throughout the rest of the day I probably scared three more Gators into the water but all I saw was the aftermath.
As I paddled north, I began to see mile markers in the channel that were obviously the same type as I see in the swamp itself. I had marked the place where Hope and I had attempted to paddle the last time we were here - a road off of 177 called Reeve's Landing but spelled Rives Landing on the USGS maps. Although I was the only vehicle in the parking lot at the center when I set out, the river began to get busy as it approached mid-day. The extra water made this section of the Suwannee accessible to power boaters for the first time in a while but mostly they were small jon boats and they all powered down when they spotted me. I arrived at Rives Landing right at noon and it was shocking to see what a difference the water level had made. I remembered having to walk down a steep sandy embankment before but now the water was all the way up to the road. After stretching my legs, I set out and decided to continue upstream for another hour. I passed another mile marker and then just as it reached 1 pm, I passed one that read 5 miles. It was marked in a place where there was a little cove where a road cut down to the water on the eastern bank. I stretched my legs a bit and then headed back downstream. It had taken me a little over three hours to get to where I stopped but as I watched the speed on my GPS approach 5 mph I realized that it would take me far less time to get back. Just before 3, I pulled into the ramp at the visitor's center where I could see that seven or eight boat trailers were parked. See the pictures from this trip
2/2508
After my trip up in Fargo, I drove to Camp Weed where Hope and I met up and spent the night. The next morning I woke up to a dense fog, so I grabbed my camera and wandered around the edge of the lake, shooting the chapel and the dew laden spider webs. A pair of Wood Ducks flew overhead and landed in the lake but didn't stay long. The last time we were here together in August, there was a large flock of Turkeys who wandered in front of the inn but they were no where to be found on this day.
After a very filling breakfast, we packed up and got ready to head out. The facility is often rented out to non-church related groups and this week one of those groups was a Birding Elderhostel. There were a couple of old coots standing around as we prepared to leave so Hope asked where they were off to today. One of them was holding a large camera, lens and tripod and he proceeded to tell her that they were off to Alligator Lake in Lake City where they hoping that they might see Wood Storks. He made it sound like this was quite a momentous event in his life and that he had never seen them before. Stupidly, we proceeded to tell him that if he really wanted to see Wood Storks up close he should check out the Jacksonville area where we saw them on a daily basis up close. Of course this was the wrong thing to say to a true "birder" - especially one that had probably traveled hundreds of miles to attend an Birding Elderhostel. He and his buddy looked at us like we complete retards and dismissed our assurances that Wood Stork sightings were a common occurrence in Jacksonville so we left them. As we drove away I told Hope - "that is exactly why I'll never call myself a 'birder' - those guys didn't actually care about SEEING a Wood Stork - they just wanted to FIND one!" We agreed that as much as we both love birds - we don't really ever go out looking for them - we just observe what's out there and don't keep a "life list". It also made us think twice about attending an Elderhostel when we retire - these guys just looked way too old for us. Of course I said the same thing a few months earlier when we attended a Jethro Tull concert and saw all of the fat gray haired old guys that I was sure couldn't be "Tull" fans - until I looked in a mirror and saw a fat gray haired guy looking back at me.
We headed north, back up towards Fargo with the intention of paddling in Billy's Lake in the Okefenokee at Stephen Foster State Park. On our trip where we had attempted to paddle the Suwannee near Fargo, we had a wonderful time the following day on the lake and had always wanted to try it again, going towards Billy's Island. We arrived, checked in and were heading down the canal at 11 am, passing a large Gator who was sunning himself just off the boat basin. There was a couple who were loading a17 foot tandem kayak with camping equipment so I asked them where they were headed. They told me they were actually heading downstream hoping to find places to camp along the river. I told them about my trip the day before and about our trip to the "narrows" the last time we were here. I told them I didn't think they would have any trouble finding places to camp even though the sandbars were covered. We wished them luck and headed on out to the lake. Once there, we turned to the right and headed against a steady current to the east. We began to see evidence of the previous spring's fire as even the cypress stumps out in the channel were thoroughly charred. There was one large section of tangled trees about a half mile long on the southern shore that appeared to be completely burned and dead but for the most part we saw the base of the cypress trees along the shore burned but still alive and the ground around them was sprouting fresh growth. We saw a pair of Gators sunning themselves on a patch of grass on the northern shoreline which turned out to be the first of dozens that we would see on the day.
We began to hear an odd chirping sound coming from the burned out trees on the southern shore and we could occasionally see large gators moving around in the water. Although it didn't sound anything like the deep growls that I have heard near Folkston or in Guana but I'm pretty sure that it was coming from Gators - possibly babies. As we progressed eastward, we began to see more and more Gators, usually laying together in groups of 3 and at least one time we counted 6 in close proximity to one another. We passed one group where one was using another as a pillow. We also heard the call of Sand Hill Cranes off in the distance but never saw them and the Red Shouldered Hawks were constantly calling and flying overhead. We passed the path to Minnies Lake and Big Water but decided to keep going toward the island. The lake began to narrow and the channel twisted and turned a bit. We had thought we were the only ones out on the water but we spotted a group of five canoes coming at us who had been out earlier. Not long afterward we saw the dock so we beached our boats and began hiking around the area. According to the signage, Billy's Island was once the home to close to 1000 people in the logging industry but it has been abandoned since 1926. Little evidence remains of the thriving community but we walked around the cemetery and then down the trail to where we could see the rusting remains of logging equipment.
What was amazing to us was that we could see evidence of the spring fire along the base of the trees and anything that was laying on the ground was charred black. The ground itself, however, was covered in pine needles and new growth was springing up everywhere. I have always read how important fire is to areas like this and every time that I have paddled in the Okefenokee since the spring fire I have seen confirmation of this. One bizarre thing that we saw was some of the plastic or fiberglass boundary markers that had partially burned and turned into plastic string. the top couple of feet were intact and it was still attached by the melted portion to the part that was still buried deep in the ground. You could tell by this that the fire that raced through here was only a couple of feet tall. We sat down on the dock with our feet resting on the low bench that was designed to allow canoers and kayakers to exit onto the dock and ate while we enjoyed the glorious winter day. We were talking about something when suddenly my eyes and mouth went wide open and I pointed to a Alligator who lazily swam past us just a few feet away. He came from the direction of the shore behind the dock so he had to be there watching us for some time. We watched as he swam calmly downstream away from us and we began packing up to leave.
Not long after we set out from the island, we spotted a Gator lying on a log that we hadn't seen before so we assumed that this was our friend from earlier. As we paddled along with the current, we noticed that most of the Gators we had seen on the trip upstream had not moved an inch and continued to doze away in the bright sun. We reached the turn to Minnies Lake and decided to head up it a ways to check it out. The current was much stronger coming out but we were able to make our way up without a problem. We passed a cypress tree that had a beautiful flowering plant growing out of its base that we had seen elsewhere. Hope said it reminded her of Laurel that she had seen growing up in Connecticut. Regardless of what it was - it was strange to see it growing out of the cypress trunk as if it were part of the tree.
I passed a couple of Gators on some logs but when Hope came up behind me the first one violently flopped into the water and then began to swim parallel to her keeping an eye on us and we wondered if there were youngsters nearby. I had heard that this path was closed due to fallen trees but a couple of power boats passed us and we never saw them again so it must be clear for some distance at least. We decided to turn back and head downstream to the put-in passing many of the same Gators lying in the same large masses as we did. See the pictures from this trip
2/2908
Our big spring outage unexpectedly started a few days early due to a tube leak and soon became a duel outage as the other unit sprang it's third leak in a week and had to come down. With Hope in Europe for two weeks and Andrew busy I didn't have anything at home waiting for me so after a frustrating day at work I was ready to get on the water and correct some things in my soul. After a cold snap the day before that put temperatures in the low 30's it had finally warmed up but was still brisk as I set out about 2 hours after peak tide. I decided to head south for one of the few times since I began paddling here five years ago and went about a mile in that direction until the low water stopped me. I turned around and paddled to the trails where I could see a long White Pelican floating along some distance away. I decided to head back after about an hour on the water and shot an Osprey in a tree near the trails but not much more than that. Still - any day on the water....... See the pictures from this trip
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