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2012 starts off chilly and windy Trips this month: 9
1/3/12
My first trip of 2012 came on the coldest in nearly a year with lows dipping below freezing. With near gale force winds on the coast, I decided that it would be a good time to head to the swamp and renew my annual pass and make my first trip of the year. I chatted with the proprietor as I got my pass and asked about the closed signs on the canals that have been placed since the park re-opened following the fire. She told me that the park service people were being "super cautious" because of the fire and that she was pretty sure they were taken down.
I geared up with my fleece jacket, hat, mittens and hand and foot warmers and shoved off from the shoreline and began paddling down the canal. The first mile was uneventful - I saw the occasional Great Blue Heron and could hear a few Cranes yodeling in the distance but the Alligators were no where to be seen. I reached the midpoint of the canal where the entrance to the canoe trail is and decided to poke my head in to see if it was iced over. As I was snaking my way through the narrow path, I saw some movement ahead of me at the corner where the path connected with the trail.
It was a squat, brown bird and although I couldn't see it clearly, I was pretty sure that it was an American Bittern. Slowly, I used the vegetation on either side of the path to pull myself forward as I watched the bird stealthily move through the charred undergrowth. Finally, I pulled myself out into the open where I could get a clear view of the bird and confirmed it's identity. It was odd looking for a Bittern which normally would make itself as long and skinny as possible to mimic a stick. This one kept it long neck retracted into it's body and it's plumage was fluffed up to make it appear much fatter than normal. It was obvious to me that the frigid temperatures were the reason for this as it was trying to insulate itself as much as possible.
It was aware of my presence but it had no intention of fleeing by air and was content to move quietly through the underbrush as I stalked it. We spent about 10 minutes playing a game of hide and seek before I decided to head back to canal and continue on. Once back on the canal, the wind, which had been relatively calm began to pick up making a roaring sound through the pines. I entered the Cedar Hammock trail to check the condition there and took some shots of the ice forming along the edges. The trail itself was hopelessly clogged with vegetation and I turned around. The Sand Hill Cranes began to stir and suddenly the air was filled with dozens of the noisy birds flying in all different directions. The activity seemed to coincide with the intensity of the wind and I wondered if they were seeking a place to take refuge from it. Whatever the reason, for the next several minutes the sight and sound of the Cranes flying to and fro was almost constant.
I returned to the canal and after checking the end of the canoe trail I entered the trail to the prairies and began paddling south. As I did the north wind began howling at my back threatening to pull the paddle from my hands. The water which is calm even on the breeziest of days began to ripple and I considered turning back to the relative shelter of the canal. A pair of Cranes flew in overhead and descended close to the canal. I paddled a little further south and could see another pair of Cranes feeding at the water's edge - possibly the same ones I have been seeing here on each of my last trips since the fire. I decided to paddle past them and shot them as they calmly watched and made my way down to the intersection.
I turned around and began paddling into the teeth of the gale which was surprisingly hard. I paddled past the same pair of Cranes who didn't seem to be too bothered by my presence and then up to the pair that had flown in. They didn't want to stick around and were soon airborne in search of a better place and I made my way back to the canal. On my last few trips, I had noticed that the Yaupon Holly trees along this section of the canal were laden with bright red berries and a flock of Robins were feasting happily on the fruit. After spending some time shooting the feast, I continued on to where the trail comes back from the prairies. I entered it and shot another pair of Cranes and then returned.
I made my way around the backside of the canal to the intersection with the cutoff and decided to head west toward Coffee Bay to see if the fire had damaged it. I paddled about a 1/4 mile west and could see no damage so I turned around. I entered the cutoff and made my way east shooting the occasional Wood Duck but saw very little else. Once back at the split, I saw my first and only Gator of the day - a youngster of about 3 feet who was laying in the water in a sunny spot. I knew that the wind was going to keep the Gators in the water on this day even though it was bright and sunny. Today - the water was the warmest place to be. The rest of the trip was uneventful. If anyone was going to venture out on the water it was going to be well into the afternoon and my trip back was quiet and easy.
See the pictures from this trip
1/8/12
I arrived at Horseshoe Creek a few minutes after the sun rose into a misty sky. The tide was still coming in as I headed out the northern branch to the waterway and then turned south. The island where the Eagle pair have been hanging out was empty so I continued on past it and made my way toward Cedar Point Creek and the Pelican pool beyond it. As I got close, I began to hear the loud boom of shotgun blasts coming from somewhere nearby. They were too close to be coming from the gun club on New Berlin or the range at Mayport Navy Base but I couldn't pin point where they were originating from.
I reached the mouth of Cedar Point and heard more blasts coming from even closer. I could see a boat pulled up on the shoreline near where I normally beach my boat when I check out the Pelicans and I knew that the gunfire I was hearing must be from hunters after the ducks who have been visiting the pool. I have often wondered if the palm frond blinds that I have seen placed around the pool were from hunters rather than birders and this confirmed my suspicions.
Not wanting to get a face full of buckshot, I decided to head into Cedar Point and as soon as I did, a large black bird rose from the shoreline and headed for the camping island. I was pretty sure that it was an immature Eagle, a fact confirmed when a group of small herons rose up from the shoreline there and flew away. They knew a young Eagle was headed toward them and had no intentions of sticking around to see if he would mess with them. He flew directly toward the island and disappeared into the shadows and I knew that it was going to be very difficult to pick him out before he spooked and flew away. I let the current carry me toward the island while I tried to stay on the opposite shore and looked carefully to see if I could detect his dark silhouette. Finally, as I was about even with the island, I spotted him perching on the branch of a tree on the shore about 20 feet above the surface of the water. He looked to be about 2 years old. His head was mostly white but heavily streaked with black while his body was chocolate brown with white spots on the chest. I floated past while he watched and then paddled back against the tide shooting him as I did. I knew that he could go at any minute without giving me any indication but he appeared to be strangely calm and unperturbed by my presence.
I paddled upstream to a calm spot just above a fallen tree and managed to settle in about 20 feet from the base of his tree. I sat there for at least five minutes shooting away while he calmly stared at me. Finally, without a sound, he took off and headed west. I saw some herons fly up from the back side of the island and so I paddled around to the stream on the west side that leads into the marsh. He wasn't there but as I was shooting the herons, another shotgun blast rang out scaring the birds I was shooting. I paddled back out to the creek and beached my boat so that I could climb up and check out the situation in the Pelican pool. I walked to the backside where I could see the Pelicans who appeared to have been a little spooked by the noise but surprisingly not that much. Some were in the water but a large group were still on their perch grooming themselves. I looked toward the island on the waterway and could just barely see the shape of two hunters and a dog sitting in some kind of blind about 100 yards away from the pool. It was hard to tell what they were shooting but I didn't see any mounds of Pelicans laying there so I felt better and headed back to my boat.
I let the current continue to carry me west and rounded the next bend where it loops around the next island. As I was making my way around it, I looked toward the trees and saw the unmistakable shape of an Eagle and began working my way toward it. It was the same Eagle and once again, he seemed to have no problem with my presence. I took several more photos and then backed away while he sat there surveying the situation. I headed back to the creek and then entered Pumpkin Hill while the tide was still flowing in. As I approached the landing, I saw what I thought was an Osprey sitting in the treetops there. As I got closer, however, the Osprey let loose with a raspy screech and I knew that it was a Red Tailed Hawk. I snapped a few shots before he flew off and I continued north. I paddled up past where the boat squatters had been anchored and then turned around. By now, the tide had turned and I was carried quickly back toward Cedar Point Creek.
About halfway back toward the landing, I looked to my left at some large pine trees and saw a dark shape perched in the midst of them. I knew it was another Eagle youngster but I wasn't sure at first if it was the same one I had seen earlier. As I finally got a clear view of him I realized that this was a different and younger Eagle whose head was almost completely black and chest was much whiter. I shot him for a few minutes before he flew off, heading toward the landing and not surprisingly, when I arrived a few minutes later he was perching in the trees there. I took a few more shots but when my boat drifted in under some trees, he flushed. I have found over the years that Eagles much prefer keeping an eye on you and once they have spotted you they will leave if you disappear behind something. Other birds don't seem to be able to figure out what happens when you disappear but the highly intelligent Eagles know you are still there and don't like it. It's far better to stay in their view than to hide.
I got out at the landing and stretched my legs before heading on toward Cedar Point but as I started to pull away from the point, I saw yet another Eagle perching a short distance away. I saw the shape and knew immediately and assumed it was the same youngster who had flushed but quickly realized my mistake. This one was a fully mature bird which meant my third separate Eagle on the day. I managed to get closer and shot some picture before he flew off and I headed finally back to the creek and let the outgoing current carry me toward the ICW. As I passed the second island, I looked over and could see the same Eagle I had seen nearly two hours earlier perching in the same tree. I reached the waterway and began paddling north. As I got closer to the southern branch of Horseshoe Creek, I looked up to see a pair of mature Bald Eagles circling well above the surface. I can only assume that it was the Eagle pair I had hoped to see when I set out. I have no way of telling for sure but I think that made my 4th and 5th Eagles on the day - three for sure.
See the pictures from this trip
1/10/12
I made my way up the road to the Hannah Mills put-in setting out at peak high tide on a calm morning. My intention was to head up to the Pelican pool to see what damage, if any, the hunters had done when I saw them there on Sunday. The trip up was uneventful and I was soon passing the old cedar and heading north along the feeder streams out to the ICW. I saw a Red Tailed Hawk fly out from one of the islands and head directly for the next one north of there. A Northern Harrier began circling above the island as if he had spotted some prey there and was trying to flush it. The Red Tailed Hawk I had seen earlier was apparently the focus of the Harrier's attentions as when he flew out it gave chase and began swooping down on the Hawk. This went on for a while until the Hawk finally crossed the waterway and the Harrier continued it's swooping over the marsh grass. I reached the ICW and headed north. Not far north, I spotted a dark bird swimming in the waterway occasionally diving. As I got closer, it's white underbelly began to glisten in the sun and I knew that it was the Loon that I often see in this stretch of the waterway this time of year. I tried to get close but just as I was about to get a good shot he disappeared and I never saw him again. By now, I was close to the island where the Pelican pool is located so I beached my boat and began walking across the flats. The small pool was empty but the larger pool was full of well over 100 of the giants who were gathered in three groups. As I walked on the mudflats, I could see the heavy boot prints fresh in the mud along with what appeared to tire tracks of some kind of cart and I could see that they had set up in at least a couple of different locations. I walked across the flats to the edge of the pool while the group of Pelicans nearest me began to rouse from their slumber and waddle into the water. I looked for the Shoveler ducks that I have been seeing in increasing numbers the last couple of years but they were absent. I headed back to my boat and headed south along the eastern shoreline until I reached the Manatee Zone sign and then cut in and headed back to my truck.
See the pictures from this trip
1/15/12
I launched from the Pumpkin Hill put-in about 40 minutes after sunrise at dead low tide - the lowest I've seen it in a long time. There were a few birds out feeding - less than I expected on this chilly day but as I was heading toward the bend near my old shrimping spot, a lone Dolphin rose out of the water and then disappeared never to resurface. I rounded the bend and was heading toward the point when I saw some splashing next to the shoreline.
I assumed, at first that it was the Dolphin feeding but the splashed were too small and soon a saw a dark, sleek shape moving in the water. Suddenly, a huge fish tail flopped out of the water in front of the dark creature which was soon joined by a second. The two Otters were attempting to subdue a fish that was about half their body length and after about a minute they appeared to have it under control and were digging into it along the muddy shore. The sun was behind me so I was fairly certain that they hadn't spotted me as I sat there watching them but suddenly, one of the Otters grabbed the fish and began dragging it between it's legs as it bounded into the grass.
The second Otter soon followed but as I was about to stow my camera, a large dark bird swooped in from above and I realized that the Otters were reacting to a young Eagle who had spotted their catch and was going to at least try and make it his own. He flew off empty handed and I never saw the Otters again so I continued on down to the point. As I rounded the bend and entered Edwards Creek, I spotted the silhouette of a dark bird perching in a tree on the western edge of the point. He flew off almost immediately and although I wasn't sure at the time I later identified him as another - possibly the same Eagle youngster.
I got out and stretched my legs before getting back in and heading back to Pumpkin Hill Creek. I debated about continuing on to the big bay where the oyster beds are located but I spotted a pair of White Pelicans feeding along the shoreline as they they floated along with the now incoming current. I paddled over to them and followed them as they rounded the bend opposite the point and floated along while watching me. Finally, they doubled back on me and we went out separate ways.
As I pulled even with the spot where I had last seen the Otters disappear into the grass, I spotted a dark shape in the water ahead of me. It was either another Otter or else one of the pair with the fish. He began the game of "follow me" that I have become accustomed to as he swam ahead, popped his head well above the surface of the water and huffed to make sure that I saw him. We rounded the bend and I was sure that he was about to double back on me but he continued to lead me in the direction I was going. Finally, my attention was distracted elsewhere and I stopped seeing him and I made my way toward the observation deck.
I had been shooting a Great Blue Heron when I noticed a young Eagle circling low above the water. He made a couple of passes and then swooped down to the mud with this feet extended and then flew off. It wasn't until I review my pictures later that I realized that he had spotted a large fish lying on it's side in the mud and that was what he had snagged and carried off. It was probably the same Eagle I had seen on the prior occasions and I realized that it was the first time I had seen an Otter catch a fish, an Eagle try to steal a fish from something other than an Osprey and the first time I had seen an Eagle actually catch a fish - even if that fish was a dead or at least stranded one. It was a good day at any rate and I made my way back to my truck and loaded up.
See the pictures from this trip
1/19/12
Hope and I decided to spend a couple of days in Tybee Island at the Tybee Island Inn. We weren't sure where or even if we were going to go paddling but after arriving we took a walk to explore the neighborhood and one of the neighbors who has seen our kayaks told us about a ramp on the opposite end of the island that was just across from Little Tybee Island - an area I had been interested in exploring.
After a fantastic meal at an odd little place within walking distance of the inn and a wonderful breakfast, we headed down the main drag through the island until we found the road to the put-in. When we arrived, the ramp was occupied by a group of a dozen or so coeds from Gettysburg College who were off to camp out on Little Tybee. We loaded up and launched ahead of them and began paddling across the channel on the last of the outgoing current. As soon as we started across, a lone Dolphin began surfacing ahead of us and we kind of hung out with him for a few minutes until the current carried us past. We kept close to the shoreline on the Little Tybee side as we paddled out to the ocean. A huge sandbar lies in the mouth of the back river which blocked the breakers coming in from the Atlantic so our trip was on calm water. Little Tybee is made up of a huge marshy area dotted by several large islands and intersected by several tidal streams. The tide in this area is 7 feet - almost twice what it is in our area of Florida so the beaches stretched out for hundreds of feet in front of the islands and often consisted of the same clay material that makes up the areas like Black Rock beach on Big Talbot.
On one of the prominent islands, we could see an adult Bald Eagle perched in a pine tree set off from the rest of the island. The coeds from Pa, finally launched and were coming up behind us so we pulled over to the middle of the channel to let them pass so that we could see where they were going to settle. They beached their boats along a beach that was located at the mouth of the inlet where the protective sandbar ended and started carrying their equipment up into a hammock above the beach. We thought about heading a little further down the beach but by now the tide had turned and the current was rushing into the inlet so we turned back. We decided to beach our boats a few hundred yards down the beach from the ladies and got out to explore the area. We explored the area and found several beautiful campsites and then since the tide had started to come over the sandbar and waves were beginning to crash onto our beach, we decided to head back inland to where the sandbar still protected us. We found the entrance to a tidal creek that had been impassable when we passed earlier and beached our boats about a hundred yards from the inlet.
We ate the sandwiches we had bought at the IGA and drank the homebrew we had brought along and could have spent the rest of the afternoon dozing in the bright sun but we knew that we had to get back and loaded up. We were not far from being directly across from the ramp and had started across when we noticed about five Dolphins surfacing near the grassy shoreline on the Little Tybee side. We paused to watch them head out before we made the crossing against a strong incoming current and loaded up.
See the pictures from this trip
1/22/12
I launched at Horseshoe Creek a few minutes before sun rise on an incoming high tide. There was a light mist rising from the water but for the most part the day was clear. I headed out the northern branch and floated past the island hoping to see the Eagle pair who have been hanging out there on a regular basis. They were not there but the trees were occupied by three or four Great Blue Herons including one who was standing in an old nest. It seems a bit early for nesting but I haven't seen any Herons there since late last summer. The sun rose uneventfully as I approached the entrance to Cedar Point Creek and I was hoping to make the Pelican Pool my destination before the sun rose too far into the sky. As I got close, however, I was disappointed to see an empty boat beached on the shore and although it didn't appear to be the same boat as before, I was sure that it was the hunters returning to the flats so I turned into Cedar Point Creek. The tide was high enough so that I could look across the flats at the back side of the island where I saw the distinct shape of two people in ball caps crouched on the ground. I never heard any shots but I could see that the Pelicans were agitated and flying about the pool. I paddled past the empty island and entered the stream on the west side that runs down toward the Pelican pool before eventually connecting with Cedar Point Creek. I shot the huge oak tree on the back side as the sun broke through the mist. As I sat there I could feel a shadow coming over me and looked behind me to see a solid wall of fog moving in from the west. I paddled back to the creek and made my way toward the landing at the south end of Pumpkin Hill and paddled up to the place where the streams narrows down to nothing. I turned around but although the tide by now was heading out, it was going north with the rest of Pumpkin Hill and didn't turn around until I was almost back to the landing. I got out and stretched my legs and then headed out with the current as the fog finally began to lift. I made my way quickly back to the waterway but I had to wait until two snowbirders in huge yachts came south racing each other and throwing up giant wakes that crashed onto the shoreline. Once on the waterway, I once again saw the Common Loon that I almost always see on this stretch of the ICW at this time of the year. With all of the traffic now heating up in the waterway, he spent most of his time submerged and I only managed one shot before I headed back to the ramp.
See the pictures from this trip
1/23/12
I knew that there would be fog in the morning and when I woke up I was not disappointed. I got underway around the same time as the day before and was heading out into the dense gray soup a good 20 minutes before the sun was supposed to rise. Of course, that was going to happen unseen this morning as the only thing to let me know that it had actually happened was a gradual lightening of the grayness to the east. I paddled past the sea daisy island and then up the old cedar which was empty and headed out to the waterway from there.
I had hoped to arrive at the Pelican Pool and be able to shoot the slumbering giants as they waited for the fog to lift but I was disappointed to find it occupied by only a handful and they were in no mood to be disturbed. I could see heavy boot prints and empty shotgun shells at the edge of the pool was well as evidence that the hunters had set up out in of of the small island along the east side of the pool. It looked as though they were firing directly into the pool and I was afraid that it was the reason the big birds were not there.
I headed back to my boat and decided to head on into Cedar Point to see if anyone was perching on the island. Once I confirmed that it was empty, I entered the stream on the east side of the island that also heads into the marsh and comes even closer to the Pelican pool that the one I took the day before. It appeared that today's tide was going to be a bit higher than normal and I wanted to see if there would be enough water to actually make it into the pool. I followed the main stream as far as it would let me and then followed another finger but both stopped tantalizingly short of the edge of the pool where I could see a dozen or so white heads popping up above the grass.
I could have pulled myself though the grass and made it into the pool but it would have required a lot of effort and certainly spooked the birds so I returned to the creek and back to the waterway. I headed south and checked to see if the water was going to breach the shoreline as it had several years back when I had been able to access the pool from the Intracoastal but it was obvious that it was not going to get that high. As I floated south, however, I began to see several large groups of Pelicans begin to fly in and swoop down into the pool. Apparently, they had been out feeding and had waited until the fog lifted enough that they could see the pool from the air and were now returning.
I crossed over to the west side of the waterway as a group of Dolphins swam by me heading north. I paddled along the shoreline there until I reached the entrance to Shad Creek and turned in. I paddled around into the lagoon behind the island on the northeast side of the entrance and got out to stretch my legs before heading on. I paddled across Shad Creek and started around the backside of the Sister Islands where the Heron Rookery was located last summer. I was shocked as I rounded a bend and saw 12 mature Great Blue Herons perching in a dead tree directly in front of the rookery. Great Blues are solitary creatures with two exceptions - when they are migrating and when they are nesting. I'm not sure which this group constituted but it was unusual nonetheless. After shooting them, I headed across the ICW and into Hannah Mills at the Kingfish Park. A pair of Hooded Mergansers were perching on the shell bank there - one of the few times I have seen them out of the water and I was able to get several good shots of them before they flushed. I paddled against the current as I made my way back toward the pool alongside Heckscher and when I arrived, I spotted a flash of white through the grass in the vicinity of the Sea Daisy Island and headed over to investigate. As I came around a bend, I saw that the island was covered with six or seven White Pelicans who had taken refuge there while the fog finished burning off. They scooted into the water and began swimming north while I finished up my return to my truck.
See the pictures from this trip
1/29/12
I launched from the Pumpkin Hill put-in a few minutes before sunrise about an hour before low tide. It was a lot colder than I had thought it would be and was glad to find a couple of old chemical hand warmers stuffed away that I could toss into the end of my mittens. As I rounded the first bend, I saw a familiar silhouette perching in a pine tree close to the Black Hammock shoreline but it was far too shallow to get close to the young Eagle and I headed toward the new platform as the sun rose over the trees behind me.
I rounded the next bend and began heading down the long run toward my old shrimping spot. I could see several large white shapes glowing orange in the morning light and soon could tell that there was a group of White Pelicans waiting for me at the end of the run. A pair of them were swimming by themselves feeding while another four were sitting on the long sandbar that juts across the channel at the end. As I approached, the two who were swimming took off and flew around the bend where they landed. The group on the sandbar waited until I got close before they waddled into the water and then eventually took off.
Just beyond the sandbar, a group of Dolphins had been feeding along the shoreline and they moved around the bend about the same time that I did and I soon found them throwing up huge spray of water as they fed next to some oyster beds. I spent some time shooting them as I drifted toward the point with the last of the outgoing tide. The Dolphins soon headed inland as I paddled past them toward the group of White Pelicans who were heading into one of the many feeder streams. I pulled over to watch from behind a large oyster bed thinking that they might come past me but they stopped at the entrance to the stream where they waddled up on a shallow stretch and began to groom themselves. After a while, the Pelicans started to move into the mouth of the creek so I pushed off from my perch and paddled toward them. The lead bird, evidently found the water too shallow and came flying back out toward the channel followed quickly by the rest. I had pulled even with the group as they all re-entered the main channel and I shot them as I passed by. They broke off and began flying away in different directions and I continued on to the point.
I rounded the bend hoping to see some birds up in the trees but as I drifted into Edwards Creek I was disappointed in the empty trees. I was staying very close to the shoreline as I reached the end of the point but suddenly I noticed a huge, dark shape looming above me in the trees. I knew that it was a very young Eagle who, because I had been so close to the shore, had not seen me approach. I waited until he finally came into the clear and began shooting as he finally spotted me and started to fidget on the branch. He watched me come into the clear and after a few short seconds, spread his wings and silently took off with the bright sun illuminating his tail feathers.
He circled the point a couple of times before moving to the next grove of pine trees a little further upstream on Edwards and then, after a minute or so, he took off again and headed south. I got out to stretch my legs and then headed back out into Pumpkin Hill where I continued around to the bay on the east side of Edwards Flats. I could see a trio of Pelicans who were perching near the very end of the long sandbar that extends from the mouth of Edwards to the entrance to the bay. I stayed on the west side of the bar until I reached the bay and then came back along the east side as I cruised past the Pelicans. The rest of the trip was uneventful and I was soon back at the put-in and heading home.
See the pictures from this trip
1/31/12
I was feeling a bit tender this morning but since I had a procedure for my back at the Clinic scheduled for the following day I pushed myself a little and was on the water a few minutes after sunrise. The water was too shallow to take the northern branch so I headed down the longer southern loop shooting some Herons and an Osprey along the way. As I approached the bend, I started hearing loud, thunderous splashes followed by exhales and knew that Dolphins were waiting for me on the other side of the bend. I rounded the bend and spotted the Dolphins who were busy feeding next to an Oyster bed near the outlet to the waterway. They were swimming back and forth as usual but every few seconds one of them would suddenly lift his fluke tail into the air and then, just as it was about to disappear beneath the surface, there was a loud "whomp" quickly followed by a geyser of water that shot into the air a least 15 feet.
This went on continuously as I approached, but when I got close, they began to move out into the waterway. At first, I though that they had decided to head the same direction I was going - north, but soon I could see the same geysers rising from the south and I knew they had gone in that direction instead. At first, my plan was to head into FGR but by the time I reached the entrance to Garden Creek, I knew that I wasn't going to be able to handle too long of a trip so I pulled over to the big sand bar located at the entrance and stretched my legs a bit. I decided to get back in my boat and paddle up Garden Creek to at least the first bend to see what was going on there. There was a large group of Hooded Mergansers who, like always, scurried away before I got very close. There were also two pairs of the much larger and braver Red Breasted Mergansers who were hunting along the shoreline that I was able to get quite close to as they "peered" into the water. The males, in particular, are very striking with their jet black heads and spiky crest with just a hint of buff along the chest. I rounded the bend where I saw quite a few Great and Snowy Egrets as well as a huge raft of Hooded Mergansers.
I turned back and headed back to the ICW, shooting some Oyster Catchers and the same Mergansers as I made my way back to open water. By now, the wind had kicked up making the water a bit choppy but there was little traffic on the waterway and my trip back to the southern entrance to Horseshoe Creek was easy. As I was about to enter the creek, a group of Dolphins began moving north along the opposite shoreline. I was wondering it they were the same ones I had seen earlier when suddenly the geysers began to erupt and I had my answer. I finished up my trip back to the ramp and headed home.
See the pictures from this trip
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