Herons

During our last trip on the boat..on the St Johns River, FL, we had to tie up to the city dock in Palatka, Fl to make engine repairs. Our alternator had quit and Jim was going to replace it with a new one.

We didn’t realize the shrimp were running and how busy the dock would be at night with folks trying to catch as many as they could. It was a lot of fun.

Everyone was using cast nets and their catch was dumped on the dock…shrimp went into a pail and small fish tossed back into the water.

The next morning the Herons flew in.

The were all over the dock looking for fish or shrimp that may have been missed.

They were so beautiful against the sunrise.

There were several squabbles over the choicest pieces found..

Even though they chased each other off…they kept coming back…..

Our engine problem turned out to have a good side ….we spent the evening with a nice bunch of “Shrimpers” and watched the start of a Bass Tournament this morning ..and then the Herons flew in. There is always good in most everything….if you just look for it.  Of course, I wasn’t the one leaning over a hot engine trying to figure out what was wrong….so Jim may not completely agree with me.

Alligators…

We spent 2 weeks on the St Johns River aboard our “little” trawler…Slow Motion. And that is just what we do…cruise in slow motion…normally around 5-6 mph. At this speed ..you wouldn’t think we’d miss many gators…but ..surprisingly we do. So you can imagine how many the rest of the boaters see while cruising at 20 mph or faster.

We took a side trip down Dunn’s Creek. It’s a very narrow..twisting and turning creek, with hairpin corners. The water on these turns is much deeper than the rest of the creek. In one spot it is 50ft….now…that is deep when you realize most of the lakes are 10-12 ft deep…and shallower. Lake George and Lake Monroe have marked channels because they are so shallow.

Jim spotted this cute little gator so we looked for it on our way back up the river.

I was so intent on getting pictures of it…..watch as we move on by. There are 4 turtles sunning with him.

But then we get a bit farther down stream…..the angle of the picture has changed….you can still see one of the turtles….but look at the logs behind him. 2 gators….to the L of them is the tail of a much larger alligator. As you can see….the tail is larger than any of the others ….and on another log behind it….is a smaller gator.  There are at least 4 other alligators in this photo…we never saw any of them until I downloaded this to the computer.

We still can’t believe we missed the big one. Jim was busy getting in as close as he could without getting into limbs etc under the water…and I was zoomed in on this cute little smiling one.

Manatee “twin” update

When I took this photo of a female Manatee and her “twins”….

we were thrilled….thinking we had found something rarely seen, so I sent the photos on to Georgia Zern
Manatee Protection Program Manager
Marine Mammal Stranding Team Manager
Estuarine Restoration Program Manager
Volusia County Environmental Management

They were put into their data base. Luckily I had 3 photos…which is a requirement.

She forwarded them to Ranger Hartley of Blue Springs. This is his response to her….she, in turn, forwarded it to me: 

“The mother is H. Granger; her calf is to her left.  The calf on the right is
Kee (female).  I can make out the R brand on Kee's shoulders.  Kee was
adopted by Della at Lowery Park Zoo while Della was recovering from a boat
strike.  Della, Pal (her calf while in captivity) and Kee were released this
summer at Palatka.  Della and Pal came in on 29 Nov.  So did H. Granger and
calf.  Kee was first seen with Park and calf on 2 Dec. Kee left Park and went
over to nurse on Cheryl (with calf), Cheryl was in on 18 Nov.  Since arrival
Kee has nursed on several different mothers.”  

Note the “prop” scars and look for them on the next Manatee you see….perhaps it will be H Granger….it will be like seeing an old friend.

Common Moorhen

These little wadding birds are very prettily colored and fun to watch. They look like they have yellow lipstick.

 

 

I guess I was getting a bit close..they are slowly sneaking back into the vegetation where I can’t see them anymore.

Here they are swimming with American Coots.

Manatees of the St Johns River, FL

In late November we had the pleasure of spending a few weeks on the St Johns River. There are many sections where you have to cruise at slow or idle speed because the Manatees are traveling to the warmer (72 deg) waters of the springs. One of the very popular is Blue Springs. They might be as many as 100 Manatees in there on a cold day. So at some point they will be traveling S on the river.

We stopped to photograph a fairly large alligator…and Jim called to me that he saw a Manatee. So we shut down the boats engine and drifted. Sure enough a female Manatee surfaced.

 

We were surprised to see a very small one with her….and even more surprised to see two.

We thought we had found a female with twins. The little one surfaced together.

and then they dove under the boat (we were glad the motor was off) and continued an S towards Blue Springs.

If you are on the river..watch for these wide flat swirls. It wont be long before you’ll spot a nose or a back. Just sit quiet and wait.

The area between Hontoon Island and Blue Springs is especially busy as the Manatees leave the springs to feed and then return. Be very vigilant and travel very slow. If you look at many Manatees you will start to notice all the prop marks on them.

Luckily this one didn’t have any major scars.

But this Manatee..seen at Salt River Run Springs  a few weeks earlier wasn’t so lucky.

If you really want a thrill…rent a canoe from the Springs. The Manatees are very friendly and curious and will even come over to investigate you. In this photo we are in our inflatable dingy.

Take your time on the river to slow down and give these big beautiful slow moving animals a chance to enjoy you…enjoying them.

Barred Owl

On our last trip up the St Johns River, we stopped at Hontoon Island and docked for the night. They have a nice museum and a video you should definitely watch if you are in the area. They have campsites and cabins for rent.

We took a short walk up the trail … towards the Indian Shell Mounds and spotted this Barred Owl.

It was quite content to sit there for a few pictures..

I had my small poodle with me…she’s about the size of a small rabbit. Perhaps that was the attraction and kept it in the area. I can’t tell if it’s licking it’s chops or not.

 

I was surprised at how large the Barred Owl is, and that it has brown eyes where most other owls eyes are yellow.

Gators on the St Johns River

We had a wonderful day on the river. Seemed like every where we looked there was a nice sized gator sunning itself. This one was sharing the area with a turtle and a White Heron.

The water was so flat the reflections are almost perfect.

 

This one sat for a short video before heading into the water.

I definitely missed getting some good pictures of the biggest gator we’ve seen out here.

He had a nice spot behind a few big trees with some brush for cover. As we got closer, he raised up and walked a few steps.

Then he dropped down and waited to see what we were going to do. Look at the size of that hind foot and claws.

Before we could get around the tree he went into the water. We have his spot marked on the chart and will be looking for him on the way back up river. He was huge!!