Spring Wildlife

I love encountering wildlife when I go hiking and backpacking and kayaking. Those are the activities that most often put me in a situation where I can get photographs of wild animals. When I can't go hiking or backpacking I find that it's very easy for me to go kayaking in Mountain Island Lake which is just a couple of miles from my house. There I can see all sorts of critters from raccoons, deer, snakes and turtles, and dragonflies, to a staggering array of birds.

One of my favorite birds is the Great blue heron. For one thing, it's an animal that does not seem to be in any way under threat from pressure from humans. I see them all over the place. From wild open lakes in swamps and bayous when I'm kayaking, to rivers, to creeks in suburban neighborhoods, to Mountain Island Lake where I take my kayak (and camera).

One year one of my close friends (who is also, like me, a dinosaur buff) insisted that he had spotted a pterodactyl. No, he was not kidding. He was completely convinced that he had spotted one in the sky above his house. I tried to tell him that he had likely seen a Great blue heron, but he was having none of that. It was a pterodactyl, by God! Finally, a few days later he saw the same bird land in a neighborhood pond and called to tell me that I'd been right.

Still, they sort of are theropod dinosaurs (even if pterosaurs were not dinosaurs).

I was digging through old photos from a kayak trip I took on the lake last summer and enhanced some photos I took of what I think is the heaviest Great blue heron I have ever encountered. He did not like me one little bit because I interrupted his fishing trip and he had to fly across the lake to get away from me, croaking loudly about the inconvenience as he passed in front of my kayak. Screw you, human!

So here are the photos that I fiddled with to darken because it was a terribly bright, hot day and the raw photos are frankly not that impressive.

This was shot soon after I accidentally disturbed him. Initially he moved into the brush from the lake shore hoping I'd paddle on by.

Finally he got angry and took wing.

And he let me know what an asshole I was. "GRAK!" They sound about like you'd think a giant predator bird would sound.

He headed away.

Just before he got too far away for me to effectively photograph. 

You can kind of understand why my old pal could think it was a pterosaur.

Kayaking Scares the Birds.

I went kayaking again today. This time I headed toward a wilder side of Mountain Island lake where there are fewer homes and also where the Cowan Ford Wildlife Refuge is located. Not a lot of people visit the Refuge. Parts of it are off limits to humans, and no hunting is allowed. So the animals are more skittish and shy than in places where they are accustomed to people.

Today almost all of the birds I encountered did not like me around and let me know it. They all complained loudly when I'd come into view or close proximity. Some of them did not tolerate my presence and took wing and left me sitting there alone. Even the Canada geese at the refuge were shy--and the geese around here are not normally known for being afraid of people. But these were. Instead of flying away they just went ashore and vanished into the forest, taking their goslings with them.

Once again I saw an osprey and was not able to photograph it. It, too, headed off and left me fumbling with my lenses as it vanished.

Shy critters!

This fellow is THE biggest Great blue heron I have ever seen! He was enormous! Also, he gave me the stink-eye and took off!

He croaked at me and snapped his bill open and shut as he took his leave. He was pissed OFF!

This Red wing blackbird sat still just long enough for me to take a few photos, of which this is the best one. He also told me to go to Hell and left me floating on the lake.

Not sure what species of duck this is. But he muttered angrily at me as I beached my kayak to photograph him. Then he left in a huff.

Generally speaking, the local Canada geese are a nuisance. They will hang around you and bug you for handouts or attack you to get the hell out of their way. Not these. They took their babies out of the water and headed inland, glaring at me all the while.

Again, these turtles took offense at my presence and plunged into the lake, one by one.

This guy, though...this little dragonfly landed on the front of my kayak and refused to leave. He stayed with me practically the whole day. Even after I beached the kayak!! I had to poke him with my finger to get him to leave so that he didn't get hurt when I loaded my kayak!

I might post some video of the kayak trip tomorrow.

Birds.

When I go hiking and backpacking it is always a thrill to see classic megafauna. That is, very large animals--the types of which are going extinct or being threatened in the wild. Here in the South, outside of places like Florida, the list of big animals is very small. Florida has manatees, alligators, bobcats, panthers, bears, deer, and a few other big critters. But in the southern Appalachians the list is much shorter. Basically the big animals you can hope to see are the black bear, the whitetail deer, bobcats, and in a very abbreviate area, the elk.

Recently I went on a day trip to the Smokies where I was looking forward to seeing black bears and elk. I chose to visit the Cataloochee area of the Park where I have not failed to see large numbers of elk since they were reintroduced a couple of decades back. And I can generally count on seeing at least one bear when I'm in the Great Smoky Mountains. Alas, this was not the case. I saw no elk at all and only one bear that had been darted and trapped by the Park Service and who was being released from its cage (that hardly counts).

But one thing that I did see in the Park that day was wild turkey flocks. Lots of them. Scores of them. When I was a kid backpacking the Park I was always told they were present in the ecosystem, but I never saw one. Never. These days the Park--and indeed most of the southeastern US--is packed with huge numbers of wild turkey. All due, I have been told, to reintroduction efforts and strict laws on poaching of wild turkey and heavy enforcement of those laws.

So I saw a lot of turkey that day. A couple of days later I went kayaking on Mountain Island Lake which is located about two miles from my house. And I again saw a number of impressive bird species. No turkey, but Great blue herons, Great egrets, and osprey.

I'm not sure of the exact definition of megafauna, but maybe birds like turkey, osprey, herons and egrets should be included. More and more they're about the largest animals that I encounter when I go hiking and kayaking.

Great egret, Mountain Island Lake.

Great blue heron.

Osprey, Gulf Shores National Seashore.

Tom turkey trying to woo the hens.

Boids!

I went to visit my sister Nancy and her husband, Arnold today in South Carolina. They live out in a rural area in a nice neighborhood with a small lake. We ate a very tasty lunch and then went out in the yard to observe any small critters that might happen by. A few did. Notably hummingbirds, what I think was a Northern flicker, and a great blue heron that showed his skill and nabbed a nice fish while I watched (but was on the far side of the lake, so the photo of him with his catch is a tad blurry).

I love watching hummingbirds. But they are tough to photograph.

ZOOM!

Don't blink!

I was surprised at the size of the fish this heron caught. Keep in mind that this is one of the biggest Great blue herons I have ever seen. This particular bird is HUGE!

This is a really ingenious bird feeder made to confound squirrels. This flicker was also having trouble trying to figure out how to negotiate its mysteries.

The front of the house with Arnold.

There were scores of these baby toadlings around the lake. They were oh-so tiny!

Andy, Nancy, Arnold, and Carole relax beside the lake.

We pause so that Arnold can take a family photo.

The back of the house. Andy went swimming, but Carole and I did not.

Rivals at the nectar source!

Eight Days and Counting

Just eight more working days until we hook up the Casita and head to the Outer Banks. I don't really know what to expect, but I'm really looking forward to the trip. Other folk keep telling me that the drive to the Outer Banks is not the nightmare it once was now that several of the two-lane roads have been converted to four-lane freeways. We'll see. Our reservations for campsites are all done so we don't have to worry about that.

I suspect that bird life will be similar in variety and number to what I have witnessed in the low country of Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida. So I hope to take plenty of photos of birds while we're there. And alligators, of course. It would be nice to spot some whales. I haven't seen any pilot whales for many years, so I'm hoping to catch sight of a pod of them. We'll see.

These critters were all captured on photo images in Florida, but it's the kind of thing I'm expecting on the Outer Banks.

Gator. Waiting for dinner.

Osprey chick in nest.

Among my favorite and most present of large birds, the Great blue heron.

The Black vulture.

The Green heron.

Journey to Gum Slough.

One day Carole went into the park office to ask the rangers about some good places to go kayaking to find out of the way springs. One ranger is particular seemed to know quite a lot about the various locations of lesser known springs and told us that a good one was Gum Slough (pronounced "slew"). It was about 30-minute drive to an out-of-the-way boat launch. So we decided this was going to be our destination for the day and loaded up with directions and headed out.

Without a lot of trouble we found the boat launch (that was indeed located out in the sticks), and were soon underway. The water of the main channel we were traveling was dark and shallow. Around us was mainly forest, with a few old fishing shacks and some camps built into the forest on the left bank. About thirty minutes into the paddle we noticed a park area on the left bank and headed over to see it.

We were very surprised to find what is apparently a National Forest group camp. It consisted of a large maintained open grassy field surrounded by thick forests with two small sandy beaches appropriate for swimming or launching boats and kayaks. There are also picnic tables and a very clean vault toilet. Deciding that this place was too pretty to just view and leave, we got out our lunches and ate there at a picnic table close to the water's edge. The weather was good--partly cloudy with mild temperatures--and we were not bothered by bugs. We had pleasant meal and we took some photos of the camp and the views along the waterway and then we jumped back aboard our kayaks and continued on our way to find Gum Slough.

After paddling for no more than ten minutes beyond the camp we looked down to note that the water had gone from dark and murky to suddenly clear blue and clean, and rather deeper. Peering to our left, we could see that we had obviously reached Gum Slough and the influx of clear fresh water from the spring heads that were waiting to be seen far upstream into the dense jungle beyond.

So we turned and headed upstream on Gum Slough.

The stream was a weird one to me. The water was mainly shallow and only occasionally opened up into deep pools, always crystal clear. The farther upstream we went the more intense the current became and I found myself very much wanting to see the spring that had produced this run. Around us the forest pressed in close, and the way was full of downed trees and limbs, most of which we were able to float above. I could see where some enterprising group had come in to saw away and remove the worst of the deadfall, but not all of it. Later, we found out that a kayak club maintains the stream, but leaves as much debris in the water as necessary to keep out motorboats. My hat's off to this clever group!

As we paddled along we saw some wildlife. Mainly birds and fish, with a spectacular Barred owl who landed on the limb of a hardwood above to stare down at us with what seemed a disapproving glare. We pushed on, anxious to see the head spring.

But, eventually, we had to face the fact that we could not make it all the way to the end of the spring run. The debris in the waterway was just too heavy--even for kayaks--for the drought had left the stream level just too low to allow us to float over the deadfall in the water. With a great deal of disappointment, we finally faced the fact that we would have to turn around without reaching the main spring.

After that we just took our time fighting our way back along the wood-choked stream. Too soon we were back out on the main channel and paddling back toward the boat launch without having reached our destination. But that's okay. We saw a lot of wildlife, including some otters, and having not reached the headwaters of Gum Slough give us a reason to return for another attempt.

The Fish Camp just beyond where we put into the river.

Panorama of the river.

I know some people get into the whole religion thing. But this was just way too creepy for me.

The ever present Black buzzards. They are everywhere we go in Florida.

Lesser Blue Heron.

The National Forest group camp we stumbled upon.

Picnic table where we had lunch. Nice, clean vault toilet beyond.

Quickly after reentering the river we reach the clear water of Gum Slough and are anxious to see the spring that births it.

Birdsong greets us as we head upstream into wilderness.

This wonderful Barred owl stood on a perch and looked down on us.

This is the low water level that robbed us of our goal.

Carole precedes me downstream as we head back out to the main channel.

The dark water of the main channel.

I love the ever-present Great blue heron. They are tremendous predators. People don't realize what effective hunters they are, preying on not just fish but turtles, snakes, mammals, and even young alligators. The theropod predator still lives with us!

Home!

We're back from vacation. The cats have forgiven us.

I'll post more tomorrow. Now to rest.

My old stand-by, the Great blue heron. They're always on the waterways.

Despite appearances, these spring boils are not thermal. Merely clear, fresh water welling up from the limestone and bubbling through the very fine white and brown sands.

Two Critters Fishin'

I took this photo last year on the Gulf of Mexico. I saw this guy in this inlet fishing with a great blue heron pretty much doing the same thing in his own way a couple dozen feet away. Neither was bothering the other.

Great Blue Scott

On our first day in Panama City Beach I went for a two-mile hike on the beach inside Saint Andrews State Park. As I was walking along the surf I saw this guy sitting in a chair fishing. Standing about five feet from him was a really big great blue heron. The bird was just standing there, unmoving.

As I drew closer to the bird it just stood its ground. It wouldn't move. I started taking photos of it. Finally, even though I could see that it was made of feathers that were blowing in the wind, I decided that it was a mounted bird that was cleverly rigged to stand in place--just a fake or the art of a very skilled taxidermist. Then another guy walked up to it and it turned to look at him, so I saw that it was as alive as it appeared to be.

I should have talked to the guy fishing, but I didn't. What I think was going on was that he must have been tossing the odd fish or two to the heron and it was waiting patiently for a handout. At any rate, I've never been able to get so close to one of these birds. It was pretty amazing.

Click to enlarge the photo. I've never been able to get so close to a great blue heron. I think I could have stood next to it and it wouldn't have flown away. Unless I ever encounter either a cassowary bird or a secretary bird, I guess this is as close to seeing something like a Titanis walleri as I'll ever get.

Cousin of T-rex Hisownself

And then you have the easy to photograph critters. I was standing at the point where the Blue Springs Run meets the St. Johns River and noticed a Great blue heron fishing, just moving along the shore nabbing small fish as it went. Great blue herons are neat as hell. I'd always thought of them as just these huge, fragile-looking wading birds. But, actually, they're one of the top predators of the low country. They eat just about anything you can think of that is smaller than they are. Young alligators. Lizards. Bunny rabbits. Snakes of all sizes. Rodents. Etc. One of the park rangers told me that he watched one the previous day pick up a hard-shelled turtle. At first he figured it would have to drop the turtle. "No way he was going to be able to swallow that one," he told me. But, no. It turned its beak to the sky, opened up, and swallowed that turtle whole. No problem.

Great blue herons can stand four and a half feet tall. So I've met a few of them when they were standing on a small log who could look me right in the eye. Amazing animals, and peering into that eye, you can certainly believe that they're the cousin of the late, lamented T-rex.

Here's a series of photos I took of the Great blue as he walked along, filling his stomach from the all-you-can-eat buffet know as the St. John's River.