July 31, 2024
Last day of the month. Marian and Rosemary joined me again!! They are great bird scouts! We saw a shark, (small one that went under Marian’s kayak), a manatee (a baby that came up for air three times), and two dolphins!!
A trifecta!
No photos of any of them though! The shark was there and gone, the baby manatee just poked his nose up and was gone in a second each time, and the dolphins were so fast that all I got was water! They passed us and were fishing around the bend from me – the girls saw them, so I paddled toward them and boom, they came right up to me and surfaced at my bow, too close to get a photo!! Under my kayak and down the creek so fast, we saw them again but far down already! They surfaced and were gone.
7-29-2024
Another nice summer day, full sun.
I saw the baby duck again after such a long time!
7-28-2024
Two friends have birthdays today, Happy Birthday!
Rosemary and Marian and I picked up trash yesterday, so today it was very nice and clean all the way up the Bear Creek. Full sun today. I had stopped in on Nature John yesterday at the urging of the girls, he was OK, but not well.
7-27-2024
Marian and Rosemary both came with me today! The sun never came out from behind the clouds, so it was not too hot, but nice, flat water. No manatees, dolphin or sharks,…one lady said that the manatees were there earlier, so they must have been out at 6 AM to see them!
July 26, 2024
Another fine day. Several Osprey around today. An Anhinga was fishing, then it swam to shore by using its wings.
July 24, 2024
Another beautiful day.
Osprey with fish, a shark, two ladies doing Manatee Research, marine workers removing pilings, a busy day.
July 18, 2024
First off, I think the other day was a dolphin, not a shark. Today a dolphin passed me going north up the creek. I followed the best I could, and caught up with it where it was fishing by the pipe crossing. Its dorsal fin was much like the other day, but it surfaced a number of times to take a breath. Sharks do not do that.
July 15, 2024
Shark day, hawk, another nice day. Sharks have been sighted all around, I saw two this morning, one just as I was getting into my kayak.
Also a Merlin Hawk was around. He was watching the Blue Jays who were squawking all around me. I understand the hawk eats small birds, and maybe the squirrels running around too.
Every year the Black Skimmers congregate on the beaches of Florida. For the last several years about 400 have settled on a spot between a hotel and the water where they settle in and build their “scrapes”. A scrape is a shallow depression where they lay their eggs and raise their young. Volunteers set up a string and signs to inform beach goers that the birds are here and need to be protected.
On the fourth of July people set off fireworks all along the beaches. Every year that scares the young and they run terrified away from the noise and explosions. So every year volunteers set up a 2 foot high fence around the nesting area so the young will not run amok and get lost .At dawn this morning I joined Harry and four other volunteers to take up the fencing.
July 4 update
Marian called and asked if we could take the kayaks out and watch the fireworks from a spoil island, so we did! I knew we were coming back in the dark so I brought along three sources of light, my bicycle helmet with its flashing lights, a miners light and a small light. I hung the little light on a branch so we would know where to go ashore, Marian used the miners light and I had my helmet to make sure boats would see us!
It was a great evening, the breeze helped us along out to the island, and switched after dark to help us paddle home! What a great way to see the fireworks – fireworks all around us!
July 4, 2024
Happy Independence Day!
Rosemary came with me this morning! She was a good spotter, she saw birds I missed several times! She and I saw a manatee, and then followed it up the Creek almost to the dam! At one time the manatee sneezed twice, scaring the birds around, it was so loud!!
We saw two birds I had never seen before, a Shikra from Africa (maybe got loose?) and a Shiny Cowbird.
It was a beautiful morning
July 3, 2024
Dolphins AND manatees today!!
I was stopped by Patricia B’s place when there was a lot of thrashing going on down by the bridge. All I got was pictures of bubbles! Then a large dolphin went by – underneath me and up the Creek. A short time later a smaller dolphin came right up beside my kayak – about 3 feet away – he did a corkscrew looking at me – right there!
Then on my way back I got a shot of the nose of a manatee up ahead.
One Osprey was eating his breakfast of fish when another Osprey (a little larger one) came and drove the first away. Yesterday it was like the two were cooperating, today – with food involved – not so much.
The duckling came to see me as usual.
July 1, 2024
Another nice day, MANATES! Five manatees swam by me, Three were on the surface momentarily, then two more slid on by. I tried to get underwater photos, but they were gone by the time I got the GoPro camera out. I thought I would catch them up by the dam, but nope.
