Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

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Upstream Reflections

Wednesday April 12, 2017                                                                       Most Recent Posts:
Faver-Dykes State Park                                                       Pellicer Creek, the Heart of Faver-Dykes
St. Augustine Florida                                                                    Nice Surprise at Faver-Dykes

 

 

I’m going back in time a week or so to post about our last day at Faver-Dykes and in Florida.  David joined me on Pellicer Creek this time heading up stream to see how far we could go.

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The water was calm and the reflections outstanding.  The tide was low unlike my previous post about paddling down stream when the tide was way up and coming in fast.

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We’d hardly set out when we paddled by the park’s fishing dock at the picnic area and found only one fisherman checking things out. 

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Sometimes it’s hard to take it all in while paddling.  There are things to see on the shoreline, things to see in the water including the fabulous reflections today.  But I have to remember to look up as well.

There are non wading, non swimming birds in the trees like this Osprey. It is just so amazing that he can see the fish he’s looking for from the tip top of this snag.   Wish I had his eyesight.  Even my 50X zoom can’t match him.

 

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Further along I caught another kingfisher in a similar snag.  Their chatter when they fly often alerts me to them and I can follow and see where they land.

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Not sure this is the pelican from yesterday but it could be since he was hanging around the only cluster of houses we paddled by.

 

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I was really lucky to have looked up and seen the bald eagle only a minute or so before he flew away.  Talk about eyes, he has them.  He was on top of the massive electric tower we always call Ready Kilowatt.

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I didn’t want to paddle so the best I could do is float underneath him and zoom in.  Wish I could have gotten rid of the wires.  But he’s still pretty majestic. 

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Taken just before he flew off.  I’ve got some very blurry shots of him winging away.

 

These are some of my favorite pictures of the day and their beauty belies the fact that they were taken not far from the I 95 interstate bridge we went under.  The noise was a serious contrast to the visual beauty.

 

With my paddle

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And without. 
Your choice.

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This will be us tomorrow as we cross this I-95 bridge heading north.

 

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At the last minute, this cormorant decided he didn’t want to share space under the bridge with me.

 

On the western side of the bridge the eco system changes from Salt Marsh to Maritime Forest.  Palms overhang the water.

 

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Not much further on it begins to narrow.

 

The reflections give the creek an even more jungle like appearance. 

 

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Around a corner we come to the only other campground I’ve seen on the Creek.  This one is private and called Pellicer Campground.  It has a boat dock and appears to be off of Route 1.

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We head on past the campground as the creek gets narrower and narrower.  This is the part I really like but by this point we are running out of time.   Darn!  

 

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I starting thinking about how I can get back up here without having to paddle so far from the park.  Where to put the kayaks in is the question closer to this upper part of the creek.  Not only did I not see any other campgrounds along the creek but no other put ins than the ones at the two campgrounds.

I hope Pellicer Campground will allow us to launch from there for a fee.  That would be great.

We turn around and head back.  David in the lead this time.

 

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Once we get out into the open, we pull off for a break before the long stretch back to Faver-Dykes.

 

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It’s a great spot which I noticed on the way up but further investigation shows that it would be a fine put in and has a dirt road leading to it.  Now if we could just discover how to get to the dirt road.   Might be someone’s private property of course.

Wish we’d done this paddle earlier in our stay so we would have had time to investigate but we were only here for a week and we leave tomorrow.   Something to return for.

 

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Paddling back by the small group of houses after going under I95, there is that pelican again or one of his relatives.  He takes off right into my camera just as I’m trying to get a close up of him.

 

 

Wow is his wing span huge.  He must have amazing muscles to flap those things.

 

We arrive back in the salt marsh to end our last paddle in Florida for this year.  Tomorrow we’re back on the road.

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18 comments:

  1. Your first fellow fisherman was actually a fisherwoman. Female Belted Kingfishers have the rusty belt around their middle, one of only a handful of birds where the female is more colorful than the male.

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  2. Just stunning reflection shots. You really lucked out!

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  3. Love the eagle and my favorite photo WAS the cormorant landing in the water UNTIL I saw the pelican flying right at you! Love it! Looks like a great paddle!

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  4. The clarity of the reflections is amazing and beautiful.

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  5. Love the reflection pictures, so peaceful!

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  6. Sometimes you really must feel like your paddling on a mirror. The reflections are picture perfect. Your skills at looking up, down and all around are perfect for seeking wildlife on safari. Which is exactly what you are doing by water. As always, love your bird shots.

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  7. Love, love reflections in the water. You captured some awesome reflections!

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  8. Fabulous photos, the water was so calm. I think that Pelican likes you

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  9. What a money shot of that pelican! Good things come to the photographer who waits. ;c)

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  10. I would say you have a sharp eye to see and capture all these wonderful bird pictures! I definitely need to get my eyes checked because I saw less than half of these! Thanks for another great post!

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  11. It is amazing to me how often wires get in the way of my pictures:(

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  12. Thank you for sharing this peaceful (I can't hear the bridge traffic) paddle. Those reflections are so lovely. That pelican is really huge!!

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  13. The reflection pictures are fantastic. The one of the creek gave a mirrored look which made it look like there was not a water path at all.

    freedom2roll.blogspot.com

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  14. You had been fortunate to see and capture those Kingfishers, for they are so skittish. Love all the reflection shots and it illustrates what a peaceful and beautiful padding day you had. Sherry, thank you for your support and warm thoughts ,that is all we need for now. The surgery was a success and he is now recovering slowly and surely at home.

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  15. What an absolutely gorgeous place to paddle—one would never know that civilization is so close. Looks like you had a perfect day with such calm water, beautiful reflections, and so much wildlife. You two could write a book on Florida kayaking! With beautiful photos to illustrate it.

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  16. Very beautiful and quiet place, I like it

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