[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TAS BirdBoard ] [ FAQ ]
Posted by Susan Schneider on 09:21:45 03/13/07
On Monday I took a long-planned kayaking trip: I was able to marvel at the activity in Snake Bight while free to move close to interesting shorebird flocks and scan for unlikely Flamingos. In shallow Florida Bay, getting stuck on a mud flat on a falling tide is a grim prospect. High tide was due for about 11 AM, so I launched my sturdy 10-foot Acadia Scout a bit after 9. Even so, the way out to Christian Point was arduous because of the shallows. Even a vessel with a 5 inch draft fails to skim across water that s only 10 inches deep. I took breathers now and then, enjoying a Cuban Yellow Warbler in full song, along with numerous Prairie Warblers, the inevitable Ospreys, and woodpeckers, flycatchers, kingfishers, vireos, and the other expected species. I heard one song that sounded like a Black-throated Blue, but it might have been an atypical Prairie Warbler; the PW chorus was quite varied in tempo and rhythm. Fish swirled away as I approached, but I managed to see a few, plus a Conch of some sort. The usual suspects were arrayed on the bar that s visible from the breezeway. I was after bigger numbers and paddled past after a quick glance.
The head wind from the east challenged me when I rounded the point, but I hardly noticed. White birds were scattered across the flats like snow. Several large flocks of Dunlins rose, drifted, settled, rose again. Later on they joined, a thousand strong, thrilling with their maneuvers. The largest flock of White Pelicans amassed thickly on the east side of the bight like a snow palace, while others soared overhead or foraged on one of the central mud flats. I paddled about for a while, scanning, then tied up to a convenient snag and enjoyed lunch watching the spectacle. A flock of Greater Yellowlegs landed near me with a few Short-billed Dowitchers accompanying them in shallower water. Snowy Egrets, Little Blue Herons, White Ibis, Least Sandpipers, and Black Skimmers were present in large numbers. In smaller numbers were Ring-billed and Laughing Gulls, Tricolored Herons, Caspian and Royal Terns, Double-crested Cormorants, Semipalmated Plovers, Lesser Yellowlegs, and Brown Pelicans. A magnificent Greater Black-backed Gull dwarfed the Little Blue Herons beside it. I found only one Great Blue and one Great White Heron, and no Reddish Egrets or Black-bellied Plovers. There may well have been Westerns or other small shorebirds, but I was unable to get good enough looks to pick any out. But what was this?--this shimmer of pink peeping out periodically amongst the whiteness? A tantalizing salmon-colored sort of pink? I knew it couldn t be, but I kept returning to the spot until I was sure: It was a mere Roseate Spoonbill. Well, magical at least to have a moment s possibility of a Flamingo.
I landed near Christian Point to look around--I have yet to make it all the way by foot to the end of this trail, having been driven back by mosquitoes. Getting to terra firma through the deceptively-solid-looking shore muck required a special South Florida technique, one that always reminds me of northern methods to avoid breaking through the crust of a deep snow. Using my paddle as a support, I avoided ever putting all my weight on one foot, which meant plunging straight to China. This approach was successful except for one too-hasty step that meant I had to *crawl* my way out. It was good to be on the water again.
By the time I headed back, the wind had shifted to the south and picked up, meaning a headwind both ways, a serious one this time of 10-15 knots that tossed me about. But once I turned the point, it became a following wind that carried me home on water that was quite a bit deeper than on the way out--even though it should have been shallower. Thanks to the change in wind direction, no need to take the long way back following the channel. The Spotted Sandpiper on the rocks near the Visitor s Center fluttered a greeting as I turned into the marina.
[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TAS BirdBoard ] [ FAQ ]