Blue Goose ~ Day 231

January 13, 2015 ~ Chiefland, FL to Spring Hill, FL

I easily found the VC of Lower Suwannee River NWR, arriving shortly after it opened. The woman at the desk and soon thereafter a gentleman who came in were extraordinarily conversant and helpful. The guy was meeting volunteers who were to help with an invasive, Brazilian pepper, also known as Florida Holly.

EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

"Florida Holly" was introduced to Florida by at latest 1891, probably earlier (Gogue et al. 1974), where it has spread rapidly since about 1940 (Ewel 1986), replacing native plants, like mangroves, with thousands of acres occupied. It is especially adept at colonizing disturbed sites and can grow in both wet and dry conditions. Its growth habit allows it to climb over understory trees and invade mature canopies, forming thickets that choke out most other plants.

Pretty but destructive.

Lower Suwannee access is via 40 miles of old logging roads; another 50 miles of highways run through the refuge. There is a nicely maintained, hard-surfaced white limestone 9-mile auto-route, designated hiking, canoeing and kayaking trails making it a great place to experience the habitat of northwest Florida. It had the feeling of welcoming the public, not just tolerating them. Part of the auto route wound through deep cypress swamp and part through slightly higher and therefore drier land. I passed a cluster of Black and Turkey Vultures seriously scavenging carrion in a small clearing just off the road. The Florida skies are seldom without these soaring, kiting birds.

Lower Suwannee River NWR - FL

I went to Shell Mound, set up my scope and watched birds for an hour. Mound (or middens) are slightly raised areas where Natives discarded clam and oyster shells and this one was adjacent to the coastal marsh. A few guys were fishing from the short boardwalk and an occasional fishing boat motored by in this peaceful expanse of marsh grasses, water, sky and birds which included Black Skimmers, pelicans, egrets, herons, plovers, ducks, gulls, avocets....not in huge numbers but with enough variety to satisfy a birder.

Shell Mound - Lower Suwannee River NWR - FL

From Shell Mound, I drove west to Cedar Key, a tourist destination, but surrounded by the numerous outlying keys of Cedar Keys NWR, some of which are boat-accessible. The town of Cedar Key itself had the feel of a laid-back small town with slow and easy daily rhythms. It reminded me more of California than Florida. I met and talked with a middle-aged, tanned, bare-chested guy on a fishing dock. He was with his small black dog companion, a Skipperdoo or Skipper-something, which he said was a breed that was good on boats. His wife had had aggressive breast cancer and had died last year. He was now living a life that appeared to suit him...most recently working in the summers clearing trails in western Colorado. He had also worked on the Adirondack Trail in New Hampshire. This winter,  he rented a place in a trailer park here for $300 a month, walks the "scrub," fishes now and then, hangs out and chats with folks....He asked that I take his picture to "send to my girlfriend...." His fishing equipment was a gift from an elderly neighbor, but he wasn't all that serious about catching fish. I got the impression the gear legitimized his hanging out on the docks. He emphasized how the locals do not want more development, how many have this appealing whateVer way of living...it may get done today or maybe tomorrow...no worries.

Royal Terns (and gulls) - Cedar Key, FL

I continued south to the Crystal River NWR VC, an attractive building surrounded by massive Spanish moss-draped trees, but it had just closed so I settled for driving to boat landings closest to the Chassahowitska and Crystal River refuges in the deepening, sort of gloomy (to me) twilight, through neighborhoods and RV parks. The warm springs in the area contribute to habitat that attracts the endangered West Indian Manatee which migrates here in the winter and Crystal River NWR was specifically created to protect this specie. Both refuges are a dense mix of tangled vines and trees, bushes and grasses, scrub and brush in and on swamps, estuaries, bays, creeks, inlets and islands with salty, brackish and fresh waters - a home for reptiles, amphibians, fish and birds.

Chassahowitska / Crystal River NWRs - FL