When researching what we might do before heading to St Augustine to watch the golf, Ian discovered Blue Spring State Park which is on the St John's River and its “first-magnitude” spring is one of the
largest winter gathering sites for manatees in Florida with hundreds of them enjoying the constant 72°F for spring water in the colder
winter months. Manatees depend on the
warm water for survival, as they cannot tolerate water temperatures colder than 68°F for long periods of time. Although manatees look “fat” or
“blubbery,” they only have about an inch of fat and a very slow metabolism,
meaning they cannot easily stay warm.
The week before we left England we were excited to read that no less than 655 had been seen and so we booked a boat trip. This morning we duly arrived at the park gates and got chatting to the ranger who reported that there were just 3 left now, apparently because it had got unseasonably warm in the last few days and they'd all b*ggered off - typical!
You can see why it's called Blue Spring.
Had they still been there, this is obviously the photo I'd have taken (these two were pinched from their website with good justification I think).
We'd also been pushed into booking early as the trip was “allegedly” very popular but actually the park was virtually deserted - devoid of both human and animal/bird life. We had about 2 1/2 hours to kill before the boat left and so thought we could walk one of the many trails. Another ranger we spoke to advised us against it as due to the recent storms in the area there were lots of trees down and routes were impassable. So we settled for wandering along the banks of the spring where a new boardwalk had been built. A few sightings including a couple of new ones:-
Great Blue Heron
Limpkin (not seen one of these before)
In the distance on the shore line we could see quite a few birds and luckily as there were no signs around warning of alligators we found a route through the mangrove until we could get a clear shot. This is a Turkey Vulture (another new one)
Double-breasted Cormorant
We got chatting to another ranger, a young lady, and she kindly pointed out this Pileated Woodpecker (a lifer for us but one I've seen many times on birding websites so I knew instantly what it was).
I then spent a good few minutes chasing it round and round the tree until finally I got a reasonable shot - what a lovely bird.
Two Brown Pelicans flew over but didn't attempt to land anywhere nearby.
We were first in the queue to board the boat but there was plenty of room so we sat right at the front. First alligator and it was a big one.
On a small island were these 3 Sandhill Cranes.
I think this is a juvenile American White Ibis
Not sure what this is, possibly an Eastern Phoebe.
Eastern Great Egret
Great example of Spanish Moss hanging in the trees.
This very elegant bird is an American Bittern which is normally very elusive so we are thrilled to get such a great sighting.
There are several species of turtle here but Google identifies this one as a Florida Red-bellied Cooter.
Whether these two are also, I don't know.
I didn't find it quite as funny as this Little Blue Heron did.
Another Limpkin
Huge 'gator sunning itself on the fallen log.
There were lots of small ones around too. Females lay 20-50 eggs at a time and they take around 2 months to hatch, of which 10% or so survive a year and only 1% reaches adulthood.
This one looked like it was playing hide and seek among the lily pads.
Quite a sweet face really.
This isn't a particularly good shot but I like the way the Anhinga looks like he's eating a ball of fluff.
I took several shots of this American White Ibis without realising it only had one leg.
A few more of the same birds.
And two more Great Blue Herons to finish the boat trip with.
It wasn't quite what we'd hoped for but nevertheless a nice way to spend a morning. Now we have a 1 1/2 hour drive north to check in to our rental for the next 7 nights.