Withlacoochee and The Florida Greenway-Dunnellon Trails

The State of Florida has an ambitious plan, already in initial stages of implementation, to build the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway (hiking and biking), from Daytona, on the Atlantic, to the Nature Coast (Gulf of Mexico). A 2.5 mile section (the Dunnellon Trail) was completed last year (2015) and is right next to the Rainbow Rivers Club. This affords your fortunate hiker-blogger walking access to the Dunnellon Trail and some excellent offshoots, resulting in some extra special natural history and people watching.

 This is a view of the trail looking to the east.  Jan enjoys taking Winston for a walk along the pavement, and she keeps a sharp eye out for alligators, snakes and bobcats.

 A view towards the west at the same position shown above.  Note natural vegetation on each side of the trail. Also, the trail was constructed with geosynthetic mesh fabric, which has many advantages in this type of environment, including free flow of water from the bald cypress swamps to the left and the Rainbow River to the right. Geosynthetics could also reduce: construction costs, environmental damage and maintenance costs. The first photo shows how near the Rainbow River is. The second photo is the bald cypress swamp on the other side of the pavement. It is not unusual to see wildlife feeding within a few feet of either edge of the pavement.

 Or, if you look UP, you may see a male and a female red-shouldered hawk. We saw this pair mating yesterday as we ate lunch. Very entertaining for the 10 seconds this usually lasts!

Mammals may also be seen along the trail.  Armadillos, like the one below, are often active toward dusk. They use their snout to find invertebrates on and in the soil.

Ferns grow prolifically, more than 70 species in Florida.  Sword ferns are often seen in thick clusters along the trail. The native sword fern, shown below, is the  Nephrolepis exaltata. Back in the 19th century, an entrepreneurial pair of Floridian brothers brought this fern into horticultural production. Eventually, the horticultural variety became known as "Boston Fern". The great botany bloggers George Rogers and John Bradford tell the story here:

https://treasurecoastnatives.wordpress.com/2016/05/13/boston-fern-miami-fern-apopka-fern/

George has helped me a few times over the years. He writes in a most entertaining and educational manner. A personal note: back in 1977, I visited Fern City (Apopka), as I was in the tropical plant business.  I had a personal tour of the Boston Fern production facility mentioned in George's blog.

This January, Jan and I also walked a few miles of the neighbouring 46 mile portion of the paved Withlacoochee  pedestrian and bicycle trail at Citrus Springs.  It is surprisingly different from the Dunnellon Trail as the following photos suggest. Both the Dunnellon Trail and the Withlacoochee Trail merge with hiking (only) trails which take you into the splendid Rainbow River State Park and the very large Halpata Tastanaki Reserve (which protects many local lakes and the north shore of the Withlacoochee over a large proportion of its length). Together, these trails are hundreds of miles of Florida nature, rarely interrupted by traffic or other human influence.

The beginning of the Withlacoochee Trail features uplands, with oaks and pines dominating the forest.  Several of these large pines were a Turkey Vulture roost (above and below).

"I am SOOO pretty, don't you think so?"

Several of these shrubs were filled with white blooms.  I have yet to identify them, as I have not seen this kind of shrub anywhere else.  If you have an idea, do let me know. UPDATE, March 27, 2017: Ignore my previous update. This is Chickasaw Plum, Prunus angustifolia. It is an interesting and useful NATIVE shrub.

Read more about it here:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/st504

Back on the Dunnellon Trail, there is a lot more moisture, from springs, the rivers and many cypress swamps.  The Slash Pine (above) rules here, whereas Longleaf and Loblolly Pine is more dominant on the Withlacoochee Trail.

And, in this moist environment, many flowers, like the violet,  may be found, and ferns, like the ubiquitous Royal Fern, below.

It is the birdlife that most people notice, though many small songbirds, like the Blue Gray Gnatcatcher, below...

and wading birds, like the White Ibis, below, and...


an adult and juvenile (white) Little Blue Heron in one of the marshes.....


and if you are very fortunate, a Limpkin might yell out its loud screech.



Jan and I hear Pileated Woodpeckers doing their "Wipeout" call constantly. I took a photo of this one last year:







Yesterday, while paddling in the Rainbow River, right beside the Trail, I saw this bird taking a drink. I wonder if the bill deformity will shorten its lifespan? I have seen deformities such as these in fish-eating birds in the Great Lakes.  They are said to be caused by toxins.  I wonder if there is something similar going on here?


Pileated woodpeckers love the oaks and pines of the Nature Coast. There are many species of Oak along both trails, but the Water Oak is found in numbers only along the rivers of the Dunnellon Trail. It is distinguished by its spoon-shaped leaves.

Heading back home, with the sun setting just after 5:45 this time of the year, the new Dunnellon Trail Bridge crosses the Withlacoochee, affording scenes like those below.

Next time, the Paynes Prairie Preserve, near Gainesville.  Expect 'gators!

A Beach, a Trail, Nature Rehab and a Citrus County Almanac

April 8, 2016

Here it is, mid-April. Upon returning to Canada and Arnprior at end of March, we made our way to Toronto for a family event. All of this in the context of a lovely temperate spring/summer in Dunnellon, Florida, returning to much colder than average conditions in central and eastern Canada. Wind, snow and temperatures hovering in the -15C (5F) range last night. Oh boy, springtime in Canada.

Our route home took us through the south and central Appalachians, where the Appalachian Spring (Aaron Copeland's music playing in the appropriate center in my brain) provided mile after mile of eye candy; first in South Carolina, where Dogwoods and Redbuds covered the mountains, then into Virginia, where Cherries replaced the Dogwoods

Having been way too busy and having so much fun kayaking and hiking through central west Florida, I now have the pleasant task of returning there and warming from memories.

Back on February 3, 2016, I went to Crystal River and followed the Fort Island Trail to Fort Island Beach on the Gulf of Mexico. This Citrus County Park does a great job of mixing nature and recreational use. The Beach and natural Gulf sand provide a great respite for bathers and we bird watchers alike! The warmth of the day encouraged me to don my sassy bathing suit.

This Black Skimmer joined Laughing Gulls in winter plumage on the beach.

Here you get an idea of the numbers of birds, many species, enjoying the beach along with a few humans.

Dunlin enjoying the sun, and below a Dunlin and a Piping Plover pose for me. Cute, huh?( I stop saying "eh" as soon as I cross into the USA, and I avoid using any word with an "ou" construct, such as doubt and about.)

Out on the rocks well-placed to protect the beach from the effects of waves and currents, an Oyster Catcher gives me the eye.

Miles Saunders, Media Relations/Marketing Specialist for Citrus County was also taking bird photos to aid in encouraging bird watchers and nature lovers to visit this lovely Florida county. This marsh, the rocks and much more, were planned and designed by the County to encourage all of those birds and other wildlife.  There is a large area with a boardwalk and fishing pier which permitted me to see a lot of Gulf fish species and the odd Dolphin. One of the more curious fish one may see in the shallows is a Batfish.

http://www.fish-fishes.com/salt_water_fish/batfish.html

Thanks for taking this photo, of a most weird Snowbird, Miles!

Don't you just LOVE this pose by this Ruddy Turnstone.  I seem to find these birds all over. And the ubiquitous parking lot coastal bird, the Boat-tailed Grackle noisily surveys the territory (below).

The extended El Nino summer (until end of December) supposedly caused birds that normally stay further south to venture into central Florida, including many Wood Storks (above).  The Brown Pelicans always pose in their most distinguished manner.  This one (below) is in another park along the Fort Island Trail.

I then went to check out another special spot,the Cross Florida Greenway's Withlacoochie Bay Trail, close to Inglis, Florida. The Withlacoochie Bypass (canal) had many Red-breasted Mergansers (below 2 photos).



I noticed this Otter's noisy crunches as it fed.  I chattered at it and this was the response...a curious look at me before diving for more food (two photos below). 

More Nature Coast coming soon! Enjoy Spring 2016.

Way Down Upon the Suwannee....The Spy who Loved Birdwatching

Between January 29-31, 2016, I kayaked the Withlacoochee and Rainbow Rivers without falling out of the Kayak. The previously immersed Canon was put back into service. I do not know if the rice bag drying process can bring a human back to life, as one wag suggested. I expect it can be used to dry out a wet person dead or alive,  though.

 

The rivers along the central west Gulf of Mexico coast of Florida do create the natural world I have been exploring.  To the south is the short Crystal River, which was once similar to the Rainbow.  The Crystal River is much more "developed" and has lost most of its natural splendour.  People expect to see Manatees there, and not much else.  The Rainbow drains into the Withlacoochee.  It widens into Lake Rousseau before emptying via canal and natural river channel into the Gulf. A dam was built to maintain Lake Rousseau. The dam is both probably ineffective for its original purpose, and it is a barrier to the Manatees using the upper Withlacoochee and the Rainbow.

 

The next major river to the north is the Waccasassa, which I have yet to explore.  North of that is Cedar Keys, a series of islands which create a natural world reminiscent of the southern keys.  Another blog is intended to cover these two natural sites.

 

Going further north is the Suwannee River which drains the Okefenokee Swamp (which is really a bog!) at the Florida-Georgia boundary. By the way, Stephen Foster wrote a song about this river called "Old Folks at Home". Foster was a Pennsylvanian who also lived in Ohio and worked in New York City. He only visited the south once in his brief life, and never the southeast. Therefore he didn't know anything about the Suwannee. His original lyrics were about the Pee Dee in South Carolina. Suwannee (he spelled it "Swanee") sounded better! 

 

So that is why most of you recognize the Suwannee name and none of these other glorious rivers.  I expect to visit the Suwannee soon. 

 

All these names are probably aboriginal. Since the local First Nations have all disappeared, the name origins cannot be confirmed.  There are various hypotheses about each of their origins.

 

 

 

 

The kayak is a quiet unobtrusive means of approaching life on and around the rivers. The 3 basking turtles above and the larger turtle below are the same species: the largest of the Cooters, the Suwannee Cooter,  Pseudomys concinna suwanniensis. This is a rare turtle limited to the river basins mentioned above, and some smaller rivers in the centre and northern Gulf coast of Florida and Georgia. Among the visible field marks,  all four have light blue irises, black on the upper hind feet, and you can see the backward, light yellow"C" on the scales of the carapace of the turtle below. Compare with Pseudomys nelsoni, the Florida Red-bellied Cooter, also found in this region. I saw another two very large Suwannee Cooters basking with an Alligator on a log in the Withlacoochee. As I raised my camera to take the award-winning photo, I heard three large splashes. Oh well, next time. Suwannee Cooters grow to 17", and the two with the Alligator were close to that size.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above, once again, is the Common Moorhen, or, I should correct that to Common Gallinule, Gallinula galeata. This common large member of the Rail family is also the most widely distributed member of that family. It is found in marshy areas up to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the summer, and through the US Southeast, the Caribbean, the US Southwest, Mexico, Central America, a large portion of central South America, Europe, and  Africa and in Asia right to the Pacific Ocean.                         

Isn't he pretty? The Little Blue Heron, Egretta caerulea,  like most of the wading birds, is a creature of habit. This has permitted me to find and get closer to this and other birds as they seem to be more likely to ignore my presence after repeated encounters. 

 

In the foreground on the left is one of the giant leaves of the Yellow Pond Lily or Spatterdock, Nuphar lutea, There are large mattes of these plants in both rivers. The giant yellow flowers are coming into bloom.  I will feature a few in the near future. In the left background is the base of a trunk of a Bald Cypress, Taxodium distichum, which forms dense stands beside the rivers, and some grow in the Rainbow River. Like our Tamarack, the Bald Cypress is a deciduous conifer.  It has the unique feature of growing "knees", which are actually pneumatophores: knobs growing from the roots that aerate the roots, and that may help anchor the tree.  There are some Bald Cypress trees here with 5 foot diameters and tower well over 100 feet.

 

More familiarization and habituation permitted me the photo above and the  photos below. The photo above and the first three photos below are of a Red-shouldered Hawk (let's call him Red) that is nesting on the grounds of the Rainbow River Club. On our first dozen or so encounters, he flew off before I could snap a photo. Not this time! He graciously posed.  The last photo below is of a neighbouring nesting Red-shouldered Hawk to the east. There is another nest to the west. Every day in the last few weeks, I could hear all three males vociferously claiming their territories, as they are quite close. One day, the hawk above swooped down on the western male, as he came too close to Red's territory.  Loud screeches resulted, as the intruder skulked off. I saw the western male yesterday, but he didn't allow me to take a photo before skedaddling.  These Red-shouldered Hawks are all examples of the lighter coloured "Florida race".

 

 

Have you ever walked by some dense shrubs and heard what sounds like a cat "yowling"? If you have, you heard this common, yet rarely seen member of the Mockingbird family, the Gray Catbird. What a handsome fellow. Like his Mockingbird cousin, he can copycat! So before using a call to ID a bird in a thicket, listen for the cat-like main call of this bird. Yes, those are rust-red feathers at the base of the black tail.

 This Great Blue Heron, Ardea Herodias,  in the riverside marsh, was a perfect specimen in great lighting with a contrasting background.  I couldn't help myself.  Nice birdie!

The Spy Who Bonded with Me

My interest in spies and intelligence services was fed recently by Jan's birthday gift, the excellent story of the friendship of Nicholas Elliott and Kim Philby, the notorious British double agent. There is a reference in the book to one of the top spies in WW2 era Britain being a birdwatcher.  This prompted me to do some more searching about the linkage of birdwatching and British spies.

 

One of the early heads of MI5, Maxwell Knight was an avid birdwatcher who got a job after the war as a natural historian with the BBC. He hired an illustrator named David Cornwell to illustrate one of his bird books.  This led Cornwell to be hired by MI5 for about 10 years.  He gave the spying up when his books, sold under his pen name John le Carre, became bestsellers.  Cornwell became good friends with Nicholas Elliott, whence many ideas for his books!  Elliott was also close friends with a British Naval intelligence officer named Ian Fleming. 

 

Mr.Fleming also took up writing after his World War 2 spy service. A weekend birdwatcher at his home in Jamaica, he had written his first spy novel, and needed a name for his main character. On his table was a copy of  "The Birds of the West Indies" by.....wait for it......James Bond.  It is too bad I didn't have this copy of the iconic book "You Only Live Twice" given as a gift to Bond by Ian Fleming in 1964:

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3541014/Ian-Fleming-book-with-message-to-the-real-James-Bond-auctioned-for-50000.html

 

This may be why, in Britain, spies are known as "birdwatchers".  Read it for yourself here:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/20/species-seekers-and-spies/?_r=0

And the tradition continues.

Late in 2013, the PM of the UK named a new Director-General of MI5, Andrew Parker, described in the dailies as "a career spy and avid birdwatcher".

I learned back in the early 1980's about people in high pressure jobs being birdwatchers.  Two of the people I met birdwatching at the Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge, who helped me to see my first Everglades Kite, were a rocket scientist from NASA and a top coronary surgeon from Washington DC.

  

 

Tune in next time for more birds, a plant or two, the Gulf of  Mexico and a gift of oranges at the Withlacoochee Gulf  Preserve.