If there ever was a perfect day on perfect waters, it was yesterday with my friend Ernie Green. We left Lake Washington one of the connected lakes on the Saint John’s River and paddled the 50 minutes across to the wooden weir to drag our kayaks over to the river proper. The temperature was 45 degrees with a slight north wind. Just out from the weir we passed the only person we’d see that whole day one fisherman in his old wooden boat fishing for river perch. Then we spotted 4 Limpkins feeding on their favorite meal “Apple Snails” The empty shells strewing the shore some almost as big as my fist. We put in at 9:45 and were back at 5:15. In that time we saw an unpresented 50 plus Limpkins and almost as many Night Herons. I’ve been paddling for over 20 years with hundreds of miles on the rivers of Florida and have never encountered such extraordinary numbers of these two species in a same day. With the cool morning the Gators were thick as thieves on shore warming in the sun. We saw well over a hundred Alligators half being from 4 to 8 feet, the other half 8 to 12 feet. There were a few exceptional sized Gators over 12 feet. The Upper Saint John’s is a vast flood plain in some places during flood stage 5 miles across, yet the river itself is tight in many places only 20 to 40 feet in width. As we rounded one tight corner there lying on a high bank was a trio of large Gators one the size I’ve never seen before, and I’ve seen thousands of Gators in my time. To have such an extraordinary encounter, a one on one, in such a remote timeless place with such an amazing creature is beyond words, and then to ponder where you might fit in is a humbling experience.
Also on this trip we saw all the usual suspects including, an unprecedented number of Great Blue Herons 30 plus. Ospreys, Sharp Shinned and Red Shoulder Hawks, Turkey and Black Buzzards, King Fishers, Green Herons, Little Blue Herons, Common Egrets, Snowy Egrets with their blazing oversized yellow feet, the noble Great Egret, hundreds of White Ibis many first year birds, the beautiful Roseate Spoonbill, Greater and Lesser Yellow Legs, and a few less seen Black Necked Stilts even a flock of White Pelicans flew overhead miles south from their winter haunts up river at Puzzle Lake. Then Ernie with his “Eagle Eyes” spotted the elusive stunning Purple Gallinule one of only a handful I’ve seen… A remarkable day on the Saint John’s.
