Adventures at Blue Spring State Park

Blue Spring State Park has one of my favorite springs in Florida. Blue Spring is also the largest spring on the St. John's River. Camping in Florida during the summer is not for the faint of heart but if you're near one of these cool refreshing springs in Central Florida you will find that camping is perfect this time of year. The weekend of June 18-20th myself and five friends loaded up the cars and headed up near Orange City, FL where Blue Spring State Park is located. After a late night set-up, complete with a fire, we hit the tents for a big day at the park.

The camping group staring out over the spring fed river.

Blue Springs was littered with families and by mid-day it was a river full of people but near the springs wasn't as crowded and as we drifted from the spring head down to the recreation area there were times with little crowds. One of the great things about the springs was that most of the people were at the dock jumping in. The current was kinda strong so most of the people didn't linger on the river. This was perfect if you wanted to explore the shallow banks for fish. We found nice schools of sunfish, bass, and Florida Gar like the ones seen below.

Those dark slender shapes are Florida Gar, Lepisosteus platyrhincus. This fish is found in east and south penisula Florida.

The springs are known for being 72 degrees year around and in the winter are a refuge for manatees. The swimming area is only open during the warm season. It's great for snorkeling and scuba diving due the clear waters. The spring is 120 feet deep and can be accessed by cave divers. We brought the snorkeling gear along and gave the river a try.

Kim snorkeling near the bank. Notice the clear water.

Mo and Kim adjusting the snorkel gear.

Kim and I trying out the underwater feature of my camera.

Our camping trip to Blue Springs was a lot fun. We spent most of the day by the springs, cooling off when needed. Some other highlights were seeing a Florida Scrub Jay in the campground and jumping into the springs at night. Don't worry, we didn't stay along, just a dip to cool off. Alligators are not common around the springs during the day due to the heavy traffic of people but I am sure they may wander up there at night.

Blue Spring Cave

The shots above show you the opening to the springs. In that second photo you can see the blue fin of a diver. This opening was about 15 feet from the surface. I snorkeled down to the log but didn't go farther. Some people went quite a ways down the spring by holding their breathe but I mostly just swam above it and enjoyed the scenery.

Mo and Kim posing for a photo op near the spring head.

The other great thing about this park are the Live Oaks and palm trees that line the bank. It really gives you a authentic Florida atmosphere. The famous naturalist John Bartram visited this area in the 1776 and I imagine it doesn't look much different than it does today.

One word of caution about the springs, the rocky bottom does cause your feet to get a little sore. I didn't understand why so many people were swimming with water shoes but that became evident fairly quickly. If I could go back I would try a trip during the week, perhaps less crowds. But even with the kids screaming near the dock and the tubes floating down the river, I really enjoyed the camping trip. If you want a real Florida experience you should definitely try out the springs in Central Florida.

Northwest Adventure!

I haven't disappeared but I have been on a whirlwind of a 2 week vacation through the Northwest. If you're curious to see photos then hop over to where I've been mobile-blogging at If You Can, You Should and check it out. Not everything is uploaded, but soon it will be.

Needless to say, the trip was amazing. I saw about 22 life birds, 2 really big mountains (Ranier and Shasta), swam in countless rivers and lakes, hiked plenty of miles, and spent some of the best days of my life with my friends. I wish I could do it all over again but there's this thing called work and traveling doesn't come free. Hopefully, with migration on the way I will have stories to tell of Green Cay and Florida soon.

Bahamas Day Three

It's taken me almost all month to finish up this three day journey to Grand Bahama but with life being busy and my laptop being stolen, things haven't been that easy around here. Nonetheless here is the last installation of our trip. For those of you still stopping by, thank you for your patience and I'm buying a new laptop next week so we should have more weekly posts in the future!

On our last day in the Bahamas we decided to drive out to the Owl Hole. The drive in is a little haphazard and you should check your car for clearance before making the trek. We didn't see any new birds but it was nice to watch Cuban Emeralds flying from top to top of the pines. I've never seen so many hummingbirds as we saw on Grand Bahama.

After Owl Hole we made our way to Rand Nature Center. We made the mistake of waiting to hit this spot until our last day. By far it was one of the most productive parts of our trip. Plus we got to correctly identify Poisonwood, which we were ALWAYS looking for at each trail. If you're not famaliar with the tree then just be warned that it can really damage your skin by touching any part of the plant.

Once on the Rand trail we immediately found our lifer Cuban Pewee. It was only a few feet away and luckily for us, we all saw it because it was the only one we would see on our trip. It's always nice when you get to really soak in a bird at close distance. We made our way to the old Flamingo compound which houses a nice little pond. A loop around the pond would offer us more Cuban Emeralds, Palm Warblers, catbirds, and another lifer, two female Black-faced Grassquits.

The trails of Rand Nature Center are also supposed to be good for seeing Red-tailed Hawk though we didn't spy one. This education Red-tailed gave us an eye and amazingly enough a LOT of birds were found surrounding its cage. We quickly located a Western Spindalis nearby and found a few more warblers for our day list.

We headed back towards the nature center where a beautiful singing male Black-faced Grassquit awaited us. And after we almost gave up the trails a Bahama Mockingbird came out in full view. It was really easy to distinguish from the multitude of Northern Mockingbirds we saw on this trip due to the lack of white wing patches and the presence of streaking on the flanks.

With just a couple of hours left we rushed back to Garden of Groves to try and pick up a Greater Antillean Bullfinch. We paid our fee and entered the park at the hottest part of the day with a pretty steady wind picking up. It seemed like a hopeless search. Not only could we not find the bullfinch but we couldn't find ANY birds. We finally came across a little bit of activity. Another Red-legged Thrush gave us great looks and then finally we saw an interesting bird fly across one of the ornamental ponds. It was our bullfinch and it was at eye level. We all released our frustrations out and soaked in the little male bird. It was the perfect ending to our trip. Of course we didn't know it but we had another adventure in store for us once back to our lodging.

What you may notice from the photos above and below is that we aren't on a cruise ship and we aren't doing any real birding. We were really looking forward to celebrating our birding trip on the way back, sitting on the cruise ship, drinking a few spirits, and casually looking for birds. But our ship gave us another fate. The engine decided to die and our plans were adverted to a flight option.

So we sat in the airport from 2PM until almost 7PM. Unfortunately the airport ran out of food so after our many rounds of beer we merely laid there exhuasted and hungry. Our last meal being early that morning before heading out. It wasn't quite the ending we hoped for but all in all, the birding was great, the company was amazing, and the travel was fun.

Bahamas Day Two

After a great Day One of birding we were all set for our first and only full day's worth of birding on Grand Bahama. We started the morning by heading to the Garden of the Groves. The garden doesn't open until 10AM so we birded the parking lot for nearly an hour. We quickly picked up a lifer right out of our little red rental car. A very nice Red-legged Thrush gave us great looks only a few feet away.

This is the best Red-legged Thrush photo of the trip. The killer red eye is hidden behind the palm frond but you see the namesake red legs.

After snagging our lifer thrush and promptly thereafter our lifer Cuban Emerald (a gorgeous green hummer). We made our way to the abandoned Shannon Golf Course. It was a little tricky finding a path into the golf course area but we found something that resembled a path and made our way in. To say this place is overgrown is an understatement. Really if you didn't tell me this was once a golf course I would never believe you but there are still a few areas that are open enough to bird. We didn't go very far along the paved path but the birding was spectacular.

The photos below and above show you a small area of brushy undergrowth where a cotton plant was thriving. This scene served us well. From this one vantage point we saw a Mangrove Cuckoo, lots of White-crowned Pigeons, and some great warblers like Worm-eating, Common Yellowthroat, and Northern Parula. Plus the cotton was being looted by the Cuban Emeralds for nesting material. It really was a highlight of the trip standing in this one overgrown area.

Anxious to keep birding we left the Garden of the Groves are and headed out to West End. We didn't have much luck at the development site described in Tony White's birding book. The place has been really developed and leveled down to flat land down there but the scenery out to West End was beautiful. We stopped to check our the conchs lining the shore and even had some guys wave us over to see the Barricuda they were chopping up that morning.

The above photo was taken by Kim Cressman.

We picked up a few new birds for our Bahamas list like Herring Gull, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, and a Belted Kingfisher from this spot. On our way back from West End we stopped at another cave area near a night club called Fern Gully & Josey Cave. After a short spin around the loop we found a few more migrants including an Indigo Bunting.

Once back in Freeport we went on a mission for lunch but coffee was first. In the process of rolling down the electric window it somehow slipped off the track and wouldn't roll up. We went back to the rental office and unfortunately when I closed the door the window broke into pieces inside the door. This would come back to haunt us before we left. But for the time being, nothing but time was lost and we were upgraded to a nice little blue car.

After a nice quick lunch and some required shopping we made our way to Emlin's Tract near Lucaya. In the past this was a good spot for Brown-headed Nuthatch but we wouldn't find any during our trip. Instead we did have a very frisky pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers approach us. This pair was VERY vocal and basically came as close as possible to us with a scolding call. I snapped a few photos and then moved away to prevent the birds any more stress.

Some believe the Bahama subspecies of Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Polioptila caerulea caesiogaster, should be elevated to full species status. It's call is very different and the size seems larger as well.

We then proceeded on a little goose chase for a trail that somehow must have disappeared in the last 10 years since Tony White's book was published. We made amends by having drinks instead at our favorite little bar, Bikini Bottoms, and having some fun on the beach.

Photo taken by Kim Cressman.

Photo taken by Andy Lantz.

The day was far from over but you'll have to come back later to hear about our cute bed and breakfast, our yard birds, and the last day, where a few more Bahamaian specialty birds came into play at the last minute.

Bahamas Birding Day One

Saturday April 4th was our sail date from Ft. Lauderdale. We arrived at the port early in the dark hours and boarded our little cruise boat. This boat runs daily from Ft. Lauderdale to Grand Bahama. As we watched the sunrise we started IDing birds. Before leaving port our list hit 17 species with the highlights being Tree Swallows and Black-necked Stilts. I missed the stilits due to a small nap on the ship's deck but I don't regret it because I would need some rest for this crazy whirlwind of a trip.

The boat ride over was fairly slow but we did have a pair of Royal Terns feeding the whole way over. At times they would perch on the airhorn to rest. Also a Semipalmated Sandpiper was spotted about half way over and cruised along aside us for most of the trip in. Our hope was to see some pelagics but we had to settle for the above mentioned birds and some really cool flying fish.

Upon arriving we found a taxi and were promptly dropped off at the wrong airport where our rental car awaited us. After walking down the road to the right airport we spied many Smooth-billed Anis and a our first American Kestral of the trip. Once we had our car we made a quick trip to our bed and breakfast to check in and then we hit the road east.

Our birding spots were provided for us by the very essential Tony White book A Birder's Guide to the Bahama Islands. Our first bird stop of the trip was Lucayan National Park where a series of caves are located. These caves or caverns as they are called are some of the most extensive surveyed systems in the world. We hiked toward Ben's Cave with very little bird activity other than the anis that called from the pine trees.

Once down in the cave we found a Northern Waterthrush and some bats. These Buffy Flower Bats (Erophylla sezekorni syops) are endemic to the Caribbean. There's a photo below taken by Kim while we were at the cave. The caves are a host to many interesting animals including a species of crustacean (Spelionectes lucayensis) that has never been documented elsewhere in the world. We also found that the birding was almost always good where a cave was located so we visited quite a few during our stay on Grand Bahama.

Two photos above taken by Kim Cressman. The top photo shows you the stairs into Ben's Cave and the last shot is of the fruit bats that live there.

The next cave, Burial Mound Cave, was even more productive for birding. Once again upon walking down into the cave we located another warbler. This time a stunning Hooded Warabler gave us great looks. Outside the cave entrance we picked up our first Bahama targets. A Western Spindalis and a LaSagra's Flycatcher were found in the same tree over the cave entrance area. And further down the path we found a few Thick-billed Vireos in a mixed flock that included one Black-whiskered Vireo, a Black-and-white Warbler, and a few Pine Warblers.

Once we sufficiently birded the cave areas to the north we headed south to Gold Rock. Along the way we weaved through the mangroves but the only new birds we picked up for the trip were Red-winged Blackbird and Ruddy Turnstones on the beach. Apparently they filmed parts of Pirates of the Carribean near Gold Rock beach.

Photo by Kim Cressman of myself and Andy checking out Gold Rock.

Since the birding was slim on the ocean side we decided to bird the cave areas one more time before departing back to our lodgings. On the second loop we found a Prairie Warbler, a female American Redstart, a gorgeous male Cape May Warbler and a Black-throated Blue Warbler. We ended the day with two vireo species and eight warblers. Migration seemed to be just right for our trip and we fell asleep that night listening to a Chuck-wills-widow calling outside.

Tomorrow's post will detail our trip out to West End, our rental car woes, and a few new lifers.