Trip 34: Blue Spring State Park

State Parks visited:  29

Olivia had the day off of school for Presidents' Day, so I took my own day off and spent the day with my little girl.  The Boys had to work, and I knew just what do for our day together.  While I listed Blue Spring State Park...which is only about a mile from our home...as our first official state park, I never took the time to showcase what makes it so special.  And so, Olivia and I spent a wonderful afternoon wandering around, taking pictures, and getting to know our nearest state park.  I must say, it is one of my favorites as well!

We wandered into the gift shop, which was a first for me!  On the wall was this beautiful portrait of a manatee family.  You see, that's one thing that makes Blue Spring so special.  In cold weather, manatees come in droves to frolic in the warm waters of the headspring and spring run.  And I love manatees!

Right outside the gift shop is the Blue Spring Trail, which is a boardwalk that meanders all the way to the headspring.  A few photos:

Hello there!

When our weather is coldest and the manatees are in the spring run, the swimming area (read: from the headspring all the way down to the St. Johns River) is closed.  After the first of March, however, the run fills with swimmers, SCUBA divers, cave divers, floaters, sunworshippers...yeah, it gets pretty packed.  Mind you, this is still wild Florida, and there are several varieties of fish, turtles, birds, and yes...alligators, that call the run home.

We continued down the boardwalk until we got to the headspring:

If you look around the boil you'll see lots of fish.  They would occasionally surface and then dart back down to their resting spots on the bottom.  I believe this is one of the invasive types of fish that has become a nuisance to the manatees.  They're similar to the plecostomus catfish, only instead of eating the algae off your fish tank, they try to eat it off the skin of the manatees.  While it would seem like a symbiotic relationship, unfortunately the fish leave marks on the manatees similar to bee stings.  Not cool.  So, scientists and students from the local university are working on a way to eradicate this fish.

I just wish I could remember what it's called!

Every time I see the root in this next picture, I'm reminded of a snake:

After we left the headspring we returned to the gift shop area, and then walked down the other direction on the trail.  There are a couple of observation decks set up to make manatee viewing easier for the crowds that come out to see them.  Here are a few pictures:

Pretty soon someone pointed out an alligator!  I was small, only 4 feet or so, and seemed really content sunning itself on a tree.  There is a turtle nearby as well:

At this point I'm sure you're wondering where the manatees are, right?  The truth is, the end of February this year meant warm weather for us, with temperatures close to 80 degrees.  The warm weather sends the manatees out into open water instead of the constant 72 degrees of the spring, so there weren't many to be seen.  This guy was there, though:

He's trailing around a radio transmitter, and scientists track movements and learn a lot about manatees this way.

So, we saw this one manatee on this particular day.  On very cold days they number into the 300s, and I've heard as many as 500 in this tiny little area!  We stopped by a few months ago, and here's what that looks like:

Some poor soul lost his hat in a gust of wind, and it flew down into the water:

This ranger and her 'grabber' came to the rescue!

We walked all the way down to the end of the boardwalk, which is something I had never done before.  There's a place to rent kayaks and canoes, plus a few historic markers telling about the area.

It's also a beautiful spot for a photo:

In this picture there are 4 different animals, with a 5th hidden behind a tree.  Can you see them?

There is a cormorant (the black bird just right of center, in the water), a manatee (the white radio transmitter in the water), a Great Blue Heron (directly above the manatee on the bank), an alligator (on the palm tree), and the turtle is hidden by the palm fronds.

This is from the end of the spring run (St. Johns River) looking up toward the headspring:

Olivia was such a great kid this particular day, and a visit to the playground was in order:

Finally we headed up the hill to take a walk around the Thursby House:

Our day ended in relaxation, enjoying the rocking chairs on the front porch of the house.  We were shaded from the afternoon sun by the huge oak tree in the yard, and things couldn't have been better.  We took the time to get to know our most local state park in many new ways.  It reminded me not to take anything for granted, you know?

Trip 33: The Avian Reconditioning Center for Birds of Prey

State Parks visited: 29

Last year we learned of the Avian Reconditioning Center for Birds of Prey.  It's a small facility, run on donations and hard work, staffed by volunteers, and doing a great service in the world of local sick and injured birds of prey.  The ARC, as it's known, had a table set up when we attended the fall festival at Wekiwa Springs State Park.  Since then I've been following their goings-on through their Facebook page.  In February they had a pre-Valentine's Day party, and Olivia and I decided to attend since The Boys were working.

After finding the location...a very humble set-up of a few mews (flying and roosting areas for the birds), a couple of small buildings, and a pavilion...we made our entry donation and walked up to find several birds out on their perches.  Right after this the ARC founder, Carol McCorkle, brought out one of their resident bald eagles.  Ike, as he's known, was such a majestic bird!  Carol took her time teaching the small crowd about eagles, and then held Ike up for people to pose for pictures.  Ike has a broken wing that prevents him from flight, and he will never be able to live in the wild.

This is Pierce.  She's a red-shouldered hawk and also a permanent resident at the ARC because of her missing eye.  A few other photos:

Gordon, a Great Horned Owl

After we walked around and met some of the birds, it was time for the falconing demonstration.  Scott McCorkle, Carol's husband, is a master falconer and introduced us to Spyder:

Pretty soon the hood was removed and Spyder was off!  He flew around for several minutes before landing to receive a reward.  If you look verrrrrryyy closely, you can see Spyder in this picture:

Did you spot him?

After the demonstration, we walked over to meet Sir Henry.  He's a European barn owl and pretty well known as the ARC's Goodwill Ambassador.  He's also extremely photogenic....

Kids weren't left out of the festivities, and Olivia kept reminding me of that.  Pretty soon we decided to get out of the biting wind for a few minutes so she could get her face painted:

The building that housed the face painting also had a resident, Hunter, the screech owl.  He sits in his little home quietly until dusk, when screech owls are most active.  This cute little guy is barely 6 inches tall!

We made a detour through the tiny gift shop and then came out to meet Miko, a short-tailed hawk (also known as a Little Black Hawk).  Some jerk shot Miko in the wing with a BB gun.

As I'm sure you can tell, we weren't allowed to touch any of the birds.  The ARC has a pretty strict policy on bird handling, and even their volunteers have to work their way up to glove handling.  I appreciate that they do this, and I know it gives the volunteers a greater appreciation for the awesome work they're doing!

Next came Whisper, the barn owl.  She's a beautiful bird, very majestic, and again...so photogenic!!  Enjoy...

Olivia got a chance to make a Valentine's Day card with Sir Henry's picture on it, and she chose to make it for her teacher.  I love my sweet girl!

After the card and quick snack, we got to see two swallow-tailed kites.  They're some of the most beautiful birds I've ever seen!  These are named Scooter and Willow:

Their feathers are kind of puffed up because the weather was just a little cooler than they prefer.  It was windy and chilly that day!

The final bird we were able to meet was Gordon, the Great Horned Owl. 

It was warmer in the sun than Gordon likes, and he was actually panting.  It looked to us like he was trying to talk!

Our trip to the Avian Reconditioning Center was extremely cool.  I got to see, up close, animals I would never get to see otherwise.  I now know what to do if faced with an injured bird while we're out.  And I appreciate, so much, the hard work and dedication that goes in to keeping this facility in operation.  We spent the day surrounded by such majestic creatures, sidelined from their true calling by injuries, and yet still able to live with dignity.  It was an amazing experience, and I can't recommend enough that everyone visit!!

Where have I been??

The truth is, I've been several places.  And I am remiss in not updating anything sooner.  Speedweeks have come and gone...bikes, too.  While The Boys were busy with work, Olivia and I were busy trying to fill the time creatively without leaving them out of too much.

We have a big weekend planned.  When we come back, expect to see updates from...The Avian Reconditioning Center for Birds of Prey, Blue Spring State Park, Tomoka State Park (twice), a return (twice!) to Ravine Gardens State Park, and this weekend's main event...our 1st Campiversary Celebration!!

Whew, my fingers are going to be sore from all the typing.  It will have to wait, though....Our bags won't pack themselves.

:)