Winding up Wekiwa Springs

December 14- 16, 2023                                                  Most Recent Posts:
Wekiwa Springs State Park           More Wonderful Days at Wekiwa Springs
Site 47                                                           Back to December – Wekiwa Springs
Opopka, Florida

SAINT JOHN’S RIVER STEAK AND SEAFOOD

As you’ve seen from my last two posts, I’ve had a wonderful time at Wekiwa Springs mostly kayaking and some hiking.

On the afternoon of the 14th I drove to Sanford to meet Shayne and Bev at St John’s River Steak and Seafood which is on Lake Monroe fed by the St. John’s River.

The St. John’s is Florida’s longest river at about 310 miles.  It is one of the only rivers in the northern hemisphere that flows northward.  It’s a very slow moving river which drops about an inch a mile from its headwaters in Kissimmee Prairie State Park to the Atlantic Ocean.  A total of 30 feet.  One of the smaller rivers that feeds the St. John’s is the Wekiva whose headwaters is at Wekiwa Springs.

St John’s is an interesting river in so many ways.  Its drainage basin covers  about 12,400 square miles or about 21% of the state.   It drains north and east central Florida, an amazingly large area.  But it is such a slow moving river that pollutants are not flushed out easily and run off from agriculture, urban areas and discharge from water treatment plants are major sources of pollution.  It’s very sad.  At times when the river is low, tides from the Atlantic Ocean may cause reverse flow bringing salt water 161 miles up stream to Lake Monroe.  The city of Sanford sits on the southern shore of the lake. 

The recent hurricanes and river flooding did a great deal of damage to the city and the restaurant.  The photo below is what was the restaurant’s patio facing the lake.

Inside things were going along as usual luckily.

It was wonderful seeing Shayne and Bev again and my oysters and seafood gumbo were excellent.

Here are a couple of pictures of the restaurant’s lake front in pre damage days.  Perhaps next year we will come back and they may have it all repaired.  Assuming no more hurricanes come which is by no means assured any longer in November.

ON THE SPRING RUN

I was out on the spring run both that morning before meeting them and the next, my last day at Wekiwa.  I was paddling around the edge of the spring basin before heading on out to the spring run when I saw this alligator lazily moving along.  He could easily be seen by folks on the bridge connecting the spring itself to the kayak put in area.  No kayaks allowed in the spring only swimming.

Aren’t they wonderful looking.  So ancient like the armadillo and the opossum.

He was sliding down in the water a bit.  Sometimes they get so low only their eyes show above the water line.

He was only this far away from me.

And then. . . . .

What is that little pied billed grebe doing?  Surely he should be quickly heading in the other direction.  He’s exactly the right size for an alligator snack.

Apparently the grebe somehow knew the gator was not hungry today.  Seriously a mystery of nature. 

The gator swam right by the grebe without seeming to  pay any attention at all.  THANK GOODNESS.  Any other outcome would not have been something I’d like to see.

I so look forward to seeing the grebe in the spring basin nearly every morning.  This day was the only one out of two weeks where I saw the gator there.

Further on along the spring run the reflections in the water were wonderful

 

I took several photographs here from different spots before I noticed . . . .

the little buck relaxing and almost hidden.

You can see from both of these shots how difficult he was to spot.

This closer one shows his antlers.

From then on, I had my eyes peeled and not too far away I found what may be two of his ladies fair.  They were clearly watching me.

I’d heard hawks calling on many of my paddles and even seen them high up in the skies but today I saw one in the trees over my head. 

Thank goodness the spring runs relatively slowly since trying to look at the water and who is on it, at the bank and who might be there and in the trees and sky is quite difficult.  I need eyes everywhere.

The little green heron may be the most frequent sight on the river.  This one I would say looks rather frumpy today.

There are multiple green herons on the river.  This one looked a bit out of sorts.  His “hair” made me laugh.

If any of you better birders know what this means, please tell us.

I watched him for quite a while trying to see if something was upsetting him and when he moved up into the tree, it still was not clear.  But one might be forgiven for not recognizing this bird  as the same variety as the one  in my initial grumpy shot.

LAST DAY AT WEKIWA SPRINGS

Since today was my last day, I thought I’d include this shot of 6 of my 8 neighbors.  They were quite a yippy group.   I cannot even imagine traveling with 6 little dogs.

I haven’t shown a turtle “look mom no feet” pictures this time so here is one.  I really should do some research to find out what makes turtles do this and green herons get their top knots out of whack.

This female anhinga drying her wings was also a rare sight for me.  Because I go out first thing in the morning and am back normally by noon, I do not see anything which might be on the river in the afternoon when it is warmer.  Perhaps they are not a rare sight then.

Such a wild and free place.  Hats off to the State of Florida for its protection of its springs and their rivers.

Amazingly, two days in a row I saw the hawk and today two of them.

As you can see from the pictures I was behind them and pretty much under them.  I used my rudder to hold myself as still as I could lest I frighten them off.

Time to leave.

and it was time for me to leave too.  This is my last shot from the spring basin as I brought the kayak in to put it back on the car and move on to Alafia State Park and the holiday visit to Maryland I have already posted about. 

To say I was sorry to leave would be a great understatement.