Silver River Scrapbook

February   12-26, 2025                                              Most Recent Posts:
Silver Springs State Park                                           Return to Osprey
Site 6                                                                              Cold at Koreshan
Silver Springs, Florida

For me, staying at Silver Springs State Park is all about the river.   The campground is very nice with a few FHU and numerous pull throughs.  The bathrooms are clean, the washer and dryer works.

One week end this year was the annual Knapp In.  I did not attend this year but you can see my post on it in a previous year here.

The park is close to grocery, restaurants and a new to me RV Service Center where Winnona had some maintenance that David always did and hasn’t been done since he died taken care of.  The better part of $800 for maintenance to both Air Conditions,  the slides, the generator, the jacks and replacing 5  running lights which I hope is where the windshield leak is originating.  All of these David could have done for the cost of an $11 tube of sealing caulk.  Just one of the many things I miss about him and an additional cost of continuing to travel alone.  It hits especially hard since I am now on one income.  Like a double whammy.

Enough of my whining.

The real delight of Silver Springs State Park is the Silver River and the park’s willingness to allow boats to be locked up at their launch site.   The launch is a mile from the campground down and then up a sandy trail but using wheels it is doable and then I can just hike down the trail every day it isn’t raining, put the kayak in the water and off I go.

This post is a pictorial of my two weeks on the river when it wasn’t  either  too cold (as in 39 degrees) or raining.   Warning that it is very picture heavy even for me.

FEBRUARY 14  FRIDAY

Happy Valentine’s Day to me.

Common Moorhens whose name was changed to Common Gallinule.  But not for me.

Male Anhinga

Drying his feathers from underwater swimming.

Little Blue Heron

You know who.

Double Crested Cormorant.  Look at those feather designs.  Seriously blue eyes.  Better picture later.

Snowy Egret with golden slippers.

By this point on this day I am near the spring head.  This is the Sea Hunt Deck from the late 1950’s TV series with Lloyd Bridges.  Later in my stay I hiked 7.5 miles round trip over to the head spring and saw the deck from the inside.

The famous Glass Bottom Boats first used here in 1878.

The head spring is to the right of the boat basin.  You come here on land of course to get tickets.

Cute little Pied-Billed Grebe

This is the entrance to the Fort King Paddle trail near the headspring.  It was my destination on this day but sadly it was closed during my entire stay.

Notice the navigator.  It was amazing how many dogs I saw in boats during my paddles.

Juvenile gator pretty well hidden.

A Double Crested Cormorant rookery along the river.

Sometimes you have to have sharp eyes to spot them.

A closer look

Tricolored Heron

 

I couldn’t tell because of the bright sun that I hadn’t gotten his full length until I was putting this post together.  He was VERY long.

This is where I end my Valentine’s day paddle.  The campground boat dock.

FEBRUARY 18 TUESDAY

The Silver River has gotten very popular and the concessionaire renting boats at the head spring has no limit on the numbers of boats they will put in the river.  That affects when I go out both in terms of time and days.   My previous paddle, above, was on a Friday.  I almost never go out on the week-ends which are crazy and it rained on Monday. 

But here I am Tuesday morning.

This Little Blue Heron hangs out very near the boat dock.  I’ve seen him every time I come.

Notice the gator on the side of the sunning Anhinga.  How does he know he won’t be lunch?

The trees are in their winter stage but the water is gorgeous at all times of year.

Cypress Trees line the banks.

They grow right in the water with their wide trunk bases.

Almost looks like he’s hugging the tree.  Sorry for the shadow.

I’m pretty far away so it’s not me he has his eye on.  They are so prehistoric looking with that bulbous nose, scary teeth, sharp claws and leather looking skin.

There were numerous gators out today as you can see.   This one would be easy to miss.

This is one of my favorite pictures. 

Closer view of the Great Blue Heron studying something.

Even closer look once he stood up.

Because Loons are not ducks the Wood Duck is my favorite duck.

Gator # 4 or 5 today or ???.    It was definitely a gator day.

Some trio.

I caught an Anhinga actually in the water.  You don’t see him like this often as he just thrusts his head up and dives down under immediately.  He’s sometimes called the snake bird when he sticks his neck up and you cannot see his body.

The only raptor I saw.  I heard them call frequently and looked for them but this was the only one I could spot and he was very far away.

Long spindly legs on the egret.

 

More alligators today than any day.  I know how you like that Pam Sprouse.

This is the point where I turn around, when I run in to the flotilla of kayak renters.

FEBRUARY 19  WEDNESDAY

Blue eyes, hook bill and amazing feathers.

I do love cypress trees.  So beautiful, so swampy.

How about the “hair” on this scratching Little Blue Heron.

Ready to launch.

Gorgeous water today too.   Everyday.

Looking a bit stealthy.

Though even more so if his whole body were submerged and only his eyes showing.

Green Heron.  First one I’ve seen this trip.

Isn’t the artistry amazing?

Another tough to catch shot is a perching, for about a second, King fisher.

Female Anhinga.  She has her head turned to the side looking down.  Her coloring is different but she has those webbed feet.

Ruffled feathers on a Green Heron.

Grebe and reflection.

This guy with the solid bright orange under shell is a Florida Red Bellied Cooter.   Also known as a slider.  I suppose because if you get close he’ll just slide right down into the water and disappear.

More dogs on the water.  I passed this crew going up as they were going down but didn’t get this picture so thanks to my friend Lorraine who was kayaking with them for giving it to me.   Pam VanDerbeek will love this. Seriously full boat.  But I was told it didn’t sink.

Back at the ramp.   Time for lunch.

FEBRUARY 22 SATURDAY

This is an exception to my rule about week-ends.  Weather hadn’t permitted me to paddle since Wednesday so I took a chance and went out early.

It paid off with my first manatee sightings.  These pictures seem other worldly with the reflection of the trees.

Here he’s coming up for air.  Manatee are mammals and have to breathe.

Another nose shot.

They were the highlight of my day so there are a lot of pictures of them.

Here they come.  Time to turn back.

Here’s where my kayak waits.  That’s the boat ramp to the left.  And a picnic table for those stopping off on their 5 mile mostly float down the river from the head spring to Ray’s Wayside.   I paddle up stream two miles and then come back two.

FEBRUARY 26 WEDNESDAY

My final day on the river was on the morning I left to move to Rainbow Springs.  I never do anything the morning I move but I just had to get back out on the water.  There had been too few days in these two weeks.

So I closed everything up on the outside on Monday after returning from taking Winnona in for that maintenance I mentioned.  Tuesday it rained ALL DAY so I did the inside pack up including bringing in the slides and taking up the jacks.

Boy was it worth the short trip and the pressure to get off the site by 1pm.

I think this is the first Wood Stork I’ve seen here.  He was high up in a tree overlooking the river.

Storks do stand on one foot.

 

What a face – right?

This was also the only Black Crowned Night Heron I saw this visit but I have seen him here before.

I looked over at one point and there was an alligator swimming along right beside me going the other way.

Today was a not so many gators day.  Nothing like the earlier day when I saw nearly a dozen.

Sharing the log.   Doesn’t the Wood Duck look like a painted decoy?

Statuesque Tricolored Heron.

Now with a fish in his mouth.

Now back to fishing as he steps lightly along.

Great Blue fishing.

But the fisherman of the day was this Anhinga whom I watched for quite a while as he tried and tried to get that fish, as wide as his throat, to go down.

The fish was in and then not so much.  The bird smacked him on the log and tried over and over but in the end, he dropped the fish, dove in after him and I never saw the ending.   What a day on the river.

I saw two manatee going down river earlier but they went right on by me as I was going the other way.  But then one was going my way and I paddled first with one and then with two until I ran out of time and was forced to turn back.

Side by side we went.  The white horizontal grip in the lower right is my paddle.  That’s how close we were.  He went under me several times.

And then there were two and I wondered how long and how far we might have gone up stream together.    Until the flotillas I expect.   Boy was I sad to turn around and leave them.   

There isn’t a better day on the river than one where I can paddle with Manatee.

But,  this is how it ends.  With the kayak on the wheels and me pulling it a mile up hill to put it back on the car.  Thank You Silver Springs Campground for not making me pull it up and down every day I go out.

I may do another much shorter post to include the few other things I did during these two weeks at Silver springs, but the paddling was definitely the highlight.   Hope you didn’t mind SO MANY pictures.