Trail Day

Today was a productive day and it went by quickly.  I was hoping that it would, it is my Friday after all, and my weekend includes a fun holiday this week!  On my drive to the park, I stopped at the barn.  I don't usually, but it was calling to me today.  The sun was positioned just right and it looked like it was a pretty morning over there.  I'm glad that I listened to my instincts.  There were three deer and lots of pretty frost-covered things to look at.  The deer were not in the sun and it was still too dark to get a decent photo of them.  I tried to sneak around the barn to get closer, but I wasn't sneaky enough.  The frost covered vegetation didn't frighten easily, so I do have some photos to share.  We weren't expecting freezing temperatures last night, but some areas behind the barn had a light dusting of frost.  The grass and spiderwebs just sparkled in the morning sun.




I went to the office next and got straight to work on paperwork.  I wasn't at the park yesterday, so I had two days to catch up on.  It went quickly though, with the spring closed, we haven't had any paying visitors.  Just as I was finishing up, I got a call from a worker with a tree service who was just pulling into the park to meet with me to give an estimate on the three dead trees at Adams Tract.  I took him over there, got the estimate, and talked to him about the river camp and some possible opportunities for a scout troop that he is involved with.  We had some company while we walked, a neighbor's dog enjoys visiting the river camp.  The dog is a very sweet Lab named Bear.  He and his brother love to come to Adams Tract to visit, but we would rather that they didn't.  On my way out, I loaded Bear into my truck and took him home.  His owners weren't home, but his brother dog was there so I let him out of the truck and they started playing.  I'm glad he didn't follow me out.


When I got back to Troy, my coworkers were already hard at work on our project for the day.  I had saved it for this Wednesday because we had four people working.  It was a big job and more people lighten the load.  I joined them when I arrived.  Our project was shoveling and spreading wood chips on the pathway down to the river.  I picked up the wood chips from Ichetucknee last week, you may remember.  The pathway turned out even better than I had hoped.  We filled in the holes that were made by erosion and created a smooth surface.  I was a little concerned that the wood chips would be slippery on the hill, but it was nice and stable.  We will try to walk on it as much as we can to pack it down so that it doesn't wash away in a heavy rain storm, but I think it will hold up pretty well.  All of the roots that were exposed will help to hold the wood chips in place.  Take a look at the dramatic before and after below.


When the trail was done, we broke for lunch.  After lunch, our volunteer and I went to town to put gas in the truck and to visit the local hardware store for a few more supplies.  Once my paperwork was done, e-mails were sent, and my projects were wrapped up, I headed home a little early to make up some of my long day yesterday.

Christmas Bird Count

Today was a fun and unique day.  I left the house just after 5:00am, put up the flags, and unlocked the gate.  Our volunteer covered Troy Springs this morning while I went over to Ichetucknee Springs. There, I met with several people to participate in a Christmas Bird Count.  Other park staff and voluntary private citizens broke off into groups and spent the day patrolling specific territories to record bird sightings.  The Christmas Bird Count is coordinated by the Audubon Society and has been going on for 110 years.  During a set period from late December through early January, groups all over the Americas do bird counts and the data is compiled to serve many functions, but especially to study long term changes in bird locations and numbers.  This data can also benefit the park in the same way, by recording data about birds in and around the park.  If this sounds interesting to you, click the link to find a count near you that hasn't taken place yet.
I am not a very experienced birder.  I know many of the common birds in the park, but I don't have a lot of experience with smaller songbirds.  I was paired with two very experienced birders and they taught me a lot.  I was able to contribute by helping to spot birds, and then someone else could identify the ones I didn't recognize.  I also did all of the driving because I knew the park and the surrounding area.  I learned a few new species and brushed up on some that I knew but didn't see often.  I also found out about a very cool phenomena.  Many of the birders had recordings of sounds from a Screech Owl.  When they would play these recordings, small songbirds would start gathering around us and chirping.  A Screech Owl is a potential predator of songbirds and the gathering birds were alerting everyone of the threat.  It is interesting to me that instead of running and hiding, all the little guys work together to draw attention to the otherwise stealthy predator.  Their tendency to gather at the sound of a Screech Owl really benefited us.  We could see birds that would have been much harder to find and we were able to get a more accurate idea of what birds were out there.
We started before sunrise and patrolled a few areas listening for owls without much luck.  As the sun began to come up, we began walking areas of the park and finding birds.  Later, we drove out to a more remote area of the park and surveyed several parts of that section.  We finished up by driving around some of the perimeter of the park before meeting with the other groups in the afternoon.  When we all got together, we compiled all of our data and went species by species to see how many each group had seen.  It was fun to see the different numbers and hear everyone's excitement, disappointment, or shock.
I saw some truly beautiful sights while I was at Ichetucknee today.  The morning fog on the water there is like no other.  It really is magical.  This morning was so, so cold (hat, mittens, long-underwear cold) but it generated the most incredible fog on the warm spring water.  Fortunately, we had several opportunities to look out onto the river in addition to the time we spent in the woods.



I saw a lot of birds today, but most were too small and quick to capture with my camera.  I did get a few though.  The first is of an Eastern Phoebe perched on some wild rice.  It is above the bright green plants and in between the two grouping of rice stalks.  The second image is zooming in a little closer with the help of computer editing.  The two white birds with curvy orange beaks are White Ibis.  We ate lunch with those Ibises.  We sat down on the river bank and they didn't fly away like the other birds.  They just continued using their long bills to probe the water and silt for their lunches.




A high point in the end of my afternoon of birding was finding this butterfly.  I have always wanted to see a Blue.  They are tiny and vibrant.  This one is a Ceraunus Blue and it was a perfect model for me.  It even opened up its wings on command so that I could capture the beautiful color.  It really could not have chosen better flowers to perch on either.

Muddy Monday

Today was the day that I was dreading since the water began to rise.  Our visibility in the spring has diminished to only four feet and we had to close to the spring for swimming and diving.  You may remember from the start of my blog on the first day of summer that when the spring is closed, we have very few visitors.  Now, on the first day of winter, we are back to where we started.  I hope that 2010 takes us back to average rainfall amounts, well spaced.


I went to check the spring as soon as I arrived at work.  I walked with one of my co-workers to the spring dock and climbed out to my perch on the big rock to use the Secchi Disk to measure the visibility.  I knew what I would find, but I wanted to document everything accurately.  I dropped the disk in the water and it disappeared quickly.  I pulled it back into view and counted the marks on the line to see that we were just under 4 feet of visibility.  Compare this photo to the first readings that I took and you will see a huge difference!


My rock pedestal is shrinking by the day.  Its a good thing that I won't have to take any more Secchi Disk measurements.  Last night was another night below freezing, so it was still very cold this morning.  At least there was fog.  Its always easier for me to deal with the cold if there is something pretty to see.


We walked back up to the office to get out all of the signs to notify visitors that the spring is closed for swimming and diving.  They weren't hard to find, they haven't been stored for very long.  My coworker took the signs to hang and the leaf blower to start cleaning up the walkways.  I headed to the cabin and then down to the river.


I can't get enough of the fog.  I also love this vantage point because of the way that the trees frame your view so gracefully.


At the river, I couldn't stop myself from taking the same photos that I have taken so many times.  Up river, down river, all of my favorite trees that can be seen from the river dock, I snapped photos of it all.  I also tried to get some new angles, to look at things a little differently.  The next two photos were taken just a few inches from each other.  I just scooted over a little from where I normally stand to photograph the water level and I found another stunning view that I had not appreciated before.



Next to the walkway between the river docks, I spotted this little mystery.  It appears to be a structure similar to a Mud Dauber Wasp's nest, but I can't find any photos of a Mud Dauber nest that looks exactly like this one.  Each different type of Mud Dauber builds their nest to a specific shape.  Mud Daubers lay their eggs in pods that they build and they will also include some food for the larvae to eat when they hatch.  Quite often, they will sting a spider which will subdue and preserve it until the eggs hatch.  The spider is sealed in the nest with the eggs.  When the eggs hatch, the larvae will consume the spider before emerging completely from the nest.


After my walk around the park,  I headed to the office to thaw out.  I took care of the paperwork and finished up the end of the week paperwork.  I answered some e-mails, and made sure that the other workers in the park had projects to work on (indoor projects, it was still cold).  Then, I headed out of the park to run my usual Monday errands.  It didn't take me long, I didn't have any extra stops to make today.  I talked to my Assistant Manager for a few minutes while I was at Ichetucknee, then I headed back.  I went home for lunch and then finished up my day in the office calling to schedule another tree removal estimate, checking over our property inventory list, and getting details about my activities tomorrow. 

Winter Wonderland

Today was much colder than yesterday, but for some reason, a busier day than we have had in a while.  We even had four brave divers who were experienced with dark water and determined to make the dive.  I will definitely have to close the spring tomorrow, so they made it in just under the wire.  There were a couple of families who came well bundled for the cold and enjoyed their day at the park.  One family even spent some time in the activity room making ornaments.  They came up with some creative ideas.  Is was nice to have so many people in the park.  I was so busy with them that I didn't take many photos today.  Here is the shot from the cabin porch and a video of the spring first thing this morning.  The fog is dancing all over the place and the surface of the water is almost boiling with fish and turtle activity.

Sad Saturday

Winter is almost upon us.  I think it is trying to make a grand entrance this year.  The temperatures last week were in the 80's.  Now we are looking at lows below freezing for the next three nights.  I need to move further south.  It has been windy too; so windy that leaves, branches, and even logs are falling continuously.  When I made my morning drive, I had to stop to clear some very large branch pieces.


Once I was at the office, I checked the water level from the computer.  I saw that it was still creeping up at the same pace.  I checked the water levels upriver and they are still rising as well, that means it will only get higher here.  I picked up the Secchi Disk and headed out towards the spring to check the water.  I could tell that my coworker had mowed to grind up the leaves while I was off, but there was already a fresh layer of leaves and sticks on the ground.  I picked up more sticks on my way to the spring.  Once I was at the dock, I climbed over the railing onto the big rock, which was getting smaller and smaller by the day as the water creeps up around it.  We have only six feet of visibility now.  The water is very muddy.


Before the water started to rise this time, there were only two steps in the water.  Now there are seven, almost eight wet steps.  The silty and tannic water is creeping up closer and closer to the dock.  It seems like I was just scrubbing those steps clean after the last flood.  I hope that this high water doesn't stick around for long.  The turtles, Gar, and Mullet are having a blast though.  The fish have full run of the spring.  They usually hide at the edge of the tannic water just outside the spring run.  Now that the dark water has crept in, so have the fish.  The Mullet keep jumping, they really must just jump because they are happy.  There are many other unproven theories, but that one makes the most sense to me.


After walking back up the spring walkway, I stopped at the office to put away the Secchi Disk and take care of the paperwork.  Next, I headed to the cabin.  I opened it up and took my usual photo from the porch.  Then, I headed down the hill for my usual river shot.  Compare the next two photos to the same ones from last weekend and you will really see a difference.



I also had to take another photo of our favorite tree because it has finally dropped all of its needles.  Its roots are shrinking too.


I was just watching the river when some motion caught my eye downriver.  I really had to watch it to see what it was.  Eventually, I figured out that there were three birds floating on the water.  They definitely weren't going to allow me to get any closer to them and they didn't look like they were planning on coming upstream.  I really couldn't tell what they were.  I decided to take my chances with zooming in on them with my camera and hoped that I got a halfway decent image.  I didn't really, but at least I was able to see what they were.  The first photo is the original image.  The three ducks are the gray blob in the middle of the photo.  Fortunately, when I enhanced the image on the computer, I was just able to make out that they were Hooded Mergansers.  This is the first time that I have ever seen them here.  They are really beautiful birds.  The fellow with the striking black and white mo-hawk is the male, and the brown and tan mo-hawk is the female.  The third one is likely a younger duck who hasn't developed all of its coloration yet.  It is probably not one of their offspring though, it would have left their care by now.



The rest of my day was spent reluctantly telling visitors, in person and over the phone, that the water was really not clear enough for an enjoyable and safe dive.  They were appreciative of the warning, but like me, disappointed that Troy was not the park for them today.  We had only one fisherman who didn't stay long at all.  It was a cold, quiet day.  I drained all of the rain barrels throughout the day and opened up their drain spouts to prepare for the freezing nights ahead.  During my pacing back and forth to move the drain hose on the barrels, I saw a really beautiful pile of fungus that was catching the tiny bit of sunlight that was breaking through.


Near the end of my shift, I was waiting for a tree trimmer to come to look at some large trees that need to be dropped at Adams Tract.  I drove out to the barn to start all of the faucets dripping to keep the pipes from bursting in the freezing temperatures.  I saw a very large bug on the outside wall of the barn!


There are twelve faucets at the barn.  There are another eight in the main part of the park that my evening relief took care of after I left.  When the tree man arrived, I took him to Adams Tract and we looked at the trees.  He wrote up an estimate for me and headed back out.  I checked in with the volunteers and went home for the day.

Leftovers

Its Leftover Friday again! Day off number two was spent doing a little bit of Christmas Shopping. Here are some remnants of Monday's fabulously foggy day and my day at Ichetucknee yesterday. Yesterday's game of hide and seek was so much fun, I included a quick Round Two at the bottom of today's post.





This was on the Ichetucknee and it was a happy mistake.  The camera was not as stable as it should have been and it blurred the image slightly.  It gave the photo a dream-like look though, and I really like it.  It is the Ichetucknee in my imagination.


So here is the game.  The Kingfisher is a beautiful bird that perches above the water and watches for fish.  It will then dive-bomb the water and scoop up a fish, returning to a perch to consume its meal.  They are awesome birds.  In addition to their swift hunting abilities, they are stunningly colored and VERY noisy.  They always let you know that they are around.  They also have an uncanny ability to sense the very second that I am pressing the shutter button on my camera.  They dodge my photos almost EVERY time!  I caught a glimpse of one on the Ichey though.  See if you can spot it.

A Day On The River

Today was my day off.  When I was at Ichetucknee on Monday, seeing the river reminded me that it had been a long time since I had gone kayaking.  My boyfriend, Isaac and I decided to spend the day kayaking together on the Ichetucknee River.  It was a cool day, but that just meant that the river was very quiet.  There was rain in the forecast for the later afternoon so we made sure that we went earlier in the day.  We had a great time and saw some beautiful views.  Here are some of the things that we saw.  I even have a game for you at the end of the blog today.










Now let's play a game of hide and seek.  There is a creature hiding in each of the next three photos.  The same type of creature is in each photo.  If you can find it, post a comment below.  Don't peek at the comments until you have found it!