September 19, 2009

Sunday, heading home

As with most things…plans change. We left the springs early yesterday afternoon, crossed Lake George to the S end. We were not in a hurry so  took the slow way up Blue Creek. This Anhinga was drying its wings as we entered the creek.008cs

After we rounded a few more bends….I spotted this group of turtles sunning themselves. With their feet spread to capture all the warmth they can…they look like they are expecting to fly.016cs

Once back in the St Johns River, we spotted another beautiful Bald Eagle.025cs

I never get tired of the wildlife the river offers. It wasn’t a good week for gator watching. We saw only a few. This one hadn’t fared very well. A big dinner for a flock of buzzards. “Natures cleanup crew”.038cs

We spent the night behind the island at G3. Beautiful sunset.035

We hauled out early afternoon….no problems…just a trip that was too short.  We love the hardtop and new side curtains. It makes the boat seem bigger..guess it’s the heard room and shoulder room. Now I need to make screens for the sides and work up a way to fasten the white screen material (sun blocker) to the handrails for shade while at anchor. It worked very well. A bit more work and plan the next trip. It’s getting to be good boating weather.

A day at Silver Glen Springs, FL

We are anchored in the foreground. This is early in the morning and none of the weekend boaters have arrived yet, so it is quiet.133cs I was up early and took Raisin ashore. While out…I spotted this bird sitting on the neighboring houseboat’s dingy.046cs

I believe it is an immature Yellow-Crowned Night Heron, or an immature Black-Crowned Night Heron. I have never seen this bird before. Still haven't seen the adult.

At the top of a beautiful tree..sat a Bald Eagle.108cs

It’s just starting to take off. I was a bit quick with the camera. Isn’t that a beautiful tree. It was sharing it with a buzzard. There were 2 Bald Eagles along the “run”.119cs

This was all before coffee!  Jim stayed aboard and had hot coffee ready for me when I got back.

After a nice cool swim we took the dingy for a ride to the entrance of the Springs.003cs

The sign is a favorite perch for the Cormorants. They have webbed feet like the Anhinga, and swim submerged as they do.

The breeze remained with us all day. It was comfortably cool. We plan to spend another night here and then head S.