Start Your Day with Sand Hill Cranes

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The Endangered Sand Hill Crane

I’ve heard that Sand Hill Cranes are common in Florida. For some reason I’ve not been able to get a good look at them. Oh I’ve seen them at a distance but never close enough for a good look. After so many years looking, who would have thought that I’d finally get my chance after a major hurricane!

Sand Hill Cranes

The morning surprise

I had made plans to meet up with Joe but I stressed that I wanted to be able to sleep in so Don’t Call Early! Of course my body had other ideas and woke up at my normal time. Old habits die hard. With time on my hands I headed out to breakfast. I wasn’t thinking about Sand Hill Cranes or any other bird when a huge bird half flew, half ran right in front of the car! I recognized it right away. It was a Sand Hill Crane. It may have been the one to catch my attention but there were 3 more waiting for it on the side of the road. I quickly turned around and hurried back to my room to grab the camera. I didn’t really expect them to be there when I got back but I had to try.

Preening craneLost and Alone, Maybe

I grabbed the camera and raced back to the car. What did I see as I backed out? Another Sand Hill Crane. It was standing in the middle of the parking lot grooming! I rolled my window down and slowly rolled forward. Silly bird paid no attention to me. I got quite close. Then another car came along. It passed between me and the bird. The bird never flinched. It just kept preening! 

A Morning Tradition

Leaving my vain crane in the parking lot I went looking for the foursome I’d seen earlier. I spotted them way off in the distance. This was the start of a morning ritual. I’d head out to breakfast and the little flock of 4 would be next to the road. This happened every day while I was at the resort. After all this time looking for them, the Sand Hill Cranes paid me back for my persistence.

A Flock of Cranes

Air Boats and Alligators

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Tom & Jerry’s Air Boat rides

The last part of the Florida Adventure tour is a 30 minute air boat ride. We had a 45 minute bus ride from Crystal River to Lake Panasoffkee for a 30 minute boat ride. I’ve been on air boats before but not on Lake Panasoffkee. Upon arrival the group was split in two. Only one air boat was operational. Or maybe it was because there was only one captain available.

Cruising the Lake

airboats and alligator

My group followed the Captain Jerry down the dock where we boarded a medium sized air boat. There were plenty of earmuffs on each bench seat. You really need to use them because the roar of the huge fan that drives the board is deafening. We started out slowly but soon Captain Jerry kicked up the speed. A great blue heron took off as we roared past. Captain Jerry slowed the boat and pointed it out. He said it was the first bird he’d seen since the hurricane. Usually the lake was teeming with birds.

Birds and Hurricanes Great Blue heron

Captain Jerry explained that the birds get into the eye of the storm and are carried far off their normal flight paths. It takes them awhile to get orientated and begin to return. He was very happy to see the Great Blue. A bit further on Captain Jerry again slowed the boat. This time so we could see a smaller bird. It was a heron too. This one was the tricolor Heron.

Where are all the Gators?

We finally spotted one alligator. Captain Jerry said he thought most of the gators were way back in the brush. The lake is usually about 6 ft deep at its deepest. With all the water from the hurricane it was more like 12 feet and still rising. It made for a beautiful blue lake but the marsh grass and Lilly pads were all underwater now. Alligators like to be able to hide. With the deeper water they felt exposed so were way back in the brushy area.

Want to hold the Alligator?

Baby Alligator

Back at the dock the 2nd half of our group headed out. One of the other employees brought out a small alligator to let us hold and take pictures. The really little gators were in an aquarium in the gift shop. Captain Jerry may have been disappointed that he couldn’t show us more gator’s but I didn’t hear any of us complaining. We had a great time all day!

 

 

 

 

Crystal River Archaeological State Park

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Crystal River has more to offer than Manatees

Next stop, Crystal River Archaeological State Park. My fellow tourists turned in their rented wet suits and settled back on the bus. Madelyn handed out our “picnic” lunches so we could eat on the way to the park. The original tour was supposed to take us to Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park but it was flooded from Hurricane Irma. Instead we were going to Crystal River Archaeological State Park.

Crystal River Archaeological State Park

Temple Mound

A National Historic Landmark, this 61-acre, pre-Columbian, Native American site has burial mounds, temple/platform mounds, a plaza area and a substantial midden. The six-mound complex is one of the longest continuously occupied sites in Florida. For 1,600 years the site served as an imposing ceremonial center for Native Americans. People traveled to the complex from great distances to bury their dead and conduct trade. It is estimated that as many as 7,500 Native Americans may have visited the complex every year. Although primarily an archaeological site, the park sits on the edge of an expansive coastal marsh. Anglers may catch saltwater and freshwater fish. As part of the Great Florida Birding Trail, the park offers bird-watchers the chance to observe a variety of birds.

The temperature was tipping 95 degrees so I chose to stay in the air conditioned museum. In addition to the artifacts on display there was a short educational movie. When my bus-mates returned they were really sweating. They said it was great scenery but really hot out there. I’ll save my exploration for another trip when it’s cooler out.

Crystal River Arch museum

One more stop

Part 3 of our tour is a 30 minute air boat tour of Lake Panasoffkee. Its about a 45 minute ride from Crystal River. Madelyn popped in the video from this morning. I think everyone was getting tired because the ride was very quiet. I was watching for hurricane damage but aside from a few trees and a lot of mangled bill boards the area we drove through seemed to be in pretty good shape. 

Two’s Company Three’s a Crowd

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What is a Crowd?

Manatee

If two’s company and three’s a crowd what is a group of five? That’s what we were drifting along with the Manatee. It wasn’t long before two more boats joined us and these were not little tours. I was having trouble keeping track of my group. So were my fellow snorkelers so we left our manatee friend and headed back to our boat.

Jurassic SpringsJurassic Springs

Our next stop was at Jurassic Springs. It was just a bulge in the  side of the river. There was a pipe marking the boundary. We weren’t sure if a manatee was in there or not.  It was worth taking a short swim to find out. It was much deeper here. The spring was a large crack in the river floor. If you swam down toward the crack the water temperature dropped quickly. Exploration over, there weren’t any manatees. We headed back to the boat.

Sting Ray! Sting Ray!Sting Ray

Slipping back under the pipe we were surprised by a sea going creature we never expected to see. It was a stingray. I don’t know if it got in the river because of the hurricane or if it just wanted a little warm water. The creature didn’t pay us any attention but I couldn’t help thinking of Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter. Steve met his death at the end of a sting ray tail.

Baby Manatee

The Canal held another SurpriseChopping on Rope

Our hour and a half was nearing the end. I have to say this was an A++ tour so far. On our way back we detoured down a side canal. We saw collapsed sea walls caused when the water was drained by the hurricane. We had almost reached the end of the canal when Austin thought he saw a manatee. He left us on the boat while he went in to check. What he found turned this into a 5 star experience. There was a mama manatee and a tiny baby. I use the term tiny loosely. The baby was estimated to be about 50 lbs and looked like a fire plug. He was nibbling on the ropes that dangled from the dock . We had a great time with the baby until the crowd found us. With the arrival of the other tour boats, we made our exit.

Baby Manatee

On The Road to Crystal River

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The Road to Crystal River is a long one

Manatee in the Wild

 Crystal River  is about an hour and a half north of Orlando. It gave us a chance to see what Hurricane Irma had done in Central Florida. A few trees here and there and a lot of mangled billboards.  Our tour guide had brought along video tapes to entertain us as well.  She popped in Night at the Museum, Secret of the Tomb. That certainly helped to pass the time.

Get Ready to Get WetMy snorkel buddies

Once in the town of Crystal River we stopped at a small shop to pick up our wet suits. They are $10.00 per suit. I wasn’t sure they would have them to fit me so I brought my own from home. It’s brand new and I was going to christen it with this trip. As Madeline gave instructions for trying on the suits I was really glad I brought my own. She was talking about trying suits on without a bathing suit. Maybe they do that in Florida but we never did that in the cold New England waters. It made me question the hygiene of a rental suit.

Our Dive boat

Pontoon Boats and Manatees

Once we had our wet suits on it was off to the marina. I really lucked out as most of my group was on a large pontoon boat. My boat only took 5 people and I was #5. That meant we pulled out first and got to the first location ahead of the other boats. We spotted one Manatee and the scramble to get  in the water began.

 

Manatee Ahoy

 

getting into the waterWe were given a mask, snorkel and a “noodle”, a long, cylindrical piece of polyethylene foam that makes floating easy. The wet suit also makes you more buoyant. The tricky part is not kicking and using your feet. Splashing and flailing around spooks the manatees. You have to float quietly and move slowly. We were given a long list of do’s and don’ts but I shouldn’t have worried.

 

Manatee swims under the snorkelers

 

The manatees broke the rules right away.  They swam right up to us!