St Johns to Shell Creek

ST. JOHNS RIVER/SHELL CREEK

5/16/2015

We woke up early and headed to an address in a DeLand, Florida, neighborhood to volunteer for Habitat For Humanity where construction began on a new house for a young woman. It was my first time volunteering so I wasn’t sure what to expect, while JB had volunteered several times in the past. When we arrived there was a concrete slab and some wood laying around. It was difficult to visualize that a house would emerge from this concrete slab and strips of wood. Almost 3 ½ hours after arriving, the frames went up and the beginnings of a house were realized. It was about 12:30 p.m. when  we finished, so we decided to head out to the St. Johns River and paddle to Shell Creek.

       

The sun was out and the temperature was hot, but an occasional breeze cooled our bodies down. We had to paddle past several motor boats on the main channel before reaching the opening to Shell Creek. On the way to Shell Creek, we passed some trees along the banks full of loud, noisy birds and what looked like several nests. We decided to check those out on the way back…..

Woodstorks and babies

Meanwhile….we had an amazing encounter with a baby manatee that was swimming under and around JB’s kayak and playing with his paddle. I was busy trying to take a picture of another manatee feeding along the side, but all you could see was its back. JB kept trying to get my attention so I could see what the baby manatee was doing. When I finally paddled near JB, the baby manatee decided to check my yak out, too, and I was fortunate enough to get a kayak manatee hug! That encounter made BOTH of our days, but we had more to see…

Junior playing with JB's paddle

Roxy wondering what that thing in the water is!

We took a detour to Mud Creek and saw the replica of the Easter Island Statue.

We saw lots of birds, including Great Blue Herons, Ibis, Little Blue Herons, Tri-colored Herons, Aninghas, Sandhill Cranes, Osprey, Hawks, Swallow-tail Kites and coots.

Great Blue Heron

Great White Heron/Great Egret

Sandhill Crane

Little Blue Heron

American White Ibis (Juvenile)

American Coot

Tri-colored Heron

Aninga

Juvenile Sandhill Cranes

On our way back to the take-out, we passed the trees full of birds to discover they were teeming with nests and young Woodstorks, Aningas and Great Blue Herons. The noise of the birds squawking was so loud it was almost deafening. It was amazing to watch how the adult birds reacted to their young. The baby Aningas looked like the snakes on Medusa's head weaving up and down and back and forth while waiting to be fed.

A few turtles made an appearance and an alligator lazily glided in front of us on our way back.

It was another amazing day on the water....and Roxy enjoyed her big adventure, too!