January 10, 2008 - An afternoon on the waterJanuary 10, 2008 • The Suffolk Times
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g the water's edge we found great blue herons nesting. Can you find
chicks that are almost ready to leave the nest?
w . low
old- timers meet and reacquaint themselves: with the inland waterway,
h changes with every tide. It's here we watch a wide variety of pelicans,
ts, herons, gulls, terns and even a passing dolphin.
Florida, here we come. For a short
time there I thought we had beaten
the odds, but no. As the early hours of
our trip turned into a slow, grueling
pace, we became part of the bewitched
group they call travelers; we were just
part of the milling crowd hoping for
the best.
What was sup-
FOCUS posed to be a
three -hour trip
O N turned into much
NATURE more than that,
but all was for -
by Paul gotten when we
finally reached
StOUtenburgh our - destination
on the Gulf, with
the temperature reaching 80 degrees.
We forgot any inconvenience and soon
started to settle in.
The next day was more like a Florida
day. The sun shone brightly and the
dress of the day was shorts, T shirts,
bare feet or beach shoes and, of course,
a hefty coating of sunscreen.
I inquired about fishing but, sorry
to say, it wasn't the best.— that is, with
the exception of one man who took
his grandson out to try the new pole
he got for Christmas. They caught a
412 -pound channel catfish. I didn't
know catfish were here in the local wa-
ters. Learn something new every day!
As I write, it's about 4 in the after-
noon, and there is an osprey screaming
above me on a telephone pole. Now
that's what I call a welcoming sound. I
don't know if it's a bird that migrated
from up norih (like we did) and liked
the area so much it will stay here all
winter, then, come spring, head north
to its familiar nesting grounds, or if it's
a resident bird, meaning it stays here
I'm sure you know ospreys return
each year to the same nest — which ,
reminds me, some nests need repair
after winter's hardships. Perhaps some
of you who enjoy the ospreys might
check out the nest near you and, if it
needs repair, get together and repair it
before the birds return in the spring.
Our first order of business after we
arrived in Florida was to get a rental
car so we could shop for food and use
it for exploring this part of our world.
We had a nice economy car delivered
and were soon off to the nearest Pub -
lix, where we bought the necessities
and then some. It's the "then some" w
have to watch out for. It's so easy to
[t on those extra puunus.
Back at the park we are in, we are
ile to get our fresh vegetables and
.tits. A man and his family come in
,ery Thursday from 10 to noon and
has just about everything you nee
,)m mangoes. beautiful red and gre,
peppers, oranges, basil — you name it,
he's got it.
The great egret that begs for a hand-
out was at the door to greet us. It's
a great way to see these huge white
egrets up close.
Later, when we walked the long pier
near us, a huge great blue heron, about
four feet high, stood in front of us as
though we were not supposed to pass
by ... we did, but he appeared very
threatening.
The white egret and the blue heron
are the same we see in our creeks,
stalking anything that moves, but
there they are spooky and it's hard to
get up close to any of the herons or
egrets we get to see much closer here.
The next day we thought we'd try
our luck fishing, even though the fish-
ing reports weren't exactly encourag-
ing. Here in the protected waters of
the inland waterway the family boat
of choice is the pontoon boat; as the
name implies, its flotation consists of
two or more long pontoons between
which there is a wide deck with com-
fortable seating along the sides.
Then, being in Florida, a canopy
covers half the area of the boat, mak-
ing the pontoon boat a thing of plea-
sure. Depending on the size, one or
two hefty outboards are used to move
the boat right along. What I liked
about the pontoon boat we were in
was its steadiness.
We no sooner left the dock than we
noticed a dark cloud moving in from
the Gulf. I must say, it looked very
menacing but seeing we were going to
be somewhere along the inland water-
way, we didn't feel threatened by the
ominous fog that engulfed the land to
the west.
We traveled some distance to a spot
that looked good and dropped the
anchor. We used live shrimp (some I
thought big enough to eat — but that
wishful thinking did not apply to the
fish we were after).
I didn't mind, for in the trees a short
distance away, great blue herons were
nesting. One flew in and immediately
walked over to one of the nests and
started feeding the young. All this and
the gurgling sound of their feeding
was well worthwhile.
uur next attempt was to try arttt-
ing, which proved very successful.
There was a time when everyone on
the boat had a fish on the line. Let me
tell you, there was excitement aboard!
Our son took on the job of baiting
the hooks and handling the fish that
were brought in. Our trip on the water
ended when the heavy fog took over
and visibility dropped to zero. From
there on we crept back to the marina
after a meat day on the water.
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