A Trip to Remember

I had the pleasure of organizing a trip for six women wildlife photographers to the Wakulla/Leon Counties areas of Florida the weekend of April 13-15, 2012. We rented a fabulous townhouse right on the Ochlockonee Bay and had the entire “M” group of birding and wildlife sites to choose to visit from the GFBWT Panhandle Guidebook. We met early Friday morning at Wakulla Springs State Park for the first boat tour out on the river. I along with photographer Phyllis Freels of Elberta, AL had been to the springs previously, but for the rest it was a first adventure. The springs never fail to amaze!

                                                   Wakulla Cypress by Cathy Hennessy





 It was a glorious sunny day with mild temperatures and a plethora of birds and wildlife. Jumping mullets, Longnose Gar and Manatees greeted us even before we boarded the electric motored tour boat. Black Vultures soared and roosted in the newly greened cypress trees while a Great Egret preened itself on the island just out from the docks. We quietly motored down river and were delighted to see Little Blue Herons, ‘Slider’ turtles, Anhingas, Cormorants, nesting Osprey and the ever present alligators. Moorhens scolded us if we got too close and since we knew the old Tarzan movies had been filmed at Wakulla and that the Moorhen call had been used for Cheetah the Chimpanzee’s ‘voice,’ we couldn’t help but laugh at old memories while making new.




 We had three exceptional sightings; a Barred Owl, a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron and a Least Bittern.

Barred Owl by Sherry Frost

Yellow-crowned Night –Heron By Cathy Hennessy

                                                       

Least Bittern by Cathy Hennessy

We lunched at the Wakulla Springs Lodge before heading to Panacea and our lovely townhouse for the weekend. Our group included Phyllis Freels, Debbie Goddard, Kathy Hicks, Sherry Frost, Georgia Simms and Cathy Hennessy. Later we ventured to Otter Lake in Panacea to capture the sunset but realized the sun was going to set to the south of us. We caught the reflecting sun on the cypress trees in the boat launch bay and watched a pair of nesting Osprey as they hunted fish on the glossy smooth water. Great Blue Herons were also roosting in the trees and flying overhead.

 Otter Lake Cypress at Sunset by Cathy Hennessy

Osprey in Nest-Otter Lake

We thought we had closed our day and headed for the Ochlockonee Bay house when I realized the sun had not quite said goodbye. I lead our two car caravan onto the Ochlockonee Bay Bridge where we pulled to the side and watched the great red and gold orb slip behind the multi-hued bay waters. We had a fabulous day and still had two more ahead of us!

Sunset on Ochlockonee Bay By Cathy Hennessy