We woke on Saturday,
September 26 to rain. On the drive to Brooker Creek Preserve we saw fog, and
evidence that rain still fell in other parts of the area. Of the dozen people
who signed up for the hike, only one determined person showed. The weather kept
the rest away. Fortunately, the rain stopped, so we did our brief introduction
in the auditorium and then set out on the very personalized hike for our guest.
The hike to the
parking lot took some time, as the bird activity picked up considerably. We
briefly saw the Blue winged warbler sighted the week before, but before any of
us could focus it flitted around and dove deeper into the canopy.
As we walked toward
the bridge over the main channel, some wasps buzzed around building a nest in a
tunnel of saw palmetto leaves, directly at eye level. At the bridge, an anhinga
sat on a branch over the creek, allowing for shots from various angles. Then a Green
Heron flew by and hid in some leaves, challenging all of us to find an angle
for a shot. Further along we saw the start of the Fall wildflowers, numerous
air plants, plenty of birds and dragonflies, and some interesting damage done
to some leaves and vines. We spent a lot of time composing our shots and taking
the photos.
As we came up the
boardwalk behind the education buildings, a Black-crowned night heron stood in
the wetlands. He saw us, but continued his slow walk looking for food. At the
perched wetland just behind the education center a banded water snake lay on a
branch just above the water.
In spite of the
questionable start to the day, we experienced good light, and found great
subject matter. Had the rain continued, we came prepared to do a classroom
session but luckily we ended up with a varied and interesting hike.
Our next hike is
Saturday morning, October 31 starting at 8:30 a.m. and continuing to 10:15 or 10:30.
We hope to see you there.
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