Fort Pickens Marsh walks

September 2004...category 5 Hurricane Ivan decimated the forests here at Fort Pickens leaving it forlorn looking and peppered by hundreds of tall barren trees.  Between the man made nesting platforms and the constructed dead tree nests, there are more bird nests than I can count on my fingers and toes.  The Great Blue Herons seem to be occupying several of the old Osprey nests.  If all these nests hatch young, the Blue Angels will have some competition for their aerobatic shows.

 

Why would a fresh water marsh form here in the sand between the salt water of the gulf and the brackish water of the bay?  Santa Rosa island receives 50-60 inches of rain each year.  During heavy rains the water collects in this depression between the dunes that extends down to the water table.  Because of a difference in densities the fresh water floats like an iceberg on the salt water in the porous subsurface.  This pool provides a critical source of fresh water for the wildlife living here.

The marsh run has otters, Great Blue Herons who walk the waters edge as they fish for food, and the cute Pied-billed Grebe seen below.  This is a shy, small diving bird with a chicken like beak.  They rarely fly and dive when in danger giving them the nickname of "hell-diver."  Their feathers use to decorate hats.  Several states have listed them as endangered.

Cardinals, Red-winged Blackbirds, Mourning Doves, Brown Pelicans, Great Blue Herons, an occasional Hawk, Osprey, Seagulls, Bluebirds, Yellow Rumped Warblers, Mocking Birds, Eastern Towhee, Common Yellow Throats, and others have been fun to observe. 

 Porpoise were seen offshore, daily Armadillo's, and an occasional squirrel.

Was a sunny, warmer day on one walk.  J had not gotten the words out of his mouth good to "watch for slithers sunning" when we came upon a Banded Water Snake.  Still cold...it was not moving fast.

This barrier island has all kinds of cover....Sea Oats hold the white quartzite sand from the blue green water of the Gulf of Mexico.  The Florida Rosemary non-edible shrub is drought resistant and good cover for the land as well as the wildlife...Conradina, Sand & Slash Pines, Wax Myrtle whose leaf wax is used in candle making...medicinal Saw Palmetto...Sawgrass...Bamboo...Cat Tails...and lots of other grasses and shrubs.  Below the Red Dahoon & Youpon Hollies with their red berries and the Gallberry with their black berries feed the birds during the winter.

Some of the Live Oaks here have weathered storms and some have not.

 

 Then yesterday while picking up pine cones to aide our camp/cooking fire using my picker-uppers, I encountered a Ribbon Snake.  It was a little faster than the last one seen in the marsh.  J cooked the best chicken breasts over the fire as we enjoyed our last night with our Missouri friends.  J & L pulled out today heading further south for hopeful warmer temps.  We will pull out tomorrow heading for Mississippi.  Our weather here has been cold & windy with occasional rain.  We, too, are looking for warmer weather for our winter adventure.

 Fort Pickens definitely is a place to relax, reflect, retreat, and restore.

See you by the campfire.