Working an adventure?

When I found out what days Jack would be visiting, I asked Gracie, the volunteer coordinator, if anyone would be going out to work on the canoe trails in the swamp.  She arranged for the two of us to go out with local volunteer Russell out of the Kingfisher Landing to help install new canoe trails signs.  Yahoo!  We spent the day out in the swamp in a boat.  The only thing better would be spending the day exploring the swamp in a canoe or kayak, but that would involve some bending and folding that I’m not allowed to do yet, so this was the next best thing.

We headed out under overcast and threatening skies, but the reflections were as enjoyable as ever.

After only a mile down the trail, we worked on our first sign assignment.  There are two canoe trails out of Kingfisher; the red and the green.  Apparently a school group got lost along here, so an improvement in signs was ordered from the powers above.

This chore is not as daunting as it may seem.  I remember trying to put a post into the soil in upstate New York, and it was almost an insurmountable task with all of the rocks in the soil.  Out in the swamp, all you have to do is plunge an eight foot wood stake into the peat.  You can do it without any digging at all!  You just push it down to the level you want.  The peat is up to 20’ deep, holds the stake in place, and has no rocks.  Easy peasy, really…  (easy for me to say since I was mostly supervising )

As we made our way to our next mile post, we encountered two kayakers along the way.  Lo and behold, it was C and Shawn, the two Workampers from Okefenokee Pastimes that helped me out so much while I was recuperating there after my hip surgery.  You just never know who you’re going to meet in the swamp!   Kingfisher Landing is 20 miles from the east entrance of the refuge, and they normally work on Wednesdays.  I particularly liked the pic of C and her reflection in the water.  You can click on it, I hope, to get the full effect.

One of the most interesting features to me of this area of the Okefenokee Swamp, is the size and abundance of the carnivorous pitcher plants.  The canoe trail is lined with massive bunches of these plants for several miles.  Many are dried out since they’re last year’s plants, but all will be in bloom next month.  I hope I can get out here again in April to see all the blooms and new stalks emerging.

As we stopped to install or replace damaged trail signs, intern Kathy was at the front of the boat to pole us into each site or get us out.  She reminded me of Mike Fink from the Davy Crockett show when I was a kid.  She got us out of some sticky situations, and did it barefoot besides.Okay, here it is folks… my favorite pic of Jack that I caught today.  When Kathy wasn’t manning the pole, he was to keep us in place for the sign replacements.   When people come to visit me, I guess they have to expect to be put to work.   And what’s with that earing?  I suppose I just never took note of it before.  I really did have a picture of him wrestling with an alligator, but due to circumstances beyond my control, I’m not able to publish that…

Shortly after noon, we came to this shallow lake covered in lily pads.  I was sure glad Russell knew where he was going and driving the boat.

After installing some more signs we arrived at this hummock canoe shelter for lunch.  Out in the middle of nowhere is a shelter for lunch and a porta-potty.  It was a welcome time to stretch our legs, take relief, and chow down on a picnic lunch.  We had traveled 12 miles through the swamp to get here.  I’m not sure I could do that in a canoe any more.  We had some rain along the way to get here, but were dry for the trip back.

At one point on the return trip, we had to bank the boat in order for Russell to climb through the swamp to retrieve an old hidden mile marker.  The problem was getting off where we were stuck.  It took some work, and if you look closely, you can see Russell had to put down one of our folding chairs on top of the peat so he wouldn’t sink into oblivion.  We eventually got unstuck and headed back to the landing.We covered about 30 miles in our trail maintenance today, and because of that we had to boogey.  Not much time to stop for bird pictures, but I was able to get one shot of this American bittern.  We had flushed it as we motored along, and it flew off a bit and went into its defensive stance.  When standing in dried reeds, you can hardly pick out this bird with its head raised as it looks like the foliage. 

So, I sort of helped with canoe trail maintenance today, but I’d consider it more of an adventure that work.  I think Jack had a good time too.  Days like today are one of the reasons I so enjoy volunteering at our National Wildlife Refuges.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

Houston, the Bugman has landed!

Woohoo!  About 2:30 this afternoon, I headed over to Okefenokee Pastimes to see if my friend Jack and his fiver had arrived yet.  He had.  After I supervised his set-up, we headed into the refuge to show him the Volunteer Village.  Then it was time to head out for dinner.  That’s one thing I can count on when Jack comes to visit… meals out!  No Waffle House tonight!  We checked out some places in Folkston, and then headed to Hilliard, FL, for some seafood.  It was maybe 20 miles away.  We chose a family run establishment called The Hilliard House.

I ordered shrimp, and Jack ordered the catfish dinner.  As we began to eat the ‘Grandfather’ of the restaurant came to our table to ask if we were enjoying our dinner.  Then he asked if we lived in the area.  I told him I was volunteering at the refuge, and he thought that was wonderful.  He then asked if I had tried their fried chicken.  Tonight’s buffet included the chicken, pork chops, and something else.  I told him no, I’d ordered the shrimp.  Then he went to the buffet table and got us a bowl of fried chicken, and told us to enjoy!  It was very good.  Then the waitress stopped by with a bowl of apple fritters sprinkled with powdered sugar.  They were delicious.  I came home with half my meal in a box as the servings were that large.  Other local folks came in, and we bantered a little with them.  What a great friendly place this was.  I think when my sister comes to visit next month, we will have to return here.

As we headed back to the refuge, I told Jack to slam on the brakes.  I had seen another gopher tortoise on the side of the refuge entrance road.  Sorry to say, as we backed up, the tortoise high tailed it to the forest and dove down its hole.  Shucks!

A short time later, a Sherman’s fox squirrel made an appearance, but once again he was gone before Jack could get out his new camera.  Just last week he bought a Cannon D-60 (I think).  It’s got a lot of bells and whistles on it.  He remarked that he really liked the pictures of the cute owl on my blog the other day, so I asked if he wanted to try to find it.  That’s another good thing about Jack; he’s up for trying an impromptu adventure.

                                                                  “Oh no, not you again!”

Even though this owl has been MIA for the last few days, we were lucky enough to find it.  What a little cutey it is!

                                                                        “Buzz off, sister!”

It was getting towards 7:00, so Jack dropped me off at my rig and headed out for Okefenokee Pastimes before the gate at the refuge closes for the night.

What he left behind though, was a collection of huge longleaf pine cones.  Why??  He remembered how much Emma likes to play with them.

And it surely didn’t take her long to discover them.  She doesn’t eat them, she just plays with them and rips them apart.

I hope Jack brought a large supply of them, as Emma has already demolished about four of them as we sat outside this evening.  As you may have noticed, there aren’t any pictures of Jack tonight.  He’s a bit camera shy, especially without a striking pose. 

I’ve got an exciting adventure planned for us tomorrow, so I’m sure I’ll get a good shot of him.  Perhaps wrestling alligators??

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

It’s that time of the year, ladies.

I’ve pretty much spent the last four or five months ensconced in blue jeans.  Today was warm enough that I felt the need to put on shorts this afternoon.  That’s when I noticed the HLS once again.  Every spring for the last several years, I’ve been stricken with the Hairy Leg Syndrome!  It seems I don’t often pick locations for the winter where I’m wearing shorts everyday, so why bother? 

I have to admit that I did shave my legs before going into surgery in January.  Didn’t want to gross out the surgeon, don’t-cha know. 

                                                     (Pics tonight are from my roving yesterday.)

I spent most of the day today just relaxing and recuperating from my four days of work.  I did make a trip into Kingsland for groceries which is about 80 miles round trip. 

Then as Emma and I were sitting outside this evening, I finally decided to do something about the toad.  With all the dust and pine pollen from the last few months it was really disgustingly dirty.  At our volunteer meeting on Thursday, I found out where the vehicle washing station is on the refuge.  We can use it for our vehicles on off hours, so since it was warm out and I’ve improved enough to manage it, I zipped over there to clean it up.  Glad I had shorts and old shoes on, as I ended up about as wet as the car. 

Tomorrow is laundry day, and my friend Jack arrives in the afternoon.  That will certainly add a little excitement to the day.

Not much else is new here from the swamp.  Guess I’d better juice up the battery on the shaver… it’s that time of the year again.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

Check off another one

Since I arrived at the Okefenokee NWR, I’ve wanted to see a gopher tortoise.  They are an endangered land tortoise that digs a ten foot deep and 30-40 foot long tunnel under the ground as its home.  It’s a ‘keystone’ species, as more than 300 other insects, animals and reptiles use its home as well.  Today was the day!

While roving this afternoon, I chose to drive down one of the sandy back roads of the refuge and low and behold saw a tortoise crossing the road.  By the time I could get out of the car with my camera, it had made its way into the woods at the side of the road.  All I was able to get was a going away shot or two.  I was amazed at the speed with which this tortoise could move.  Now I wonder about that story about the tortoise and the hare.   See the way those back feet are flying?

It stopped briefly, and I tried to creep up on it to get a better shot.  Looking ahead, I stepped on a branch on the forest floor that snapped and the tortoise literally flew down its hole.  Nuts!  I advanced and looked down the hole, but it had gone way below being spotted.  With the warming weather, I’m hoping I’ll be able to get a better shot before I leave.

As I returned to the vehicle, I was able to find its tracks as it had made its way across the road.  I found the indentations in the sand from its shell and clawed feet most interesting.  Two parallel lines and scratches leading from one side of the road to the other.  This tortoise sure knew where it was going.  And what a hiding place it is!  No way I’d reach down that tunnel.  One of the other species that uses tortoise tunnels for safety from fires and cold is the rattlesnake.  Best to look at these tunnels from afar…

Also with the warming weather, more and more alligators are coming out of their holes.  A couple of us here have been wondering what has happened to a young alligator on one of the borrow ditches since two large gators have appeared there.  Today I found the 3-4’ youngster way down at the other end of the quarter mile ditch.  You can still see its yellow stripes.  That yellow will fade as it matures.  Nice to find out it wasn’t eaten by one of the bigger fellows.

The yellow-bellied sliders reflectively posed today as well.  It was kind of a turtle/tortoise afternoon for me today.

After four days of work, my hip/leg is pretty tired tonight.  Happily, I’ve got the next three days off, and my good friend Jack the Bugman will be arriving for a visit.  Long time readers know he thinks I’m a cheap date, so I’m trying to dream up a place to go for dinner that’s a couple of steps above Waffle House.  That could be a real challenge here in Folkston, GA! 

                                                                              THE END!!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

Friday Feathers

Want to see an Eastern screech owl?  Of course you do…

                                                    “On, no!  More tourists interrupting my nap.”

                                                                    “Nuts, I’ve got an itch!”

                                                        “I’m so tired after hunting all night!”

                                                       “Okay, so what do you want, anyway?”

                                    “Sorry, I have to rest up for tonight’s hunt.  See you later…”

The real beauty of this owl is that it was roosting for the day in a red-cockaded woodpecker hole.  Yep, in one of those white ringed longleaf pines along the Upland Discovery Trail on the refuge.  A visitor excitedly reported it to us in the VC this afternoon, and Kathy and I wasted no time getting out there to see it.  The red-cockaded woodpecker is not only an endangered species, but also a ‘keystone’ species.  That means that its homes are used by more than just their species.  This was a great example of how important they are to the entire ecosystem.  Cool beans!  (Sorry, sometimes I just have to add subtitles even though I know it’s anthropomorphism.) 

                                                                                THE END!!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

Had to call for help today

My morning was spent in a staffing meeting and helping to run the VC, but this afternoon I got to rove.  Roving is probably my favorite assignment at this refuge.  I like to get one of the electric carts and patrol Swamp Island Drive. 

It seems to me that people are more willing to chat with me when I’m driving around in this as opposed to a truck.  It’s not very intimidating.  It also helps that I plug along at much less than 10 mph.  The openness of this vehicle allows me to hear any bird songs to investigate, and I can easily reach out to pick up any litter along the way.

As I got about half way to the Chesser Homestead, I had to stop dead in the road.

It seems some staff members were cutting down a large dead tree along the drive that could fall across the road. I was asked to halt traffic just in case the tree fell the wrong way.  Guess I can add traffic director to my resume.    It wasn’t long before that big old dead pine tree was…

                                                       Going… Going… Going…

                                                                                  Gone!

It was pretty windy and chilly out there today, so I was driving with my gloves on.  I talked with several folks and directed one couple as to where to find the pitcher plants.

Found an Eastern phoebe along the off-road trail to the secret pond along with a mother load of sun dew plants.  Sun dews are one of my favorites, but I wasn’t too satisfied with my pics of them so I’ll go back again when I have my rubber boots with me.  I just couldn’t get close enough today.  There were also some candyroot plants blooming, so I guess spring really is here even though it doesn’t feel like it.

As I made my way around the loop heading back to the VC, I noticed that the cart seemed to be going slower and slower.  I went from a speed of 7 mph down to 4 mph down to 2 mph down to 0 mph with the gas (electric) pedal to the floor!  Uh oh. 

Yep, it crapped out on me with several miles to go.  I decided to give it a rest for a while before turning on the ignition again. 

As I was waiting, this fellow perched nearby.  Hmm… turkey vultures only eat dead stuff.  What did he know that I didn’t??  Thankfully, I had my radio with me and notified the VC that I was stranded.  Some one would be sent to rescue me.

The vulture must have been listening, as it soon took off for greener pastures.  I did get the cart to move about another 1/2 mile down the road, but then it died again.  I took out the key, and hopped into the intern’s vehicle back to the VC.  I’ll try to get the cart back to the barn tomorrow morning to get fixed.  The battery was almost fully charged so that was not the problem today.  Who knows what the cause was.

I’ve had the sniffles for the last day or so, and am liberally applying Mentholatum to my nose tonight.  Hope that is short lived.  I’m thinking that major surgery has kicked my immune system in the kiester for a bit. 

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy