With the advent of hurricane season Tropical Storm Barry has dumped some much heralded rain on the North Florida piney flatwoods. The birds are always out in numbers after a rain so I decided to take a late afternoon paddle on the Wacissa. I looked first for the logging road through the Aucilla Wildlife Management area to see if I could get down to the mid river launch and explore the lower river. The yellow flies were thick however, and the logging road is very sandy with deep ruts. It is about four miles through the forest and not marked. I gave up after getting pretty close and decided to walk it from the river launch some time and see where the road goes so I can find my way in next fall. Peggy said she would do it with me sometime if I scouted it first. I just couldn't feature getting out amidst all those yellow flies.
The sky was cloudy with some sprinkles of rain and the wind was blowing briskly downriver. I saw many yellow crowned night herons and literally dozens of little blue herons. There were juvenile birds of several varieties and everyone was diligently fishing. I was nearly alone on the river as I was Thursday night when I went out for the Blue Moon.
