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Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge, Florida; 03 March 2014

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2014-03-03 at 11-26-00

Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge, photographed in Volusia county, Florida (03 March 2014).

Monday 03 March 2014 was a busy day. My father –the enigmatic and curiously awesome Les Jones– underwent foot surgery the week prior. The medical folks played hell dealing with his pain meds and working against the onslaught of mayhem emanating from his non-cooperative nerve endings, but with everything balancing out it was finally time for him to make the transition from Florida Hospital in Orlando to a rehab facility closer to home in Mount Dora.

So, on Monday the plan was to head over to Orlando and help with his transition from Orlando to Mount Dora, and for us to have a damn good time all the while (all things considered). First, however, I had to run to work to deal with the first-rotation of students/appointments. Then, with all that clear, I took the rest of the day off early for the trip to Orlando, then Mount Dora, and then back home.

Leaving Daytona, I realized I had a couple of extra hours to kill before we were all supposed to meet in Orlando. A couple of hours? Oh, hell yes. In central Florida, a couple of extra hours is all you need to thrust yourself into some beautiful habitat on a lovely, mild Florida day. And so it was on Monday 03 March 2014. I decided to head back to Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge in Volusia county, Florida (near Deland and Deleon Springs) for a bit of a scouting trek.

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Ardea herodias, the Great blue heron

We lived in Deland for a few years in the mid-2000s. Lake Woodruff was the one place I visited most frequently during that time. I adored, adored, adored the area. The main hiking area is composed of a series of managed aquatic impoundments threaded by a number of hikable levees. Established in 1964, the main function of Lake Woodruff’s development was to provide vast wetlands for migrating (and local) birds, not to mention a healthy number of habitats for other Floridian critters. The refuge features a number of dryer habitats to trek through, including Jones Island — a wonderful pinewood habitat packed with saw palmetto, slash pine, and a brilliant symphony of colors and textures. Truly, back in the mid-2000s, there was certainly no shortage of things to observe, photograph, and study at Lake Woodruff. I learned a lot about Florida at Lake Woodruff. If you want to learn more about Lake Woodruff, you should definitely consider checking out Dr. Peter May’s beautiful presentation of Lake Woodruff’s ecological systems. I know I have on more than a few occasions!

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Fulica americana, the American coot

Anyhow, with spring starting to move in, I figured it would be a damn fine idea to reintroduce myself to Lake Woodruff. It had been quite some time since I’d walked around the impoundments and visited Jones Island on the northern edge wetlands. I didn’t have a hell of a lot of time, but with some brisk sojourning I knew I’d be able to cover some good ground. Really, my primary goal on this hike was just to check it out — to get a feel for the lay of the land (and water). But as is often the case at Lake Woodruff, you don’t need a hell of a lot of time to see a ton of wildlife, especially when the sun is shining brilliantly.

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Phalacrocorax auritus, the Double-crested cormorant

The birds were certainly out in force, though they were mostly of the mainstay, staple variety. Anhingas, cormorants, coots, and incalculable herons were very much present and accounted for. Though common, I was pleased as punch to see these birds at Lake Woodruff once again.

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Anhinga anhinga, the Anhinga

Also far from uncommon, a newer bird species in my personal Canon de Experience is the Palm Warbler, Dendroica palmarum. I believe the following cheeky little bird was a Palm Warbler, but I’d really like confirmation from those more In-The-Know:

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Dendroica palmarum, the Palm warbler

Now, birds are lovely and fantastic, of course. I won’t argue otherwise. But, you know… Class Reptilia is what really gets me going when I’m hiking (something I very much realized when living in Alaska). Check out this awesome behemoth gator chilling out in the early spring sunshine:

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Alligator mississippiensis, the American alligator

And then there are the turtles. There is certainly no shortage of turtles at Lake Woodruff either. I often have a hell of a time differentiating between Florida red-bellied cooters (Pseudemys nelsoni) and Peninsula cooters (Pseudemys floridana) at Lake Woodruff — unless I can get my hands on one. Still, that being said, I think the cooters I focused on at Lake Woodruff this day were all Florida red-bellieds:

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Likely Pseudemys nelsoni, the Florida red-bellied cooter

Here’s a larger, older individual:

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Likely Pseudemys nelsoni, the Florida red-bellied cooter

To the north of the main impoundments lies Jones Island — a fantastic swath of slash pine and saw palmetto. I’ve heard tell that there is (or at least was) a population of Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes (Crotalus adamanteus) on Jones Island, but I’ve never seen one personally. I have, however, seen plenty of Dusky pigmy rattlesnakes (Sistrurus miliarius barbouri) in the area. In either case, there were no rattlesnakes to be found on this particular trek. To find them, I would’ve needed to slow down and more deliberately poke and prod through all those saw palmettos. That can be time consuming:

2014-03-03 at 11-48-38
Jones Island with Serenoa repens (Saw palmetto) and Pinus elliotti (Slash pine)

One snake you don’t really need to spend much time looking for is the Southern black racer (Coluber constrictor priapus). If there’s a modicum of warmth and sunshine, you stand a good chance of coming across one of these fast, agile, non-venomous snakes. The trick is they often see you coming well before you see them, and will thusly disappear from view preemptively. On cool days such as this, however, the racers will sometimes be slow to beat a retreat.

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Coluber constrictor priapus, the Southern black racer

I didn’t go for The Catch with this individual. The clock was ticking, and time was running short. Honestly, I don’t think I stood a chance to catch this one anyhow. The snake was cued to my presence and aimed toward the foliage away from me. Further, I didn’t have any snake gear with me to assist. So, I just snapped a couple of distance shots with the telephoto and continued on my scouting hike.

2014-03-03 at 11-55-01
Coluber constrictor priapus, the Southern black racer

Once I cleared Jones Island, I quickened my pace back toward the Jeep. It was about time for me to head on to Orlando for the day’s festivities. Still, I learned exactly what I wanted to know: Was Lake Woodruff in “good shape”? The short answer: Oh, hell yes. Very much so, say thank you. You can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be spending a decent amount of time at Lake Woodruff this spring and summer. I very much look forward to getting to know it very, very well once again.

Bring on the spring!

2014-03-03 at 12-17-46
Spartina bakeri (Cordgrass) and Cladium jamaicense (Sawgrass)

Next on Dust Tracks: How about another sunrise? Or, at least, how about another dawn (albeit one with no sun to speak of)…?

~ janson


Filed under: Aves, Crocodilia (Crocodiles & Allies), Florida, Landscapes, Squamata (Snakes), Testudines (Turtles & Allies), Volusia county Tagged: Alligator, Alligator mississippiensis, anhinga, Anhinga anhinga, Ardea, Ardea herodias, Cladium, Cladium jamaicense, Coluber, Coluber constrictor, Coluber constrictor priapus, Dendroica, Dendroica palmarum, Fulica, Fulica americana, Phalacrocorax, Phalacrocorax auritus, Pinus, Pinus elliotti, Pseudemys, Pseudemys nelsoni, Serenoa, Serenoa repens, Spartina, Spartina bakeri

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