Riverbanks Adventure Forum

Great Florida Birding Trail: RedFish Hole Trail hosts an abundance of birds!

// January 15th, 2010 // Adventures, Florida, Great Florida Birding Trail, Hiking, wildlife photography

It was 12 noon and the outside thermometer was reading 39 degrees.  It was the coldest day of the year in Florida….probably the coldest day in 20+ years.  While these old block wall homes are great for with standing Tropical Storms, they take on a cave effect during long winter fronts keeping the house cold and damp.  Keeping warm with thermals, sweats, many blankets and a modest space heater in the living room, I came to the conclusion that if I was to be cold, at least I should be doing something adventurous.  So I headed up to Crystal River to the Red Fish Hole hiking trail. 

This Trail is part of the Great Florida Birding Trail Series and has been touted as a scenic walk on a karst ridge out into the Coastal tidal flats.  As I arrived in the early afternoon, I was delighted and surprised that I was the only visitor here.  Anytime I have a trail to myself, there is more opportunity to see wildlife.

I could barely get my daypack over my shoulders as I was multilayered with two shirts, one sweatshirt, a fleece jacket and an outer shell.  I chuckled as the lack of arm movement reminded me of the scene of the bundled up little boy in the classic movie A Christmas Story  

Past experience on these birding trails has taught me not to expect too much, as some are seasonal and need to be visited during migration, and I haven’t learned the ropes of birding just yet.  As I walk down the trail, I was happy to be outside and was hoping the Sun would show its warm yellow rays soon.  Not 100 feet down the trail, I ran into a large family of Robins. There must have been fifty of them!  It is a common song bird but I have never experienced them such a vast flock.  Determined to get a photo, I stood motionless in hopes they would settle down and forget I was there.   After several moments, they were still unsettled; somehow they knew I was there. Could it be the purple ski hat with the tassel is too noticeable?  I try to snap a few photos without any luck of getting much color.

I continue on down the path, not 200 more feet I see a flock of Great Egrets flying away.  They were in a small tidal stream that I was not quite close enough to view, but too close for their comfort.  Here begins the karst ridge with water and mudflats on either side.  I pause to watch a sanderling running along the bank. His movement is too erratic to allow a photograph. A few steps more I spy an anhinga drying his wings across the canal. 

The ridge leads me out into an open marshland full of grasses. In the distance I see dozens of wading birds.  Many Great Egrets, snowy egrets, male and female white Ibis, one Great Blue Heron, Wood storks and others.  I pause to take in this wonderful moment.  I try to take a few photos.  I continue along the ridge as it turns south watching as three seagulls attempt to pick up a dead fish.  I spot a lone white pelican cruising the skies in the distance.  The path curls back west where it appears to end on a peninsula.  There is a crossing built of rocks just high enough to get you past the shallow water.  If you lost your footing, tt would be a cold fall but worth the risk.  I smile; the parking lot is only ½ mile back.  I cross over and begin to follow a muddy fisherman trail that cuts though the marsh grasses.  It ends with an abandoned crab trap along a shallow tidal stream. There are other trails in the distance that could be explored on a warmer day when wet feet would actually be a cool welcome relief.  I pause to take in the beauty of the vast marshland with the silhouette of hour glass shaped Nuclear Power stacks pumping out steam.

I turn and decide it is time to return back to the truck.  As I warily make my way back through the muddy trail, the clouds thin allowing the sun to poke its head through. I stop as I spot a little blue heron and a pair of killdeer in the tidal flats.  I am amazed that I am still finding more birds!  I snap a few photos in delight.  I round the bend and the sunlight has brought to life the colors of the marshland.  The scene is inviting as the blue sky over the brown winter grasses contrast with the green from the juniper bushes and cedar trees.   To the left I spot a hefty clapper rail poking about in the shallow marsh water looking for food.  He does not even notice I am there.  I pause to take several photos of this special find.  I finish the 1.6 mile hike in 1. 5 hours. So much to see in such a short space.  This trail is indeed a GREAT Florida Birding trail.

View more photos of the Redfish Hole Trail on Flickr

Guidebooks:  Hikers Guide to the Sunshine State, author Sandra Friend