St Sebastian River Preserve.......10th March 2016...

The canal just past the dam at the St Sebastian River Preserve State Park...
The park is part of the Great Florida Birding Trail but this area is mainly a manatee viewing area, 6 miles from the visitors centre along a dirt, but good, road...sadly no sightings today....the water is warming daily and the manatees are heading back out to the atlantic...

Not terribly clear but I did managed to get a shot of a terrapin...although on telephoto so not close they seem to have an uncanny knack of diving under the water just as I aim and click !! As they say never work with children and animals !!!

At least this little chap didn't seem to be camera shy !!! Again taken on telephoto, even that small we do not want to be up close and personal !!!

Yorkieman and his new hat !!

We had a really good long walk along the very peaceful canal, not too many folks head out here, then walked some of the Yellow Trail though the pine forest.....

On our way out of the park we stopped again at the visitors centre and had a great long chat with the rangers a delightful husband and wife "team"....they had fantastic stories to tell of their travels throughout the US working in National and State Parks....

11th March....and Happy Birthday to me.....I had a fabulous day and thank you to everyone for my birthday messages, cards, e-cards, Skype/Messenger & phone calls and to new friends and neighbours who joined us for pre dinner drinks...
More soon from...
The One Year Older Campers !!!!
 

Riverview Park Sebastian.......Tuesday 8th March...

Today we take a short drive along US1 to downtown Sebastian and a visit to the Chamber of Commerce for local info then a nice walk along the inland waterway, The Indian River Lagoon....

Time to fish for lunch...

Not sure if he is doing the hokey cokey  or just pleased he has caught his lunch...

One swallow and it's dinner over...

A typical view from this part of the Floridian Coast...

Paul Kroegel, a German immigrant (1881) who helped establish Pelican Island as a bird sanctuary was the first national wildlife refuge manager being paid  the princely sum of $1 per month !

It's all about fishing in these parts !!! Fascinating...

Another memorial along the walk and this time to 4 chaplains.....when a German Torpedo struck the USAT Dorchester in the North Atlantic in 1943 with not enough useable lifeboats to accommodate all of the sailors the chaplains, from 4 different faiths, gave up their lifejackets and stayed on the sinking ship.....

Another majestic Osprey with his "catch of the day" this really is the spot to see the natural fishermen.....

The fish is actually still under his feet, he was being "buzzed" by some seagulls and being very protective of course of his meal...
Well all of this talk of dinner it must be time for Sundowners !!!
Cheers from the...
Birdwatching Campers......

Sebastian, FL.....1st to 4th March 2016....

1st March and time to move our home down the I-95 from Jacksonville to Sebastian... straightforward drive, quite amazed by the amount of car transporters but Jacksonville is also a big container port....we met a a lovely couple from Michigan at one of the rest areas who gave us lots of info for our up and coming road trip there in June/July....it was not as busy on the section of the I-95 past Daytona as we had expected....
Arrived mid afternoon at our home for the next month....we knew it was a back in site but not quite how tight is would be but Yorkieman excelled himself with reversing into the space complete with audience !
All good once we had set up camp, a couple of issues, no TV and wifi only available in the mailroom at the main office, a good walk away (it's a big campsite at least a half mile long and quarter wide !!) All is not lost we now have a very fast modem from the local supplier for a very reasonable price...we have forgone the TV....so far so good on that score !!!  We do have a pile of books and games a plenty, all of our music on the iPod plus internet that easily holds the BBC iPlayer for our favourite Radio 2 programs  so set for a TV free March....
This is very much a "snowbirds" campsite but all very friendly and our immediate neighbours are lovely....lots of activities if we care to take part....and did I mention the railroad !!! (we did know about that when we booked and that we back onto it !!) but hey it's blue skies, sunny and hot....

4th March.....Temps are mid 80's....can't get enough of this sunshine...
Today we drive north along the A1A coastal route.....first stop is at the interesting McLarty Treasure Museum part of the Sebastian Inlet state Park...
This is the site of the 1715 Spanish Plate Fleet Survivors & Salvaging Camp..
In 1715 a huge storm sank a fleet of Spanish ships carrying vast quantities of gold, silver and jewellery off the coast of Sebastian. Some 1,500 survivors struggled to shore many dying of exposure before help arrived from the Spanish headquarters at St Augustine. Over the next 4 years salvagers and English (umm) pirates flocked to the area, although much of the treasure was salvaged less than half reached the Spanish treasury....
In 1928 a wreck from the fleet was discovered, since then modern salvage hunters have made major discoveries worth millions of dollars, the area is now known as The Treasure Coast.....

He/she won't go hungry today, although he did have to fight off another crane to keep his dinner.....

Very pretty palm in the bird sanctuary grounds... 

It's sooooo crowded !!! The beach accessed from one of the many parking areas along the A1A scenic coastal route...
Might as well have lunch sandwich here :)

Juan Ponce de Leon.....
 Juan was a Spanish explorer and the first Governor of Puerto Rico also credited with leading the first known European expedition to Florida...

Time for a good walk along the beach....turned out to be more exercise than planned as walking into a strong headwind (the wind had gotten up as the day progressed) and one would think on the way back the wind would be behind you...ummm not so....

A very good day rounded off by seeing from our campsite the launch from Cape Canaveral of the SpaceX Falcon transporting a communication satellite into space...
More soon from the Sunshine State and
The Young Snowbirds....

Jacksonville, FL....Sunday 28th February 2016....

Jacksonville City is about 20 miles south from our campsite at Pecan Park....
Andrew Jackson founder of Jacksonville...some wag added a traffic cone, well it is Sunday !!

Part of the river walk along the St Johns River's which is undergoing a big renovation project but we were able to stroll along sections and enjoy the view.....

This and next 2 photos some of the older buildings in Jacksonville...

Another area/buildings under refurbishment, good to see they are preserving the lovely old buildings...

The Women of the Confederacy Monument in Confederate Park and dedicated to the memory of the" women of our southland"...

Well that is 3 whole blog posts and not a water-tower in sight !! So I have included the railroad....still a fascination....Tuesday we move on south to Sebastian and we will be living next to the railroad for a month !!!
Next stop today the American institution...Denny's Diner....yummy blueberry pancakes.....
A question for today blog watchers....we are having trouble finding any songs related to Florida ?
More soon from the Happy Campers...

The Timucuan Preserve near Jacksonville, FL....Friday 26th February...

The Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge over the St John's River.....named after the 19th Governor of Florida.....

Fort Caroline....graceful white heron looking for his lunch...it was just a shallow stretch of water and wouldn't have thought there would be a lot to eat in it but what do we know...

Fort Caroline National Park Nature Trail......Interesting fungi.....

Spanish moss covered trees on the mile long nature trail....
Fort Caroline was settled by the French Huguenots in the mid 1500's only to be massacred by the Spanish who had settled St Augustine farther south....the French then extracted their revenge....meanwhile the native Timucuans could not survive the European diseases and massacres....

Some exceedingly nice looking homes near Fort Caroline...

This and next photo a peaceful lunch sandwich spot at Cedar Point near Pumpkin Hill Creek State Park...just us and couple of fishermen....

Camp Harris....Pecan Park RV Park....
Another good day exploring and learning more of the history of the area...

More soon from....
The Sunshine Campers....

Talbot Islands Area.....Thursday 25th February...

Much colder overnight last night and guess who swapped out the thick winter duvet for lighter covers yesterday !!!!!
Our day out today mainly following the A1A scenic coastal route initially takes us past the Mayport Naval Station....interesting to spot a stealth boat...thought they were not meant to be seen !!

Great for us Brits to see that BAE Systems are involved in the work in the naval yard...one for you Jennifer...

Spanish Moss dripping from the trees, very reminiscent of Daufuskie Island and The Charleston/Savannah areas......Fort George Island on route to The Ribault Club and The Kingsley Plantation....
The Ribault Club....a former 1920's wintertime resort golf and country club for the very rich....now an historic building it was abandoned in the late 1940's and left to rot and vandalism then renovated in the late 1980's and now a museum and venue for weddings and gatherings.....

Salt marshes a characteristic of this area......

A perfect view of the Fort George River from The Kingsley Plantation.....

The Kingsley Plantation House....
Built by Zephaniah Kingsley in 1798 on Fort George Island at the time only accessible by boat and the oldest plantation house still standing in Florida....
The cash crop was Sea Island cotton......

The remains of the slave quarters....the buildings were made from a material called tabby,  a "concrete" mixture made from oyster shells, sand and lime...

A tabby wall with the oyster shells clearly embedded in it....

Little Talbot Island State Park...
Sand dunes and Yorkieman.....although it's a beautiful sunny day there is a chilly wind....but not complaining we are just so pleased to be enjoying the sunshine...

Little Talbot Island State Park....time for lunch sandwich....

Next stop after driving through Amelia Island is Fernandina Beach a neat little historic town.....

We've had a really good day out looking at the local area......
Loving the sunshine and blue skies, down to freezing again tonight so winter duvet back on the bed which is ok....
More soon from
The Sunny campers....