The Ft Desoto Paddle trip Oct 2023
The Ft Desoto Paddle trip Oct 2023, Was a trip for the books. An overcast day with chances of Rain. But we didn’t have any rain on us for the trip. The tides started out on the low side but not as bad as many past trips, but with an incoming tide for the rest of the day. We had the usual Cormorants that chased along with us and swim under and around the kayaks catching fish. These birds should be huge as successful as they are catching the fish. We had several dolphins visit us. One had a very large Sheepshead or a Black drum that was too large to swallow in one gulp. We also had Osprey doing touch and goes. Most of the group got stuck in the shallow looking at Roseate Spoon Bills. We had lunch on Shell Key at the new Pass. There is a large amount of the island missing compared to last year. The storms this year have taken a toll on the island and washing the sand away. Out on the shallows near the pass lots of birds, including brown pelican, ibis, gulls, sandpipers congregate on the sandbar. But a special treat was the flock of white pelicans that dominated the sandbar. Beautiful birds much larger than the brown pelican. The wind started picking up a bit on the way back, but we stayed behind the islands and avoided it. Heading back looking for the island with the Mangrove tunnel we happened across the Flamingos. Two of them wading on one side of a smaller mangrove island and four more on the other side. So cool to have seen them. We found the island with the mangrove tunnel and with the tide coming in all afternoon there was plenty of water to paddle through. It was a great day and so many cool thing that we got to see. Thanks for everyone coming out. See you next month for the Braden River.
see you next month for Braden River Nov 2023
