St. Johns River

This morning I went for a windy walk down to the St. Johns River. There were thankfully few humans around. The only wildlife I encountered were many American Black Vultures (Coragyps atratus) and Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura). At a brisk pace the river is about 20 minutes from our front door.

While they were mostly circling in the high winds thousands of feet overhead I did see this lone American Black Vulture sitting on a piling along the river (below).



The Turkey Vulture Society has a good synopsis of the classification of these large stork, ibis, and raptor family members. They are sometimes classified differently, depending on whom one asks.



The water is very blue in part due to the low sun angle (still a relatively low 36° above the horizon at noon) and in part due to the cool temperatures (it was about 60° F., 15.5° C.). The blue color is mostly caused by the scattering of light. In Florida's spring, summer, and fall it is much more likely to see these colors as shades of brown and grey due to the heat and abundant moisture then-present in the atmosphere. With today's digital cameras I can manipulate the color to make it look how ever I wish. . . but this is pretty much as the human eye sees the river today.



Above: A lone vulture sits near a gasoline pump at the Swamp House Grill and Highbanks Marina Resort. Any other time of year this would be a very different -- chaotic -- scene of boats and people.



Above: The bald cypress (Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.) are sprouting already, as are many of the other trees. They seem a bit confused by our early winter and even earlier spring. December was very cold. January has been very warm.