Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival, Titusville, Florida

2004 PADDLING ADVENTURES

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Kayaking for the Naturalist
Thousand Islands
North Canaveral NS
Haulover Canal
Kaboord Sanctuary
Pelican Island
Lake Monroe CA

Kayaking for the Naturalist

Presenter: Brad Miller
Sponsored By Coastal Outdoor Center, St. Augustine, FL
Phone: (904) 471-4144 — www.coastaloutdoorcenter.com

Join the growing number of people who choose kayaks as a way to enjoy the unique treasures that make Florida such a beautiful place to enjoy nature and the outdoors. American Canoe Association certified instructor, (Whitewater Kayaking and Coastal Kayaking) Brad Miller, offers an introductory class to make kayaking easy for birders and photographers. If you've never been in a kayak before, this is the class for you! Once you master the art of using a low profile kayak, you'll be amazed at how easy it is to get REALLY close to wildlife and enjoy stunning scenery that seemed inaccessible before.
Nov 20, 9:00am-10:30am: Parrish Park, Titusville Causeway; Free

Thousand Islands

Sponsored by Adventure Kayak of Cocoa Beach
Bill Kowalik (321) 453-6952 www.advkayak.com

Cocoa Beach's Thousand Islands are a flood-tide delta deposit, formed in the past by a breach in the barrier island by a strong storm surge. The natural movement of beach sand has since closed the inlet, but the islands remain. During the early 1970s, ditching by dragline was used in an effort to eliminate salt marsh in order to control mosquitoes. Most of the productive salt marshes that once rimmed the Indian River Lagoon were degraded in a similar manner. One side effect of this dredging was the creation of a maze of narrow trails through mangrove islands and hidden hammocks that are spectacular for kayaking. The canals provide shelter for manatees, dolphins and a wide variety of coastal birds.
This area is rich in both tropical and temperate plant species, some of which are found not much farther north than the Thousand Islands. The vegetation communities of the Thousand Islands include three habitat types: natural marsh, dredge-spoil and tropical hammock associated with shell middens. Middens are trash piles of clam and oyster shells; all that remains of Florida's original inhabitants -- pre-Columbian Native American Indians. These unique tropical hammocks provide resting space and feeding areas for neotropical migrant bird species; the wetlands and ponds are a haven for many wading birds and migratory waterfowl. Salt marsh in the Thousand Islands is somewhat different than salt marsh found in other areas of the Banana River Lagoon. Instead of the typical temperate cord grass/needle rush plant community found on Merritt Island (a good example is Kaboord Sanctuary), Thousand Islands salt marsh is dominated by tropical salt marsh plant species such as glasswort and saltwort and is fringed by all three species of mangrove.
Directions: Meet at the park at the end of Ramp Road in Cocoa Beach. From the intersection of SR 520 and Highway A1A, go south on A1A for several miles. Just past the Minuteman Causeway, turn right on 5th Avenue. Go one block west to North Brevard Avenue and turn left. Take the first right on Ramp Road and go to the park. Drive time from Titusville is approximately 3/4 hour.
Nov 17, 19, & 21: 9:00am-12:30pm; $25.00/person
Bring your own boat; $15.00/person
SITE DESCRIPTION

North Canaveral National Seashore / Shipyard Island Canoe Trail

Sponsored by Compass Adventures
Dana Allen (407) 760-0028 www.x-tremechallenge.com

"Mosquito Lagoon is one of my favorite places to paddle. I love the salt water and all of the sensations that go along with breathing the salt air and feeling the warm sun on my face."
Dana Allen, Compass Adventures

Outside Magazine described it as "one of the top 10 places to paddle in the U.S." With plenty of parking, restrooms and a sandy beach, the boat ramp immediately past the north entrance of Canaveral National Seashore is a great place from which to launch into the lagoon. The entrance to a marked canoe trail through Shipyard Island lies just to the west. Waterways honeycomb this large island, leftovers from mosquito control efforts in the 1940s and '50s. Higher than surrounding mangrove islands, Shipyard Island is shaded with oak trees, red cedars and cabbage palms. Prickly pear cacti are covered with beautiful yellow flowers in late spring, followed by attractive purple pear-like fruits in summer. It is quite easy to see distinctive salt marsh vegetation along this trail. Sea oxeye daisy, mangrove, saltwort, glasswort and spartina grass are prevalent.
You'll paddle around and over oyster beds. You can stop on islands with white, sandy beaches. Motorboats are unable to negotiate the shallow waters, leaving the islands virtually untouched. Wading birds, including roseate spoonbills and wood storks, shorebirds, ospreys, cormorants, brown pelicans and, in winter, white pelicans may be seen. Bald eagles are a good possibility. Look for a stunningly handsome, black-and-white shorebird with a big reddish-orange bill; oyster bars in Mosquito Lagoon are likely places to see American oystercatchers. Look down in the water and you may see horseshoe crabs, redfish, mullet and stingrays. The deeper waters between the boat launch and Shipyard Island are a good place to see manatees and bottle-nosed dolphins.
Directions: Meet at the boat launch area just inside the north entrance to the Canaveral National Seashore. Take SR 44 east to A1A from I-95 or US 1 in New Smyrna Beach. Go south approximately seven miles on A1A. Drive time from Titusville is approximately 45 minutes.
Nov 17, 18, & 20: 9:00am-12:30pm; $25.00/person
Bring your own boat; $15.00/person
SITE DESCRIPTION

Haulover Canal and Mullethead Island

Sponsored by A Day Away Kayak Tours
Rick Shaffer (321) 268-2655 www.nbbd.com/kayaktours

The best location on Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge from which to view dolphins and manatees, Haulover Canal is a passageway between the Indian River Lagoon and Mosquito Lagoon. Just to the west lies one of the most significant colonial waterbird nesting islands in the state. Mullethead Island and its surrounding grass flats provide an opportunity to view a variety of birds from the water's level. In late spring, there's a good chance you'll see roseate spoonbills and reddish egrets feeding their young. Other egrets and herons as well as brown pelicans and cormorants nest on the island. Prime viewing time is March through July. Watch for shorebirds, gulls and terns loafing on sandbars on the south side of the island. In winter, look for white pelicans and diving ducks on the open waters of the lagoon.
Haulover Canal is part of the Intra-coastal Waterway; you never know what kind of interesting vessels may pass by - everything from shrimp-boats to tugs with huge barges to multi-million dollar yachts utilize the ICW. Bottle-nosed dolphins can be seen frolicking near the canal's approaches, and the deeper waters of the canal provide shelter for manatees in warmer months; they may be seen from a viewing platform near the drawbridge or in Bair's Cove boat launching area located southwest of the bridge. From the east end of the canal, look toward the southern end of Mosquito Lagoon, where Space Shuttle launch pads and the Vehicle Assembly Building stand as monuments to space exploration. Mosquito Lagoon is great for unobstructed views of space launches.
Stretching north in Mosquito Lagoon, a string of dredge-spoil islands parallels the Intra-coastal Waterway. Created in the 1950's and 60's when the navigable channel was dredged, these islands have become wildlife havens; some, like Mullethead Island, are now important bird rookeries. It's possible to paddle from Haulover Canal 10 miles north to Oak Hill and stay in the lee of islands the entire way. There is no development along this stretch of waterway. Wildlife is abundant and the shallow crystal clear water allows for great views of vibrant beds of colorful seagrasses and marine life. Watch for stingrays, horseshoe crabs, sea trout, mullet, and redfish in the water, and alligators, wild hogs, raccoons and river otters along the shore.
Directions: Meet at the northwest corner of Haulover Canal. Cross the Titusville Bridge and head toward the Black Point Wildlife Drive. Go past the Drive to the stop sign at SR 3. Turn left and go 4.5 miles north, crossing the bridge over the Canal. Take the first left at the bottom of the bridge, across from the Manatee Viewing Platform sign. Follow the road around, turning right and passing through a gate at the ruins of the old Allenhurst Fish Camp. The road now parallels the canal. Go all the way to the end, you'll find a nice sandy beach for launching. Drive time from Titusville is approximately 25 minutes.
Nov 18, 20, & 21; 9:00am-12:30pm; $25.00/person
Bring your own boat; $15.00/person
SITE DESCRIPTION

Kaboord Sanctuary

Sponsored by Adventure Kayak of Cocoa Beach

Kaboord Sanctuary is one of the Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands Program properties. Central Florida is unique in that it lies in an area where temperate and subtropical climatic zones meet. This site represents one of the best examples of the mixture of tropical and temperate species of plants for which Merritt Island is famous. The tidal creeks of Kaboord were once part of the Sykes Creek system before they were impounded. These beautiful wetlands are reminiscent of what much of Merritt Island used to look like, a "savannah" of salt grasses and low mangroves. The paddling route is down the main creek channel, with detours along side creek channels along the way, terminating at the dike at Canaveral Barge Canal. The return trip will retrace the same route, but don't worry -- wildlife moves around, the angle of the sun changes perspectives, and you won't be bored paddling back. This wetland is known for numerous birds -- raptors, waders, shorebirds, gulls and terns and some early-arriving waterfowl. There is no motorboat access to this site.
Directions: Meet at Kaboord Sanctuary. From the intersection of Highway 528 and SR 3, proceed north on SR 3 for about two miles. Make a right on Hall Road at the Circle K. You'll see a sign for NASA's KARS Park. Go east on Hall Road to where the tree line ends at the western edge of the open marsh. Drive time from Titusville is approximately 3/4 hour.
Nov 18 & 20; 9:00am-12:30pm; $25.00/person
Bring your own boat: $15.00/person
SITE DESCRIPTION

Pelican Island

Sponsored by Adventure Kayaking
Steve Cox (772) 567-0522 www.paddleflorida.com

Pelican Island can be accessed via a 2.5-mile paddle from the Wabasso Causeway. The waters around the island are shallow and clear; it is not uncommon to see dolphins frolicking and gentle manatees loafing. The area between Sebastian Inlet and Pelican Island is a nursery ground for juvenile green sea turtles. At the turn of the twentieth century, the island became the last known nesting site for brown pelicans on Florida's East Coast. Paul Kroegel, a German immigrant, defended the last pelican outpost and convinced President Teddy Roosevelt to declare the island a federal bird sanctuary. In 1903, President Roosevelt established Pelican Island as the first National Wildlife Refuge, using the tiny island to inspire the nation's wildlife conservation movement. In spring and summer, hundreds of brown pelicans nest on the island, as well as endangered wood storks, several species of threatened wading birds, anhingas, cormorants and American oystercatchers. Although the island is not used for nesting in winter, birds continue to concentrate around it.
Directions: Look for Steve and his kayak trailer near the east end of the Wabasso Causeway. From I-95 and CR 512 (Exit 156), go east 2.5 miles and turn right on CR 510, which goes through Wabasso and crosses the Indian River. Look for a boat ramp on the south side of the road, near the east- end of the causeway. You will launch from the boat ramp and then go under the relief bridge to head north. Drive time from Titusville is approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Nov 19 & 21: 9:00am-12:30pm; $25.00/person
Bring your own boat; $15.00/person
SITE DESCRIPTION

Lake Monroe Conservation Area

Sponsored by Compass Adventures and A Day Away Kayak Tours
Join St. Johns River Water Management District biologists Lorne Malo and Maria Zondervan, Seminole Audubon's Roger Grimshaw, British ornithologist, Andy Wraithmell, Dana Allen of Compass Adventures, and Rick Shaffer of A Day Away Kayak Tours, for a birding adventure by water.
Meet at Cameron Wright Park before dawn as wading birds begin to rise from their roosts and fly overhead in route to their feeding areas. From there we'll paddle northward on the St. Johns River to Thornhill Lake and Brickyard Slough within the Lake Monroe CA. This 6-mile trip is recommended for beginning and experienced paddlers in good physical shape. Numerous wading birds and raptors are expected. American bittern, yellow-crowned and black-crowned night-heron, wood stork, bald eagle, Cooper's, sharp-shinned, and short-tailed hawks, crested cara cara, merlin, peregrine falcon, barred and barn owl, purple gallinule, king and Virginia rail, limpkin and sandhill crane are possible. Alligators are a common sight here. If the weather is too rough for kayaking, we will hike instead on higher ground in search of raptors, wild turkey, marsh birds, Florida scrub-jays, warblers, and sparrows on a 6-mile walk through fields, marshes, hammocks, flatwoods and scrub; some of which may pass through mud and standing water.
Please bring water and snacks. Thanks to Festival Sponsor, Pepsi/Aquafina, there's a big stack of water in the Gymnatorium Lobby. Help yourself.
Directions: Meet at Seminole County's Cameron Wight Park at 5:45am at SR 46 and the Lake Jesup Bridge. From I-95 and SR 46, go west on SR 46 for 21.1 miles. The park is on the northwest side of the bridge. Drive time from Titusville is about 30 minutes.
Nov 19, 5:30am-12:30pm; $35.00/person
Bring your own boat; $20.00/person
SITE DESCRIPTION
Also see: Field Trip on Nov 17

FREE KAYAK DEMOMONSTRATIONS AND TRYOUTS

PERCEPTION	OCEAN KAYAK
OLD TOWN	WILDERNESS SYSTEMS

Sponsored by Extreme Sports
George Allerton (321) 779-4228 www.extremesportsfl.com
This is a First Time Opportunity to view and try out their New 2005 Offerings. Factory representatives from each manufacturer will be present to demonstrate various features of their respective boats and help you get into them for a free trial paddle. If you've ever had an interest in kayaks, this is the opportunity of a lifetime to ask questions of experts and get into a kayak and try it out! American Canoe Association certified instructors will be on hand to advise and assist.