Bird Watching on Spirit Lake

5/7/2012

On a warm, sunny afternoon, I paddled upstream from Bateman Bridge to Spirit Lake. The river was a little low with the normal turbidity. The watercolor was similar to green tea with a visibility of about a foot. I could see the bottom in some places.
It was the day after the night of the big moon, and the wild life was very active. Bird life was especially virulent. I could hear a variety of songs as I headed upstream. I made easy progress through the grasslands. However, when I reached the tree line, I had to dig in to cross over the cypress rapids of the Devil’s Terrarium. The largest rapid even had a submerged log across it. Once I scooted over the log, I found calmer waters. I continued and reached the Mount Tena Creek sandbar a short time later. I landed on the downstream side of the sandbar to rest and take training video of poison ivy.
After a break, I continued into Spirit Lake. Gradually, the current began to slacken. I had entered Spirit Lake, and I turned my boat to trace the southern shore of the lake. Vegetation packed the shoreline and rose in tiers to the tree line. A thousand shades of green, it is hard to imagine a rain forest being lusher than south shore of Spirit Lake. It was difficult for me to pick out individual plant species, but I could smell the spicy, floral scent of the spatterdock. The fragrant yellow button flowers with closed petals rested on short stalks inches above the surface.
I paddled up a narrow canal to take video of the spatterdocks and itea bushes. As I took some shots of small fish, I heard splashing. A beaver stopped in front of me then disappeared into the overgrowth when he noticed me. I paddled back to the main lake and headed east to find the band of tupelo trees. I passed a couple of beaver lodges along the way. The lodges are so common that they are hardly worth mentioning. In the main part of the lake there is almost no shade at this time of day. The cypress trees are too far apart to provide a large area of shade. Following the canoe trail would be a hot proposition. So, I continued southeast to a line of tupelo trees would provide some shade. The tupelos are spaced enough to allow easy passage of a canoe. Either the water depth or maybe the shade from the tupelos prevents underbrush from growing in the band of tupelos. Cypress trees often grow right next to the tupelo trees, but there are no knees here to prevent canoe travel. The band of trees is approximately 50 yards wide and extends from the southwest corner of the lake to at least stop 5 in the Ghost River. I haven’t tried to follow it further than that. If one strays too far in either direction, they will find themselves hemmed in by cypress knees on the north side or water plants on the south side. As I paddled, I could see the water plants that cover the surface of the South Lake. This lake is connected to the larger Spirit Lake but appears to be separated by lines of trees. It is rumored that the water plants on South Lake are so thick in the middle of summer that a person can stand on them without getting wet.
I missed the Ghost Tree this time, but I saw two equally large, dead trees that had their own personality. One looked similar to the Ghost Tree and the other had a broken top. The broken top tree was distinct enough to serve as a landmark, or watermark in this case.
I reached stop 5 at the same time as a group of paddlers who had come downstream. I could hear them well enough to estimate that I was as close as twenty yards to them, but I could not see the group through the dense undergrowth. After reaching stop 5, I followed the canoe trail to Spirit Lake. Instead of following the curves of the trail, I went straight through to save time. I stopped a few times to take video of birds. I now have clips of a prothornotory warbler, a smaller warbler (species unknown), a red headed woodpecker, a scarlet tanager and at the take out I videoed a indigo bunting, scarlet tanager, a prothornotory warbler and a gold finch bathing in the shallow water of the canoe landing.
After exiting Spirit Lake, I stopped at the Mt. Tena sandbar and took video of a school of bream that was trapped in a pool that was cut off from the rest of the creek. The fish surfaced to gulp air. The stagnant water was likely depleted of oxygen. Luckily, they would soon find relief in the coming rain storm. There was a nonpoisonous water snake resting on a log. It was probably relaxing after gorging on nearby tadpoles.
 I continued downstream and decided to take the left chute. I found that it was clear of debris. I enjoyed the twisting curves and small rapids, but I was sorry that I missed the large rapid on the main channel. When I reached the takeout, I talked to Harry of Ghost River Outfitters while I videoed a group of different species of birds as they bathed in the shallows.