A great day for the birds … Friday 23rd November 2012
We decided to stay the extra day in Fenandina Beach. The weather was beautiful, the town is really nice, and we wanted to visit Fort Clinch State park. We took our bikes in to the dock and cycled across Amelia Island towards the Atlantic coast. About half way across we stopped to take a walk down the Egans Creek greenway, which is a long narrow strip of land that has been set aside as a key natural area. It was beautiful walk and we saw a lot of good birds. Highlights were an American Bittern, Roseate spoonbills, wood storks, tricolor heron, yellow bellied sapsucker, kingfishers and our first anhinga of this trip. After a picnic lunch we headed on to the state park. Fort Clinch was built around 1820 and intended to have a garrison of 500 men and 50 ten inch cannons. In fact it was never fully completed and had only a fraction of its intended soldiers and armaments. It's in a fine position overlooking the mouth of the St Marys river. The state park also boasts an impressive half mile long fishing pier. There were many people fishing off it , but nobody seemed to be catching much. We figure the pier must have cost millions of dollars to build and we are wondering who paid for it and why. Tomorrow we plan to move on - but we are still undecided as to whether to do a leg outside from the St Marys river inlet to the St Johns river inlet or to stay in the ICW. It would undoubtedly be shorter, quicker and easier to stay inside, but we feel we are losing our ability and confidence to sail and think it would be good to go off the coast.
Mike
Egans Creek, St Amelia Island, FL
Building within Fort Clinch
Inside Bastion within Fort Clinch
Brick steps up Bastion
Ruddy Turnstone on Fishing Pier
Pandannas leaf
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