Thomas Creek , Jacksonville

Today I thought I thought I would try out a new place. I have been looking for some places that are closer to my house. That aren't lined with houses on both banks and actually have some wildlife to see. I heard about this creek and thought I would give it a try. It amazes me that you can drive for 30 minutes on I-95 with no traffic and still be in the city. This is a city park located off Lem Turner out by the airport.  There is a boat ramp and a small dock. The water was pretty high and still flowing out of the woods. This is rain we got from Hannah last week. I could tell the water was at least 3 feet higher because of all the trash caught up in the trees. I also had to paddle through 3 trees that had fallen down into the water.  

I usually don't take pictures with the car in them but the view is very nice. I picked a nice shady place to park the car. It was worth carrying my canoe and stuff the extra 10 feet to get back and still have the car parked in the shade.
I spent most of the trip chasing the birds down the creek. I don't think the birds are used to seeing boats, or people. As soon as I would come around a bend the birds would spot me and fly a little further upstream. The other thing working against me was the water levels are still very high so the birds and other wildlife is able to stay further back in the woods making it harder to spot them. There were 4 Ibis in this tree. They were up high enough so they felt safe and stayed put.
King of the world.

After paddling over a tree that was spanning the creek I spotted this lizard on the front of my boat. He rode for a few minutes until I paddled over close enough to the shore line. Were he abandoned ship. He did look back and smile at me before jumping ship.

Thomas creek was a nice paddle. It is only about 45 minutes from my house. I can't wait to try it out this fall when the water level goes back down to normal levels and some of the foliage dies off. I imagine there will be a lot more to see.