Wednesday December 20th 2023

Shortly before the lunch hour I drove to Emerson Point Preserve. This is a county park on the north side of the Manatee River where the river empties into the Gulf of Mexico at the mouth of Tampa Bay. It has trails and boardwalks through the mangroves along the water.

Today the park showed signs of having been partially under water during the weekend storm. The storm surge in this area was reported to be three and a half feet. Everything was dry today, but the debris lines were evident. There weren’t too many people out taking advantage of the park. The temperature got up to the high sixties, but the wind was still strong enough to make it a little uncomfortable.

Walking along the boardwalk on the Tampa Bay side of the preserve I spotted a fleet of White Pelicans fishing in the partially protected waters along the edge of the bay. The White Pelican is a true snowbird. It doesn’t hang around Florida in the summer like its cousin the Brown Pelican. The White Pelican is bigger than the Brown and it doesn’t search for fish the same way. White Pelicans feed in a group called a fleet and heard or otherwise corral fish for easier picking. The Brown Pelican can typically be seen diving from high above the water to capture its food. The White Pelicans seem to be more stately and less energetic.

Visibility up into Tampa Bay was very good when I arrived. It was overcast, but not cloudy. By the time I departed in mid afternoon real cloud cover had arrived. The sun was no longer filtering through the sky. I got my walking done during the best part of the day. My drive back took me through downtown Bradenton just so I didn’t return the way I came. It was a mistaken. Traffic was very heavy.