Big Briar Creek
Saturday, October 29, 2005 brint.adams@us.army.mil
What a great day for a paddle anywhere in the South! Jimmy and I were grateful for the opportunity to get out and enjoy it. We met at the Bruno's in Spanish Fort at Hwy 31 and Hwy 225, traveled north on Hwy 225 for nine miles and turned left to Byrnes Lake boat launch area. This is part of the Baldwin County Park system and is free to park and put in. We started out at 10:00 AM under perfect conditions of sunny skies, 65 degrees, a light northeasterly breeze and no current. The water level was down a little, but not too low and there was no tide movement today.
There were a few fishermen working Byrne's Lake, but very little traffic the whole trip, even out on the Tensaw. We paddled out Byrne's and turned northwest on the Tensaw, crossing it to the north end of Gravine Island, and continued directly ahead (northwest) to the cut-through to Mobile River. Out in front of the beach and sand dune on Gravine, there was a lone cormorant drying out, who reluctantly took off in labored flight right along the water's surface as we approached. Little did we know this was the first of many great bird sightings.
Once over to the cut-through, we continued along the north bank for a half mile to the turn north into Big Briar Creek. This is a fairly wide river which we followed straight north for 0.75 miles until we reached the first major tributary to the east. Along the way we spotted an unafraid young two-foot gator as well as osprey, tri-colored herons, snowy and great egrets and kingfisher.
Once in the small tributary, we followed the main channel east and north for about 1.5 miles past numerous stands of burr marigold and a few water hyacinth still blooming. As the waterway narrowed, we saw many raccoon tracks along the bank as well as signs of many wild hog in the area, who had rooted around the shores as well as made some wallowing holes.
On the way back out, we took another very small side channel, which surprisingly snaked its way back south for almost another 0.75 mile. Back in here we saw more egrets, herons, wood ducks, a red tailed hawk moving ahead of us, as well as numerous red winged blackbirds and many other smaller varieties. We paddled as far as we could go, which was all the map showed was there and stopped for lunch after paddling for about 6.6 miles. There was a large osprey nest overhead in a tall dead cypress and a woodpecker serenading us off in the distance.
After starting up again, we paddled back out to Big Briar and turned south. We saw a very small tributary along the east shore and decided to give it a try. After about ten meters in the narrow cut through the saw grass, I eased alongside a brown medium height wader with his head and long beak pointed straight up. He would not fly away as I passed and Jimmy came alongside him as well. He finally took off as we talked about him. It turned out we were next to an American Bittern doing what he normally does, which was his attempting to hide from us, by acting like he was part of the saw grass.
On the way out of Big Briar, we came across an Osprey clutching a large fish, still flopping around, with both sets of talons as he passed overhead. We also met the small gator in the same place as on the way in earlier as well as the cormorant perched on a log out in the middle of the Tensaw, drying out his wing feathers.
All in all, the day was quite eventful with all of the sightings and live action we witnessed along the way. The trip ended up right at twelve miles taking four hours of paddle time. This was definately well worth it and one we will try again in the springtime as well.
What a great day for a paddle anywhere in the South! Jimmy and I were grateful for the opportunity to get out and enjoy it. We met at the Bruno's in Spanish Fort at Hwy 31 and Hwy 225, traveled north on Hwy 225 for nine miles and turned left to Byrnes Lake boat launch area. This is part of the Baldwin County Park system and is free to park and put in. We started out at 10:00 AM under perfect conditions of sunny skies, 65 degrees, a light northeasterly breeze and no current. The water level was down a little, but not too low and there was no tide movement today.
There were a few fishermen working Byrne's Lake, but very little traffic the whole trip, even out on the Tensaw. We paddled out Byrne's and turned northwest on the Tensaw, crossing it to the north end of Gravine Island, and continued directly ahead (northwest) to the cut-through to Mobile River. Out in front of the beach and sand dune on Gravine, there was a lone cormorant drying out, who reluctantly took off in labored flight right along the water's surface as we approached. Little did we know this was the first of many great bird sightings.
Once over to the cut-through, we continued along the north bank for a half mile to the turn north into Big Briar Creek. This is a fairly wide river which we followed straight north for 0.75 miles until we reached the first major tributary to the east. Along the way we spotted an unafraid young two-foot gator as well as osprey, tri-colored herons, snowy and great egrets and kingfisher.
Once in the small tributary, we followed the main channel east and north for about 1.5 miles past numerous stands of burr marigold and a few water hyacinth still blooming. As the waterway narrowed, we saw many raccoon tracks along the bank as well as signs of many wild hog in the area, who had rooted around the shores as well as made some wallowing holes.
On the way back out, we took another very small side channel, which surprisingly snaked its way back south for almost another 0.75 mile. Back in here we saw more egrets, herons, wood ducks, a red tailed hawk moving ahead of us, as well as numerous red winged blackbirds and many other smaller varieties. We paddled as far as we could go, which was all the map showed was there and stopped for lunch after paddling for about 6.6 miles. There was a large osprey nest overhead in a tall dead cypress and a woodpecker serenading us off in the distance.
After starting up again, we paddled back out to Big Briar and turned south. We saw a very small tributary along the east shore and decided to give it a try. After about ten meters in the narrow cut through the saw grass, I eased alongside a brown medium height wader with his head and long beak pointed straight up. He would not fly away as I passed and Jimmy came alongside him as well. He finally took off as we talked about him. It turned out we were next to an American Bittern doing what he normally does, which was his attempting to hide from us, by acting like he was part of the saw grass.
On the way out of Big Briar, we came across an Osprey clutching a large fish, still flopping around, with both sets of talons as he passed overhead. We also met the small gator in the same place as on the way in earlier as well as the cormorant perched on a log out in the middle of the Tensaw, drying out his wing feathers.
All in all, the day was quite eventful with all of the sightings and live action we witnessed along the way. The trip ended up right at twelve miles taking four hours of paddle time. This was definately well worth it and one we will try again in the springtime as well.
posted by brint @ 7:02 PM
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