First Five Days of May … From Rainy & Windy to Sunny & Windy

Sunday, 5 May
Gulf State Park  — Gulf Shores, Alabama
Temps: Lo 51F / Hi 70F (10.5C / 21C)

The title of this post says it all.  So that’s it for this blog entry!

OK ... I’m kidding.  Here are the words and the images to wrap up our stay at Gulf State Park.  Brace yourselves … this is a long one.

If there’s been one constant since leaving April behind, it’s the wind.  I’m not talking gentle, cooling breezes.  Rather, winds that rock the Phaeton and keep the toppers flapping all day long.  No weather alerts or warnings, just a lot of constant wind.  We survived; and so did the screen shelter, which was flailed about by gusts reaching 25-40 mph (40-65 kph).

Wednesday, May 1 …

The overcast skies threatened rain all day long, so we didn’t venture far.  A 2½-mile (4 km) walk around the campground loops served as exercise, and gave us an opportunity to pick out preferred sites should we find our way back here.  Except for the occasional sprinkle, the wet stuff held off until after nightfall.  Then, we really got dumped on.  All night long.  And into mid-morning on Thursday.  By 10:30p, the wind gusts were so bad that we pulled in the rear driver’s side slide just so we could get some sleep.

This was a no-shutter-click day.

Thursday, May 2 …

Another overcast day, with rain falling until mid-morning.  The wind abated a bit, but only in comparison to the night before.  We still had gusts in the 25 mph (40 kph) range.

The yucky weather was good for one thing — errands.  So we made a run to Pensacola, Florida — about 30 miles (48 km) away.

Grooming appointments; grocery shopping at the NAS Pensacola commissary; finding a locksmith to get a spare remote key made; a “naked” fish & chips lunch with a side of senate bean soup at our favorite Irish Pub — McGuire’s; and fresh fish and gelato from Joe Patti’s.  A productive afternoon.  Clicked the shutter only when Mui spied a mural and pointed it out to me.

Located on Government Street, this mural is on the side of an environmental services company.

The sun made a valiant, but unsuccessful attempt to break through the clouds in the afternoon.  At least the rain gave us a break; except for one big dump late in the evening, no wet stuff fell through the afternoon, and the puddles in the grass clearing had a chance to dry out a bit.

Friday, May 3 …

Some sprinkles; otherwise a dry and gloomy day.  But winds from the NNW blew strong.  Despite the not-so-grand weather, we took the trikes out for a 10-mile (16 km) ride on the Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail.  Entertainment of the day: watching an eastern cottontail rabbit build a nest next to the electric pedestal at our site.  Running under the motorhome to the clearing on the other side, the bunny made countless trips with bunches of grass and sticks clutched between its teeth.  By nightfall, there was no evidence of the nest.  Don’t know if there is a litter under the cover she placed on the nest; won’t be messing around with it to find out.  No photo ops; just memories tucked into our minds.

Saturday, May 4

Woke up to a temp of 49F (9F); our coldest in a while.  But the forecast called for a dry day with plenty of sunshine.

Time to go out and play.  We bundled up and headed out to Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge, the first of the two-stops we had planned for the day.

Bon Secour NWR is 14 miles (22.4 km) from Gulf State Park;
our second stop, Fort Morgan, another 12.7 miles (20 km) from there.

The refuge, which was established in 1980, “encompasses some of Alabama’s last remaining undisturbed coastal barrier habitat.”  From the four trails open to visitors, we chose the Pine Beach Trail.  Four miles (6.4 km) round trip, we added another 2 miles (3.2 km) by doing the Gator Lake Trail.

The observation tower overlooks Gator Lake, with Little Lagoon on the other side of
the path (no photos as I would have been shooting into the sun).

Gator Lake from the trail by the same name.

Top: Spiderwort; Bottom Left: Sandhill Milkweed; Bottom Right: Indian Blanket.

Despite the early hour, the wildlife was visibly lacking.  No gators.  No bobcats.  No opossums or raccoons.  Nor did we see any songbirds — except for mockingbirds — although we heard them singing deep in the brush.  Great blue herons and egrets were off in the distance.  There were quite a few ospreys, but they were mostly flying high; and the one we saw sitting on the nest flew off as soon as we stopped.  We moved on quickly so that she could return to the nest, in case there were eggs needing her attention.

Mockingbird

Osprey

For Mui, the highlight of our visit were the stingrays.
Swimming at the edge of Little lagoon, this one nearly beached itself trying to get a look at us.

The Pine Beach Trail is considered moderate to strenuous.  We didn’t find it to be so, although walking through soft sand near the end of the trail wasn’t easy.  Once we reached the dunes, either side of the trail was roped off as nesting areas. Nesting for which birds?  Don’t know, but we saw lots of swallow-like birds flitting about here.

Healthy looking dunes on the way to the beach overlooking Bon Secour Bay.

We arrived at the beach to the wind gusting and the sand blowing.  Undeterred, we sat for a while, enjoying our snacks, and watching the pelicans fishing offshore and a lone sanderling running about on the beach.

Sanderling braving a sand storm to feed in the surf.

Our next stop of the day took us to Fort Morgan.  Located at Mobile Point on the tip of the barrier island, the fort is appropriately nicknamed the “Guardian of the Bay.”  Once part of the Third System Coastal Defense System, it was built in 1834.  Fort Morgan played a role in the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864 — although not a very successful one since Admiral Farragut (of “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead” fame) managed to get his ships past the fort and into the bay with the loss of just a single ship.  Following the Civil War, the fort went through a series of deactivations and reactivations, and was finally deactivated and turned over to the State of Alabama in 1946.

Burrowing through the glacis, the upward sloping ground (top right),
the postern (left) connects to the dry moat (bottom right).  The brick-lined
Drain that runs through the ditch carries rainwater out of the dry moat.

Fort Morgan is on the grounds of a state historic park by the same name.  The $7 pp entrance fee would have been enough to deter us from going into the park.  But when we queried about a military discount, Mui gained free admittance, and we only had to pay $3 for my entrance fee.

Mui finds a spot to rest where the Mobile Bay Lighthouse once stood in
the center of the Lighthouse Battery.

Parking the car, we headed to the small museum first.  Lots of information, but we’re not big on written exhibits, so we quickly browsed through the displays and left to do a self-guided tour of the fort.

The casemates, as these arched rooms are known, were designed as protected gun
positions, but few cannons were ever mounted.  Instead, the casemates were used for
the storage of food and equipment, and occasionally as living quarters for troops.

The wind was blowing strong everywhere we walked in and around the fort.  Foregoing any thoughts of enjoying our late snack/lunch on the beach, we looked for an alternative spot.  Eventually, after climbing some seriously steep stairs with risers obviously not designed for shorties like me, we found a secluded corner in one of the gun emplacements.

Left: this bricked-up casemate was just too funny to pass without taking a photo.
Do you see what we saw?

Right: see what I mean By seriously steep stairs?

In closing this day …  one of the surprises for me was the view from the ramparts of all the offshore oil platforms in Mobile Bay.  It wasn’t their presence that surprised me; I expected to see them.  I just didn’t expect to see them as close to the shoreline as some of them were.

I have to admit that there might be a bit of a subliminal message
in the way I took the photo on the right.

An afternoon at home wrapped up the day.

Back to Today …

Tomorrow we leave Gulf State Park.  In fact, we leave Alabama and move onto Florida, our “personal mailbox state” — aka .. our home state.  We prefer not to stray far from the campground on departure prep days.  Luckily, there’s plenty of fun to be had on the Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail.  Mui wanted to go for a trike ride, but with the wind still blowing strong, I wasn’t up for the challenge of biking against the wind.  So, we compromised with a trail walk.

Prickly Pear blooms on the Rosemary Dunes Trail.

What started out as a short stroll of a few miles, turned into a 6.5 mile (10 km) walk.  What can I say — even with the wind blowing strong, a low-humidity day with comfortable temps, blue skies, and sunshine was just too hard to resist.  And who cares if we got a bit sand-blasted on the final leg of our walk along the beach road.  Besides, we were still home by 1:00p … plenty of time to take care of departure chores.

White-topped Sedge

No Lefty at the gator pond today … it was still a little too cool for her to be out and about when we walked by her home, but I managed to capture a new-to-me bird and a-not-so-new-to-me Dasypus novemcinctus along the way.

The red-headed woodpecker is nicknamed the flying checkerboard.
According to All About Birds … This species has declined severely
because of habitat loss and changes to its food supply.

The Dasypus novemcinctus … or, as it is more commonly known, the Nine-Banded Armadillo.
Unlike the ones we saw at Fort Pickens in December, this one was less skittish,
and I managed to see a bit of its face as it munched on grass along the trail.

Next post … from Florida.

Meet Lefty’s Babies

Tuesday, 30 April
Gulf State Park  — Gulf Shores, Alabama
Temps: Lo 67F / Hi 77F (19C / 25C)

After three days of triking and hiking the trails, today was a rather quiet day.  But before I get to today, let me go back to yesterday first.

Monday, 29 April …

Of our three days of fun on the Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail (post for the first two days here), today was the best.  Why?  Not because we took it a little easier and only triked 12.2 miles (19.5 km).  And certainly not because we spent more time at the Butterfly Pavilion, which we had to ourselves as we enjoyed our snacks on the swing.

The Butterfly Pavilion and Garden has …

… a couple of swings on the porch … a good rest-spot for weary trail-explorers.

Rather, today was the best day on the trail because Lefty, the resident alligator, introduced some of her babies to us.  From what I have read, alligators lay their eggs in late June and early July.  The eggs incubate for 65 days before the babies hatch.  That being the case, the baby gators we saw today must be from last year’s litter.  The hatchings are apparently about 6-8 inches (15-20 cm) when they are born and grow a foot (30 cm) in the first year.  The ones we saw today were plus or minus a foot long, which seems just about right for 8 month-old babies.

One of the babies is taking the easy way out with a ride on Momma Lefty’s back.

Most alligators lay 35-50 eggs, though some can lay as many as 90.  We counted six in the pond with Lefty, and later learned that two others had been taken and are on display at the Nature Center.  There could have been more hidden from our eyes, of course, but eight is about right since only 20% of the young tend to survive.

One baby was hitching a ride on Lefty’s back; another was sunning on the culvert that provides access to the pond on the other side of the road.  The rest were in the water, periodically coming up onto the vegetation to rest.  I managed to get a picture of all but one of the babies; the sixth one slipped into the water and disappeared from view before I could click the shutter.

We’ve heard a bull bellowing these past few days.  I wonder if it is courting Lefty?  It is mating season, after all.  I don’t know how long after a cow has her hatchlings she is ready to mate again.  Need to do some more reading.

By the way, the viewing area has a large-mesh fence that keeps us safe from Lefty … and vice versa, I suppose.  She doesn’t have anything to fear from us, of course.  The fence, however, would do nothing to keep the hatchlings safe; they could easily slip through and be on the road in seconds, where they would be in danger of being run over by cyclists and maintenance vehicles.  Or even be taken as a pet by some thoughtless person.   I wonder why a finer mesh wasn’t used?

OK — enough alligators.  On to other things?  We shaved off a few miles from our ride by returning from the gator pond back to the Catman Road Trail.  On our way to the campground, I stopped to take a photo of a patch of wetlands and was rewarded by catching a wood duck pair at home.

I catch the female just as she leaves the nest to bathe in the pond.
As she does so, the male turns in her direction, as though keeping an eye on her.

When we got to Gator Road, the turn off for our loop, we kept going and cycled to the Gulf State Park Nature Center, which is located in the same complex as the swimming pool and gift shop.  The center is small, though there is a big outdoor amphitheater where they have programs … none while we’re here.  Also outside is a purple martin condo made of gourds … there were a few birds, but they disappeared when a couple of rowdy kids showed up.

The majority of the live animals are snakes and such;
but there is a more varied stuffed-animal collection on display.

Our primary purpose for stopping by was to see the two gator babies that had been removed from the pond to this facility.  Not sure how I feel about that.  I suppose it is no different from putting them in a zoo, but I am still wrestling with the thought that these babies were removed from Lefty’s care while so young.  Then again, that they are at the nature center increases the likelihood of survival, so that’s something positive.

Click the photo for a legible version of gator factoids from this signage at the Nature Center.

Finally returning home, we relaxed for a bit before heading out to run errands.  While out, we also stopped for lunch at Lambert’s Café … the only home of Throwed Rolls!  What can I say about this place that hasn’t already been said.  Yes, we caught a couple of rolls and tried them with both sorghum syrup and apple butter; tasted the fried okra served on a paper towel at our table; accepted offers of the pass-arounds; and enjoyed our meal.  Mui ordered the pulled pork sandwich, which he proceeded to eat without the bun.  I ordered the fried shrimp, with two side dishes, and immediately asked for a doggie bag to bring half home.  Thus, we surprised our waiter by still having room for dessert — banana pudding instead of the strawberry shortcake special of the day.

Where are the photos you ask?  There are none.  Since we were out to run errands, I didn’t take my camera with me.  Bad, bad Erin!  But here’s a photo of the mural on the side of the building.  Those who have been to Lambert’s will know that I didn’t take the photograph at lunchtime today.  It would have been impossible to do so since the parking lot was chock-a-block with cars.  No, I spied the mural last Friday when we passed through Foley on our way to the Pitcher Plant Bog.

The mural, painted by Lorenzo Green, tells the story of four generations of Lamberts.

A relaxing afternoon at home was enhanced with bird sightings in the clearing around us.  Nothing quite like being able to do birding from our own patio ;-)

A European Starling carrying dinner home … “froggy” on the menu tonight.

A red-bellied woodpecker comes visiting and
shows off the reddish belly-flush for which it is named.

What a way to end an excellent day here in coastal Alabama.

Back to Today …

Today was a day of rest.  Yes, after three days of high-energy activities we took it easy.  Not that we stayed home all day!  After breakfast, we headed over to the beach.  While Mui spent the entire time in the water, I walked along the shore, letting the surf wash over my feet.

Anyone know what this jelly-like sea critter is?

Sandwich Terns

Unfortunately, on my walk I came across another dead sea turtle.  I hesitate to identify it; but it's likely another Kemp's Ridley.  I reported it to the NOAA Fisheries, Protected Resources Office as I did the Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles we found dead on the beach while we were at Buccaneer State Park in Mississippi.  This time, I think the turtle’s demise came at the hands — or rather, the teeth — of a shark.  Not to be too gruesome, but it was missing its head.

To spare everyone’s sensibilities, I processed these photos in B&W!
It doesn’t make the loss any less sad, but I do hope this sea turtle died from a shark attack.

By the way, the 2013 year-to-date sea turtle stranding stats are out for AL, LA, MS, and TX.  And it’s not looking good.  The 2013 strandings for Kemp’s Ridleys in Mississippi, for example, is already at 89; that’s compared to 153 for MS for all of 2012.  Alabama, for the year, has had 11 strandings; that’s compared to 65 for all of 2012.

Screenshot of 2013 YTD stats from the NOAA Fisheries, Protected Resources Office website.

Moving onto something less depressing …

We spent the rest of the day relaxing in the screen shelter until the humid afternoon heat forced us inside.  Turns out that was a good thing … had we been outside we probably would not have been visited by the flock of cattle egret that came flying into feast on the grass adjacent to our patio.

A flock of cattle egret fly in for an early dinner on the patch of grass next to us.
I managed to open the dining room window without scaring them off.

The buff colored plumes adorning this cattle egret indicate that this is breeding season.

The bird on the left shows a red flush on the legs and beak, present only during the
height of the breeding season.  The bird on the right … not so much.

We had plans to go sightseeing this week, but the weather may not cooperate.  There’s an 80% chance of rain and gusty winds forecasted for tomorrow.  A chore day at home, I think.

Triking & Hiking the Backcountry

Sunday, 28 April
Gulf State Park  — Gulf Shores, Alabama
Temps: Lo 66F / Hi 77F (19C / 25C)

With the weekend at hand, we postponed plans for sightseeing until the crowds dissipated.  Instead, we went triking and hiking — OK, walking — on the backcountry trails, enjoyed a sunrise breakfast on the beach one morning, and spent a couple of hours relaxing in the shade of our beach shelter on two afternoons when the sun was out and the breeze off the gulf kept the temperatures comfortable.

Saturday, 27 April …

Since we had determined that there were no over-the-ocean sunset opportunities, we decided to try for a sunrise instead.

Our plan to watch the sun come up from the beach pavilion was a bust.  With the parking lot closed, there was nowhere safe to leave the car.  So, we did our sunrise vigil from the section of the beach accessed via the boardwalk at the intersection of State Park Road 2 and Hwy 182.

The bonus from this part of the beach … a photo of the full moon.  With the Canon SX50HS at full zoom (~1200mm), I actually got details of the moon’s surface.  The downside from this spot … our view included the Orange Beach high-rises, which we opted to think of as Mont Saint-Michel :-)

Rather than shoot a pale, wide-angle sunrise I zoom into highlight the brilliant colors
as the sun starts to clear the buildings that are about 2 miles (3.2 km) from where we are.

As the sun continues its ascent, a couple of fishermen join us on the beach.
Bonne chance guys!

With the sun high on the horizon, and the temps quickly warming up, we returned home, picked up the trikes, and set off to ride the Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail (HSBBT).  The 11-mile (17.5 km) trail has two access points from within Gulf State Park, one of which is at the back of the campground.  The really nice thing about this trail system — aside from its setting, which traverses heavily forested areas as well as wetlands — is that all but one of the trails are paved.  Some of the trails have a bit of a grade in sections, but most are flat all the way.

The Cotton Bayou is gravel, but still doable if you’re careful;
Gulf Oak Ridge and Rattlesnake Ridge have some ups and downs, but nothing major.
The trail system goes through six ecosystems.

On this first foray on the HSBBT, we started out by triking 2.3 miles (3.7 km) from our campsite to the Gulf Oak Ridge trailhead; skipped Rattlesnake and went up Catman Road; cycled a bit along Hwy 161 — there is a bike path paralleling the road; re-connected to the trail system via gravelly Cotton Bayou; triked along Rosemary Dunes with a stop to see Lefty, the resident alligator (no luck); and returned to camp via the bike path on Hwy 182.  All said, we did 15 miles (24 km) … our longest trike ride to-date.

Oak Ridge to Twin Bridges to the Catman Trail.
Along the way are benches and covered swings for people to enjoy, each inscribed with a
message from the donor … on this bench, Margaret, from Gulph, Ontario, invites us to sit.

Taking a break at the intersection of Twin Bridges and Catman.
Despite diligent searching, I am sorry to say we did not come across the Catman —
a part man/part wildcat creature that has allegedly been lurking in this area.  Maybe next time!

By the time we returned home we were drained.  Not from the long ride, but from the sticky humidity that made the 72F (22C) temperature quite uncomfortable.  Cold drinks and a quiet afternoon enjoying the screen shelter and the beach shelter revived us sufficiently to plan a similar itinerary for the next day — this time on foot.

Back to today …

Up early after a good night’s rest, we were raring to get going with our planned walk on the HSBBT.  A quick breakfast; snacks packed … and off we went.  While the overcast skies weren’t nice, we appreciated the cloud cover as it kept the temperatures comfortable for most of our walk.

Starting with a .9-mile (1.4 km) walk from our site to the back of the campground, we connected to the Catman Trail.  At Little Lake we found this critter taking an early-morning swim.  No wonder swimming is only allowed at Shelby Lake!

Continuing on Catman, we arrived at the Butterfly Pavilion at the intersection with the Rosemary Dunes Trail.

No butterflies today; nor yesterday for that matter.  The pavilion is actually a covered shelter with several picnic tables where people can rest and have a packed-from-home bite to eat.  Its proximity to the only restrooms and water fountain on the trail make it a popular place.

We used one of the tables yesterday to enjoy mid-morning snacks while we chatted with a biker who reported a bobcat sighting.  Today, we stopped just long enough for me to take photos of the colorful flowers in the adjacent garden.

This stop came with a bonus!

Finished with the flowers, I was walking back to join Mui when the unmistakable pecking sounds of a woodpecker stopped me in my tracks.  Searching the high reaches of the trees nearby, I located the source of the sound — a red-bellied woodpecker, which stood still long enough for me to capture a shot of it.

I never did get a good-angle to see the reddish belly-wash for which the bird is named.  There’s always next time, I suppose.  In the meantime, I enjoyed the “bird in hand,” so to speak.

Sorry; I didn’t take the time to research these flowers, but I am guessing they
all attract butterflies … thus the name of the pavilion.

Resuming our walk, we turned on to the Rosemary Dunes Trail.  Our next stop was at the gator pond — home of the trail’s resident alligator: Lefty.  She gets her name not only because she is missing her right front leg, but also because her right eye is damaged.  How this happened, I do not know, but despite her handicaps she’s apparently attractive to some male alligator as she has a litter of baby gators.  None were visible today, but we spent a nice time with momma Lefty even so.

Lefty shows us her “good” profile today!

Bidding Lefty good bye, we continued further down the Rosemary Dunes Trail before using a utility service road to cross over to the beach to complete our self-made loop trail.  The gravel road wasn’t the most scenic, but it made for a decent short cut; and it did take us by a pond where the water lilies were blooming.

Even though it was only 9:00a at this point, the humidity had increased to uncomfortable levels — again.  Nor was there much of a breeze on the beach to keep us cool.  Add to that the fog, which hid the view from our eyes; and the soft sand, which made walking a rather difficult proposition.  In the end, in order to make headway on the 3.1 miles (5 km) we still had to go to get back to our site, we decided to walk on the bike path on Hwy 182 instead.  I will say that this last portion of our walk wasn’t fun, but it was good exercise.

From morning fog on the beach, to relaxing and swimming — Mui, of course — in the afternoon.

All in all, we walked 15,963 steps — about 6 miles (9.5 km).  And we deserved taking the afternoon off to read and relax — first on our patio, and later under our shade shelter on the beach.