Bicycling the Okeechobee Rim Once Again

Having rested ourselves yesterday doing RV maintenance, we were ready for another bicycle along the Lake Okeechobee Rim.  This time we pedaled the east side, south from Nubbin Slough, which is about 4 miles from our campground.  We had to truck the bicycles down to the Nubbin Slough Access because the ongoing Army Corps of Engineer projects have closed off certain sections of the Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail (the "LOST Trail").

We hadn't even finished breakfast when Kathy spotted this stork prowling our campsite.  We're not sure what he was looking for, but as soon as he arrived, another stork, and then three ibis, also flocked in.

Across the campground road, a Great Blue Hero was more shy, and in fact had his eye on the potential feast that would be left by a fisherman cleaning his catch in the fish cleaning shanty by our site:

We finally did get out on the bicycles by about 10:30 or so, after a scrumptious breakfast that we shared with a couple from Rhode Island who have been coming to this campground for many winters.

As noted above, we began our ride at Nubbin Slough, where the Corps of Engineers has both a flood control facility and a lock system allowing boats to pass between Lake Okeechobee and the Rim Canal.  Along the sides of the lock, fishermen were trying their luck for striped bass.  Here, one grandfather got lucky, and he urged his grandson on with colorful language to be sure and get the !&^% net under the striper.  We noted that the grandson, with maturity and skill beyond his years, coolly netted the bass:

We pedaled south over 10 miles, and along the way we occasionally spotted local bird life.  Here, a Great Blue Heron tries to look small to hide from us, rather than flee his favorite fishing spot:

Not much further on, this osprey boldly sat atop the palm trunk looking for his next meal:

Arriving at Henry Creek Access, where the Corps of Engineers has another lock and water management facility, we spotted this Great Blue Heron keeping an "eagle" eye on the fisherman across the way, to be sure a meal didn't escape him:

At the Henry Creek Access and Lock, we saw two boats speeding south out the slough from the lock after having boated through from the Rim Canal:

Our turnaround point was the Chancy Bay Access, where a new lock and water management facility has been built by the Corps of Engineers.  Here, before eating our lunch, we watched the whole process as the lockmaster ushered a boat into the lock as it returned from the lake --

-- then raised the water level in the lock to permit the boat to exit into the Rim Canal:

After a scrumptious lunch, we wandered down to the boat launch on the Rim Canal and explored the boat dock there:

The view north along the Rim Canal was dramatic with the high cumulus clouds:

Bicycling back, we spied an Anhinga perched in an empty tree, searching for his afternoon meal:

Closer to our campground, the Rim Canal is more developed.  Here is a view of one of the more interesting resorts, called, "Log Harbor," across the Rim Canal:

Having finished our 20 miles, we trucked our bicycles home and got dressed for the swimming pool.  On our walk over, we were surprised by a red-bellied woodpecker (ironically, he is not red-bellied, but has red on his head, white on his belly, and almost zebra striping on the rest of his body) probing for a buggy meal in one of the palm trees --



-- and this unusual black ibis flanked by two of his more common white cousins:

As a wildlife-encounter day, this was better than we expected, although most of our encounters were from a distance.  We were proud of getting out there for a longer ride on the bikes a second time this week, and we really enjoyed the huge vistas of Lake Okeechobee, its marshy fringes with fishermen trying their luck, and its Rim Canal with human, piscine and avian activity!