Ichetuckenee springs/ Lake Annie, sandhill uplands vernal pools

[Thomas Barr <tcbiii at earthlink_net>]

No pics this time but I will have them soon.
I got sucked downstream due to a strong current and wound up swimming 1.5
miles.
It'd be a thrill if you are into that though. 3-4 mile loops and even a 6
miler is a monster workout if you are so inclined.

I'm in decent shape but dang, I have a lot of respect for swimming:-) I've
never swam that far! Not much choice unless I wanted to walk barefoot
through the forest for a 1/2 mile or so out to the road through swamp, sharp
palm leaves and rocks, ciggers etc or drown. So like a fool, on I went.

I did not wear my flippers since I forgot my flipper boots and would get
nasty blisters if I put them on even for a few minutes.
Never been so hot in cold water. But I'll be back next week ....with
flippers....

There were trumpet type snails with a bumpy pattern on their shells, very
dark and larger than MTS's. These were all over and on everything. Lots of
fish. Some 2ft long grass carp and some others I could not get a good look
at. Some very large bass here and there.

The plants beds were awesome. Large stands of the Sag's and Vals. Kind of
freaks you out when swimming in the shallow parts and you think the bottom
is not very deep but it's way down there hidden by all these long straps of
leaves.

Many logs were covered with Fontinalis, some nice Myriophyllum beds (These
looked very cool), hornwort, water lettuce, pennywort etc.

The section of the river meanders through bald cypress and hammock forest.
If you want to look at plants etc, it's wise to rent or buy a nice inner
tube and a good face mask and peer into the water. I would not recommend
swimming it unless you are in shape or like to swim distance.
But you can dive and swim and then go back to the inner tube for a rest and
float down the river. The water is very clean and clear. But the water shed
that feeds it is in peril from development, gas stations, septic tank
systems, etc.

pH was 6.7 at 5pm. The KH was 8. Check the chart for the CO2:-) Temp
70F(colder water holds more dissolved gases), extremely clear water you are
tempted to drink but it is not potable etc(good lighting for the plants).
==================================================================
Lake Annie today. Just got back. Neat lake, had a species of Utricularia I
thought was Aldrovandra at first, it's like a fluffy smaller Myriophllum.
Some large clumps of Mayaca. Red foxtail(M heterophyllum). Banana plants,
and a few other plants like pennywort etc. I did not get to survey the lake
much. pH was 4.9. KH was a tad above zero.
Tea colored water. It has a good deal of datab going way back and is
favorite of paleo limnologist since it has nice records going back 38,000
years since it was spared any glacial activity and is also quite deep at
70ft.

I went to see some vernal pools here as there's been a fair amount of water
lately. I was looking for certain algae but spotted some Juncus repens which
I had really been looking for intensively. At least it looks very much like
the Juncus. It's a bit beefier and larger but that may change when it grows
out in the tank.
Also found 3 species of Eleocharis, baldwenii( a bit like parvulus),
acicularis(?) and definitely vivipera.
The water was also very acidic, around 4. There were at least 4 plants that
(I don't know what they are) would make good candidates for plant tank
trials. The water levels are very variable here and it'll be dry in a few
weeks. Some nice algae species though.
It's a big area and the executive director is quite nice and has no issue
with some collecting here. The weeds I like are not rare:-)


Regards, 
Tom Barr