John James Audubon visited the Florida Keys
exactly 190 years ago this week.
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John James Audubon in 1826.
Painting by John Syme, source: Wikimedia Commons.
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During his productive five week stay, he also traveled across
Florida Bay to a pristine island bird rookery called Sandy Key.
It was here that he collected many dozens upon dozens of bird specimens. In an era before photography the only way for him to study his birds up close in detail was to shoot them. He had to kill many so as to know the variations within a species, then collect them all and later create his paintings so as to accurately depict them in a proper setting. In his age at the dawn of the industrial revolution, the Everglades and the Earth were still largely untouched and pristine. It was thought the numbers were so large as to be inexhaustible. Well, that was until our own (human) numbers became too large! In any case, life in a frontier land like Florida meant living off the land and the sea. Not only were specimens collected for study, but of course all manner of game, eggs, waterfowl and fish would have been taken for sustenance.
Sandy Key has a long history due to it’s excellent location between Cape Sable and Keys. It has always been a favored refuge for birds of many species, albeit today in a different and greatly diminished form. As part of Everglades National Park since it’s inception, it’s been off limits to visitors, reserved as a bird sanctuary with no public access permitted. Despite these efforts, larger human induced systemic Everglades alterations over the last 200 years have reduced the bird population numbers to a tenth of what were estimated at perhaps two million water birds back then!
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Audubon described Sandy Key as a large wooded “L” shaped island two hundred years ago. It was full of birds, their nests and eggs, since he arrived in the springtime. Hurricanes also play a big role in shaping and altering South Florida’s environment and landscape. The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 stripped Sandy Key of it’s large trees, and then Hurricane Donna passed overhead in 1960 and splintered off the long northern tip of the island. The resulting much smaller island was named Carl Ross Key, and again most of the vegetation was stripped from Sandy Key itself. Carl Ross then became a back country campsite up until 2005, when Hurricane Wilma further split it into two more pieces. This ended camping on Carl Ross Key, and even more recently, Hurricane Irma inundated the area and you can see the impact on Carl Ross Key below. The large black mangrove trees that gave the key it’s profile outline were stressed and are now dying off. Sandy Key proper seems to have withstood that one better!
Carl Ross Key remains in an even more diminished state and is currently a seasonal day use only area!
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My 27 mile fitness paddling triangle loop on a western Florida Bay day trip. High tide only!
K1 trainer and wing paddle test with a 27 mile day paddle on Florida Bay.
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Sandy Key and Carl Ross Key several miles away across a large impassable expanse of exposed tidal flats.
The hold up at First National Bank in Florida Bay!
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So while the bird numbers have diminished, they are by no means absent! One of the joys of spending quality time outdoors in the Everglades backcountry is seeing wildlife carry on unfettered outside the busy world of people. The area is still very remote and it’s possible to visit this locale to spend a day paddling on western Florida Bay. It’s not a trip for novices or for those unprepared however. Starting from Flamingo at the end of the Park road, a day journey of a minimum of about 20 miles round trip is required! The shortest path is across a very large flats bank known as First National Bank, so planning for high tide is very necessary – lest you will get stuck for hours! An even longer trip (pictured) can also include Cape Sable. Alternately, splitting this route into two days with an overnight camp out at East Cape may make more sense for many paddlers.
To familiarize yourself with Florida Bay, I suggest reading through:
Chickees and Keys in Florida Bay – Kayaking, Camping and Nice Dreams!
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Approaching the Sandy Key vicinity from the east on a high tide.
Chickees and Keys in Florida Bay – Kayaking, Camping and Nice Dreams!
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Sandy Key bird sanctuary in western Florida Bay, occasionally sometimes called ‘Audubon’s Island’ on old maps. This is about as close as one is allowed to get.
Chickees and Keys in Florida Bay – Kayaking, Camping and Nice Dreams!
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Sandy Key nearly 200 years after Audubon’s visit, aerial view.
Back then Carl Ross Key on the far right was connected to it in an “L” shape.
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Carl Ross Key shares the distinction of being the site
where at the end of April in 1832, John James Audubon
collected his bird specimens on then larger Sandy Key.
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Aerial of Carl Ross Key in October 2017, a month after being inundated by Hurricane Irma!
Hurricane Irma impacts on the Johnson Key Chickee in Florida Bay.
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Aerial view of what’s left of Carl Ross Key at high tide, fall 2021.
The island in the background is Sandy Key, which is a permanent bird sanctuary.
Carl Ross is now a seasonal day use only area!
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Back in 1832, there was no town of Flamingo on the mainland, so Audubon had a crew that rowed him about 25 miles across Florida Bay up from Indian Key to reach the bird colonies at Sandy Key!
So from the many specimens he harvested, Audubon’s world famous bird portraits known as the “Birds of America“ were created.
He was so excited about all the wildlife that he wrote:
“Seldom have I experienced greater pleasures than when on the Florida Keys,
under a burning sun, after pushing my bark for miles over a soapy flat,
I have striven all day long, tormented by myriads of insects,
to procure a heron new to me, and have at length succeeded in my efforts.”
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The Birds of America was compiled between 1827 to 1838, and included several portraits of the birds from Sandy Key. Audubon’s masterpiece was printed on the largest pages possible at the time, at 29 1/2 by 39 1/2 inches. The completed works of 435 watercolors sold in two volumes for $1,000.00 !
Enjoy the high resolution digitized paintings at:
John J. Audubon’s Birds of America
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Townsend’s Sandpiper portrait by John James Audubon in the 19th century.
CLICK for large version!
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Plate 281 of a Great White Heron, pictured at Key West. Painted on May 26, 1832.
CLICK for story at John J. Audubon’s Birds of America.
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By the later 19th century plume hunting was very big business in the Everglades and South Florida in general. Outrage over wholesale slaughter of shorebirds by the millions prompted the earliest conservation efforts with the passage of laws to curtail the millinery trade. In fact, in 1905, Guy Bradley was hired to serve as the first Audubon game warden. In 1905 he was shot and killed by poachers in Florida Bay, just outside of Flamingo. The same year the National Audubon Society was founded. Today the Tropical Audubon Society continues locally to advocate for conservation, education and preservation of our wetlands and wildlife.
Nearly 200 years later, the same species are still making a living
in the Everglades, the Keys and islands and mud flats of Florida Bay!
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A 21st century White Heron catches an eel on the flats of Florida Bay.
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21st century Sandpipers frolicking along the Everglades shoreline at Carl Ross Key.
The Everglades are for the birds!
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In 2008 on a visit to Carl Ross Key, I was inspired to create some artworks of my own. This one below “Extreme Birdwatching” is a favorite, and you can click through to see the rest of the series.
The uniquely twisted weathered mangrove wood was left for me courtesy of Hurricane Wilma!
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“Extreme Birdwatching”
Kayakfari ART photography
CLICK to see the whole series!
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Ibis feeding and bathing at First National Bank in Florida Bay.
CLICK for full Gallery – The Everglades are for the birds!
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White Pelicans gathered along the shorelines of the Everglades.
Welcoming the fall arrival of White Pelicans in Florida Bay!
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Roseate Spoonbills feeding among friends along the shoreline of Florida Bay, Everglades National Park.
The Everglades are for the birds!
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Outside the world of people,
life goes on like it should.
As it is, as it was, as it shall be!
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Full story links at:
https://kayakfari.wordpress.com/wildlife/the-everglades-are-for-the-birds/
https://decoratedreality.wordpress.com/decorated-reality-2/extreme-birdwatching/
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! Bless UP
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© 2022 Flex Maslan / kayakfari.com / awakenthegrass.com. All original photographs, artworks and music in this portfolio are copyrighted and owned by the artist, Flex Maslan, unless otherwise noted. Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from the artist is strictly prohibited.
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With that said..
Blessings friends!
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