Day three of my Fall Okefenokee excursion was the paddle back from the Canal Run shelter where I had just spent the night. It was amazing how much quicker the return trip was by paddling with the current. 

There are two short walking trails off Swamp Island Drive in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. To be honest, I've driven past them many, many times and discounted them as not worthwhile. But arriving too late in the afternoon to launch my canoe, I decided to walk both the Canal Diggers Trail and the Upland Discovery Trail... and I'm so glad I did! 

I have been hoping to photograph a Red-cockaded Woodpecker in the Okefenokee for quite some time. I staked out some Longleaf Pines on the western side in the past but without luck. As I walked just a few hundred feet onto the short Upland Discovery Trail, I saw a couple woodpeckers flitting about and didn't recognize their call. My adrenaline went through the ceiling as I raised the lens and knew I was looking at not one, not two, not three... but four Red-cockaded Woodpeckers. 

Just after 8 miles of paddling upstream against the East Fork Suwannee River (orange trail), I made it to my overnight destination at the Canal Run shelter. I quickly set up camp and took a few observations for iNaturalist. A Barred Owl hooted in the distance and I brought him right over my head with a little playback. I then ate a cold can of ravioli, and then just sat with my feet dangling as I enjoyed the quiet sunset of the Okefenokee. 

​Is it safe to paddle the Okefenokee alone? I suppose that depends on many factors. I have made most of my trips through the swamp with my daughter or my friends, mostly to share the experience. But in addition to a few day trips, I also made a solo overnight excursion to the Canal Run shelter in October, 2022. While it is probably safer to have a partner, I believe a solo trip can be completed safely if you know where you’re going.

Long before overnight paddling by myself, I had made many paddles through the Refuge with partners. I could probably navigate many of the runs off Billy’s Lake without a map, but I would never be foolish enough to go without a map. I always bring an Okefenokee NWR map that shows all the canoe trails and mile markers. Even in this age of technology, an old-fashioned trail map printed on paper is essential. If you forget one, the Refuge always has them available at the various launch points in the Refuge.

​I also bring my handheld GPS that has many of the mile-markers and platforms marked as waypoints. The canoe trails are all marked and most of the side trails are too choked with water lilies to navigate, but if you happened to take a side run, it would be quite easy to get lost. I use a battery operated, handheld GPS and ensure I have extra batteries. Don’t rely on your phone for GPS navigation because it won’t last long. ​

​A group of young alligators and their mother along the East Fork Suwannee River near Canal Run in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia. 

A short morning walk on the trails in the Stephen C Foster State Park within the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge before heading out on the canoe. 

Wednesday, 9:47 AM - The first leg of my journey to my overnight camping in the Okefenokee Swamp takes me across Billy’s Lake. Billy’s Lake, especially first thing in the morning, is always a moving experience. You leave the bustle of the Stephen C Foster campground and come upon a large, open lake that is often smooth as glass in the morning. If there are no john boat motors running, the tranquility is tangible… I sometimes feel the splashing of my paddle is too loud!

​A boisterous Red-shouldered Hawk’s screams echo across the entire lake. A heron’s croak is clearly heard, although the bird itself is hidden in the Spatterdock and Maidencane. The flap of a cormorant’s wings can be heard a quarter mile across the water. I just want to sit and float, but the current lead’s me away from this day’s journey to the Canal Run platform. I must break the silence of mind and surroundings and push my paddle into the water toward’s Billy’s Island. 

​Seeing the extremely low waters of the Suwannee River Sill, I began to fear this trip might not be as productive as I had hoped. I took four days off work to make this five-day visit. But would I even be able to get my canoe through the low water to the areas I had hoped to explore?  But, as usual, the Okefenokee never disappoints.  

Low waters caused by drought in the Okefenokee might make paddling difficult and some areas inaccessible, but it isn't totally a bad thing. When water levels are higher, the critters can spread out over the Refuge’s 400,000 acres. But as the swamp dries out, the alligators and other critters tend to congregate in the deeper areas such as the lakes and channels that still contain water. 
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Being a manmade channel controlled by a dam, the Suwannee River Sill on the western side of the swamp typically maintains a decent level of water, even during a drought. And when the water levels are low, the alligators all become visible. Shallow waters and a warm, fall afternoon means a high concentration of big gators along the banks of The Sill! I certainly wasn’t disappointed on this fall trip. There are enough large alligators along the Suwanee River Sill Recreation Area to rival any Florida destination. 

​When I arrived in the Okefenokee on October 25, 2022, I knew the lack of rainfall through the spring and summer would make the swamp waters low... and they certainly were! Walking to the edge of the Suwannee River Sill to launch my canoe into the water, I marveled that I could actually see the bottom! The layer of peat, leaves and muck are typically hidden through the dark, tannin-stained blackwater. 

​Sliding my canoe onto the swamp, the water couldn’t have been more than a foot deep and the bottom of my canoe was scraping the bottom of the channel. I paddled a few feet, then had to use my oar as a push-pole to dislodge from the peat-covered bottom. A few hundred feet of struggling and I realized I just wasn’t going to be able to paddle up the Sill. Bummer. Now what? Thankfully, there was another route to explore without loading up my gear and canoe to travel elsewhere. I headed eastward up the Suwannee River on the brown canoe trail. 

The Suwannee River begins within, and flows through, the Okefenokee. Upon exiting  Billy’s Lake it flows through The Narrows and Mixon's Hammock until it intersects with the dam along The Sill. The Suwannee then continues westward out of the swamp, eventually meandering to the Gulf Coast of Florida.

​The waters appeared to be flowing steadily from the brown canoe trail eastward up the Suwannee River. Being a main river exiting the swamp, I found the Suwannee’s water was deep enough for paddling. Since I wasn’t getting anywhere on the Sill canal, I’d try going eastward up the brown trail.

The landscape of the brown trail between The Sill and The Narrows is mostly open sky and the canal is lined by tall Maidencane grasses. Large stumps hint at the giant Cypress that stood in this area a century ago. Only a few young, slender Cypress point skyward now. The channel of the Suwannee is fairly narrow as it passes through Mixon’s Hammock and the current is very strong, especially in times of low water. I was thankful that the swift water kept the canal dug out deep enough to use my trolling motor, for paddling alone would have been exhausting. 

​I made it quite slowly three-miles upriver against the current before turning around just before The Narrows, a constricted tunnel of vegetation that leads to Billy’s Lake. Upon turning around and going with the current, the motor was no longer needed, and paddling was at a minimum just to keep my canoe steered in the right direction.  I love the feeling of a lazy Okefenokee afternoon drift downstream. This is the life!

Since the fall days were shortening, I wanted to be sure to get back to the boat launch before it got too dark. After packing my gear back into my vehicle and loading the canoe on the trailer, I still had an hour or so of beautiful golden hour sunset, so I decided to take a walk along the Suwannee River Sill. Being a Tuesday evening, I was the only visitor aside from the wildlife.

Just below the dam, a small group of White Ibis were foraging the banks of the Suwannee River and a cautious gator swam submerged in the mirror-like blackwater that reflected the October fall colors. A bit further northward up the grassy embankment, a young White-tailed Deer buck snapped to attention when he caught my scent. The same Snowy Egret that I had photographed from my canoe an hour earlier was still searching the water while a small Killdeer ran along the canal. And a few big alligators still lay out on the banks to take in the last bit of warmth before dragging themselves into the cooler waters for the night. 

​There are several year-round resident birds within the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. But some of those “common” birds are much easier to find than others. No matter when you visit, I can guarantee you are going to see several dozen Eastern Phoebes. Also year round, but more heard than seen, is the Gray Catbird. Red-shouldered Hawks and Pileated Woodpeckers always seem to be screaming from the tall cypresses any time of the year. And there is always an opportunity to see some of the larger wading birds in the Okefenokee.
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One of the more elusive Okefenokee year-round birds is the Black-crowned Night Heron, Nycticorax nycticorax. Although I had photographed them in other locations, it wasn’t until March 2019 that I spotted my first within the refuge boundaries. Just like the name might imply, I found my first Black-crowned Night Heron at night along the Suwannee River Sill and a photo wasn’t possible. I got another opportunity to photography one at dusk while camping at the Okefenokee Round Top shelter. 

Black-crowned Night Herons are described as stockier and more compact than the other herons and egrets. They don’t extend their necks too often and sit more “hunchbacked”. They also have shorter and thicker bills than the other long-legged waders of the swamp. Adults are easy to discern from their cousins, the Yellow-crowned Night Heron, because of the different color caps. But some skill and familiarity is needed to distinguish the juveniles of the two species.

My October 2022 Okefenokee paddling trip was my lucky break for a Black-crowned Night Heron photograph. As I turned my canoe off the Suwannee River Sill to head up-current along the Suwannee River (brown trail), a juvenile sat perfectly posed out in the open fishing from an old, wooden pylon. And not too much further up the canoe trail, two adults flushed from the scrub that lined the channel. One stopped long enough for a good photograph as well. ​

​Some critters are more accustomed to the presence of people than others. But it always amazes me when I come across an oddly acclimated bird within the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. On my Fall 2022 paddling excursion, a curious Snowy Egret played leapfrog with my canoe for almost a mile!

It was a relaxing drift downstream along the Suwannee River heading from Mixon’s Hammock toward the Suwannee River Sill. A little way ahead I first spotted this fishing egret. Thinking it would fly off as soon as it spotted my canoe, I got a few shots from a distance. But surprisingly it stayed in place until I came quite close. Then it lifted off and flew about 100 feet ahead, again waiting for me. It did this leapfrogging several times and followed me nearly a mile back to The Sill.
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All the while it pretended to fish, but also kept a curious eye on me, giving me several great photographic opportunities. I suppose some birds have no reason to fear people. Perhaps others have migrated from a place where humans are a more common sight. I don’t know this Snowy’s story, but it certainly wanted to learn mine! 

One of my goals is to photograph as many different species as I can within the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. When threats come against the sanctity of the Okefenokee, such as the current nearby mining efforts, I want my photographs to be a part in showing how many different species rely upon the Refuge.

So through all of my explorations to the Okefenokee, I have kept a species checklist and I’m always hoping to grab a new critter observation on each trip. But even after more than ten trips, some of the “easy” birds still evade my lens. Birds I commonly see everywhere else, such as Canada Geese and Blue Jays, just don’t show up when I’m within Refuge boundaries (although I hear those pesky Jays calling, they don’t come close enough for a photograph).

The Wood Stork, a signature bird of the swamp, had also become a nemesis bird for me within the Okefenokee boundaries. I’ve paddle miles and miles of canoe trails; I’ve taken several guided boat tours, I’ve what the trails and drove the wildlife drives, but no Wood Storks!
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But this was my trip! Before I even launched my canoe from the parking area of the Suwannee River Sill Recreation area, a Wood Stork sat regally perched atop a tall Cypress. All those excursions deep into the Okefenokee in years past only to find my first Wood Stork within the Refuge near a parking lot! I also caught a second Stork photograph a little bit up the Suwannee River towards Mixon’s Hammock. I finally got my Stork! Now where are those Jays! Lol 

A few weeks before my October 2022 trip, I was told by a fellow iNaturalist user that the water levels were low in the Okefenokee, but I wasn’t prepared for what I found! When I arrived on in the Refuge on October 25, 2022, my first outing was to be on The Sill Recreation Area on the western side of the swamp just before the Stephen C Foster State Park campground. As soon as I turned the corner and the channel came in sight, I could see the waters were very low. The canal is typically deep and wide, but not now.

Normally it’s a short walk with my canoe from the parking lot to the water’s edge. There are even times where the lower parking lot is totally submerged. But today I had to drag my canoe about eighty feet just to reach the water’s edge! I had a feeling that paddling was going to be difficult and my trolling motor was out of the question in the low waters. 

The low water exposed some of the cypress stumps and debris usually concealed by the dark, tannin-stained blackwaters. I a few places, the pylons of the railroad tracks that once crossed areas of the swamp during the logging days of the early 1900’s were visible.

​My biggest hope upon seeing the low water was that the alligators and birds weren’t spread out through the swamp like they are in times of high water, but would be more concentrated along the lakes and canals for some prime photography. This was certainly the case. I shot twenty gators, a Great Blue Heron and Wood Stork along the Sill before even getting out of my vehicle!