Birds and Bulowville

Gamble Rodgers SRA, Flagler Beach, FL - Site #31

Another gray “sunrise” at Gamble Rodgers. At least it was dry. It was time to check out of site #29 and move next door to site #31.

There are 34 sites at the park. They are laid out in a long line parallel to the beach. The even numbered ones are on the inland side and the odd numbered ones are on the beach side. Sites 1-24, from the entrance to the shower house, are deeper and wider, suitable for Class A RVs, fifth wheels and longer trailers. The beach side sites are also open to the beach with a view of the Atlantic. Sites 25-34 are shorter sites, good for Class B RVs like Speedy and little trailers. These beach side sites are behind tall hedges with no beach view, but a break from an east wind. Site #29, where we have spent the last three nights was actually a bit short for Speedy with the bike rack on it. Our new site is about four feet longer and we fit just fine.

We could check out in the morning, but couldn't occupy the new site until afternoon, after it had been cleaned and raked. The sites are mostly hard-packed sand and have a zen garden look when you first pull in.

So off we went for a day of birding and history.

On my bike ride yesterday, I passed through Bulow Plantation Ruins Historical Park, but I didn't pass the main entrance. There is also a big marsh along Bulow Creek, which runs through the park and I saw a fair amount of birdlife there. This seemed a good place to start our day out.

As we arrived at the causeway crossing the marsh, there was a large mixed flock of wading birds right by the road. There was no place to park as the road was narrow and pretty busy, so we drove on to the other side of the creek to a canoe and kayak landing and parked there. The creek looks like an excellent place to paddle. There is a 13 mile canoe trail through Bulow Creek Park, of which the historical park seems to be a part.

We slowly walked back over the bridge and along the causeway to where the birds were. We could see them coming and going from a single area. We spotted a small group of Palm Warblers in the bushes right next to us on the way. They were only about ten feet away flitting back and forth and wagging their tails.

We approached the large flock slowly and were able to get quite close. There were hundreds of wading birds, Great, Snowy, Tri-colored and Little Blue Egrets, Great Blue Herons, a big group of Wood Storks, White Ibis and a single Glossy Ibis. There were also several Forsters Terns wheeling about and  diving and a Belted Kingfisher zipping back and forth. All of these birds were mixed in together, probing and fishing.

Full-size slide show

I don't know how they pick a spot to spend the day. When I passed this area yesterday, there were birds several hundred yards away from the causeway and none where we saw a profusion today.

We watched and tried, unsuccessfully, to count them for about an hour then headed off to find the Bulowville plantation. We passed several “plantations” along the way...all large housing subdivisions, but eventually found the main entrance to the historical park.

About a quarter mile down a dirt road we reached Bulow Creek and the foundation of the Bulowville mansion. Not much left to see here, but a few hundred yards further on were the ruins of the Bulowville sugar mill. At its time, it was the largest mill in Florida...but its time was quite short. It was in existence for only 16 years before it was burnt by the Seminoles in the Second Seminole War.

Full-size slide show

It is a rather sad story. Charles Bulow bought the property in 1821 then, before the plantation was established, died two years later. He left it to his son, John, who was only seventeen and studying in Paris. He returned to Florida and carried on his father's effort, building up the plantation into a successful sugar and cotton business. He was well regarded and entertained often, having guests such as John James Audubon, who came to search for birds. The only known depiction of the plantation is as the background to Audubon's print of Greater Yellowlegs.

Bulow was regarded as a friend by the Seminoles, trading with them, and was a vociferous defender of their rights. However, after the Second Seminole War started his plantation was seized by Major Benjamine Putnam, against Bulow's wishes, as a camp. Putnam commandeered Bulow’s boats, used his cotton bales as fortifications and virtually imprisoned Bulow. The campaign went badly and the army retreated a month later to St. Augustine. In retaliation, the Seminoles burned all of the local plantations in January of 1836, including Bulowville. John Bulow was devastated, returned to Paris and died less than a year later at 26.

So much for history...

We returned to the mansion ruins and found a site by the creek to have lunch and watch an Osprey fly by.

There is also a 6.5 mile walking and biking trail running through the park, but Ellen was a bit under the weather today. So, after lunch, we decided to return to our new site at Gamble Rodgers and while away the afternoon. It was a good idea, as it started to rain again about mid-afternoon and is expected to continue through the night.

We continue to be among Roadtreks and other Class B RVs. There was a 190 Popular almost identical to Speedy in the site next to us until this morning and there is another one, a 1996 190 Popular, also a Dodge very similar to Speedy right across from us. An Adventurous, the long Mercedes Sprinter-based model also came in today, also across from us and there is a custom, probably homemade, Dodge Ram Promaster-based van a couple of sites down from us. The other sites in this section are taken up by small trailers.

We will continue on to Manatee Hammock near Titusville tomorrow and expect to be there three nights. Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is nearby and we'd like to give it a couple of days to visit and maybe a touristy visit to Cape Canaveral as well. Unfortunately, there are no missile launches while we are there. That would be interesting. Tomorrow was supposed to be my longest bike leg, but the rain is predicted through the morning. Maybe I'll do some of it as a loop when the rain stops.