1/5 Ortona South Lock & Dam Campground

This is another one of my favorite places to stay in Florida.  It is along the Caloosahatchee Canal, which is the river that flows west from Lake Okeechobee.  Lake Okeechobee was raised 20' almost 100 years ago to provide more irrigation water to farmers, and since it is a navigable river, it acts as a shortcut across southern Florida for boaters. It also attracts people who like to fish.  No swimming, however, as the river is full of alligators.  

Anyway, here are some photos of the campground and the dam and lock.  Sites are paved with water and electric hookups.  They are also long enough for a large 5th wheel and truck:

The campground has two long arms along the river, with the dam in the middle, so it is easy access for campers.  The locks are open from 7 am to 4 am, and you can walk across the dam during those hours. 

We had rain last week, so there was a lot of water being sent over the dam. 

 

The lock  is on the far side of the dam, and there is a viewing area there.

This is some of the mechanism at the lock doors.

 Looking back towards the closed west lock door.

 

 Looking at the open end of the lock towards the east. 

 

This large fishing pier is on the western side of the dam where water is headed towards the WP Franklin Dam & Locks and eventually to Ft Myers, FL. 

 

In the upper right of the previous photo, you will see a small bridge over a stream that enters the larger river.  In this next photo, I am standing on this small bridge, looking at the fishing pier and the rocky area where a family of river otters has lived for many years. 

 

A better picture of the little pedestrian bridge where you can stand to watch the otters.     

The little stream goes through the farm fields, with the amount of water released controlled by a dam upstream.  A lot of birds like this area because there is fish in the river and they are easier for wading birds to access in the shallow water.  There are also otters up this stream at about the area it makes a bend.  In fact, people have seen the older parents with a litter of young otters here. 

 

Whether you see the otters or not is pretty much up to chance.  I check once a day, but have only seen this one so far during this visit.  By the time I got my camera out, I could just catch him from the rear as he was heading into the stream.  The bird in the photo is a limpkin, and I suspect he was following the otter with hopes of getting free fish scraps. 

 

 

The otter very slickly slipped into the stream and headed out into the larger river. 

 

 

 Some other birds fishing in the stream.  This one is a little blue heron.

And these are white ibis.  They wander around the grassy areas in small groups.

 This is an anhinga, drying his wings on the opposite side of the river.  

 

This limpkin seems to always be hanging about.  He likes to stand in very shallow water or on a rock watching for fish. 

And this beautiful little bird is a snowy egret.  He/she can be identified by his white color, black beak and legs, and orange feet.  These birds were made almost extinct because they were hunted for feathers for ladies hats.  They are doing much better now.   Oh, and by the way, he really has a long neck, but has it folded down so he can better see small fish and crustaceans.