Hontoon Island

    
     Just west of DeLand, FL is yet another gem in the marvelous park system of Florida.  Hontoon Island is a State Park which is accessible only by an electronically driven ferry.  The ferry ride takes all of 3 minutes and is provided free of charge by the state.  Once you arrive at the small island, there are picnic tables, trails, a fine nature museum (don't miss the great video!) and best of all fine birding opportunities.  Waders, raptors, and seasonal song birds make up the donimant species with spring being the optimal time for migrating warblers.  As we arrived at the dock, our Captain wished us luck in capturing images of the local birds and directed us to a nest of Great egrets with a couple of chicks.  As we started to hike over to the prescribed site, the captain came running after us and said that he had heard the sounds of a frog being attacked by a snake....a sound he had obviously heard before.  We followed the sad "moans" of the little green frog and found it firmly in the grasp of a Florida Southern water snake.  We watched and photographed as the frog struggled to free itself.  As we watched, we noted that the snake had grabbed the frog in such a way that one of its legs was outside the mouth of the snake, a seemingly impossible challenge for the snake planning on getting the frog down whole. An hour later, when the time for our departure from the island was upon us, the frog and snake were still in a stalemate.  The frog had tried to drag the snake back into the water, but the snake managed to get it back on shore and there they remained for God knows how  long.  We found ourselves rooting for the green amphibian even though we knew that the snake was just doing what snakes do.....hunt for food.

    
     When we returned to the mainland, we heard a solitary call of a "first of the year" bird, a Yellow-throated vireo.  With some serious searching through the tree branches (as Sharon became engrossed in chasing down a fine Pileated woodpecker) I finally managed to get off a single shot and as luck would have it, it turned out to be a respectable image.  The day was competed with the acquistion of the day's target bird....our first Ruby-throated hummingbird of the year.  All in all, yet another special day here in the sunshine state.  Our days here are numbered as we prepare to head back north with the warblers, but these last few days are certainly turning out to be special.