Day 25: January 25th - Merritt Island NWR

A beautiful sunny warm day..... (76 degrees)

     It's another in a string of gorgeous warm sunny days here in Florida.  Today is the first day of the Space Coast Birding Festival and we are planning on attending the Keynote speech by Richard Crossley, co-author of The Shorbird Guide and the Crossley ID Guide to Eastern Birds.  One of Florida's best known and loved birding havens is Merritt Island NWR, site of the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral.  We introduced the area to our friends John and Rosie, and they are eager to join us.  

      I need to add a Great Horned Owl to the "year-list" and we have reports that the bird is nesting in precisely the same abandoned (or perhaps usurped) osprey nest where she nested last year down at the refuge.  It's always a real pleasure to travel to a reported sighting and find the bird as promised.  Today, such is the case.

Great horned owl

        After adding the owl to our list, we make tracks to our next "promised" bird,  the Painted bunting.  Without question, the Painted bunting is one of the most beautiful birds of North America.  So many times, you scratch your head asking the question, "What were they thinking?" when looking at a bird and matching it to its name.  It the Purple finch really purple?  Is the Red-bellied woodpecker really red-bellied?   Well, here is a bird which lives up to its mane to the nth degree.  It's as if an artist picked out the most striking colors imaginable and got to work.  The colors don't even blend into one another, they are simply a collection of the most striking rich colors, each occupying their own space and making for one spectacular bird.  Once again, as promised, the bird is on site and ready to be photographed.

Painted bunting

      We're on a tight schedule now as we really want to make the 4mile trip around Black Point Drive, the wildlife drive for which Merritt Island is best known.  For the past several years, this area has been stricken with drought and birds were in much fewer numbers than normal.  The area could still use some rain, but the water levels are considerably higher than the last time we were here and the birds are showing their appreciation by showing up in nice numbers.   New year-birds added to the list include the American avocet, Roseate spoonbill, American wigeon, and the bird shown below, the Horned grebe.  There are too many American coots to hazard a guess as to the total numbers....10,000 or more (well, I said I wouldn't guess and then did it anyway).  This truly is a birder's paradise and we've only begun.  Tomorrow, we will be out on the Indian River by boat to see what we can find.  See you then.

Horned grebe