Rain early, then clearing with mild temps
We are heading out to the central part of the state this morning....EARLY morning! We're up at 4:00 AM and join our party at 5:00 to travel the 1 1/2 hours to the Kissimee/St. Cloud area. This reagion has several different refuges and is know for birds classified as "local" and "uncommon". Our guides are some of the top folks in Florida, so we have high hopes.
We depart under dark and dreary skies, but so far it's dry. That doesn't last for long, however, as the rain begins to fall. By the time we reach our first destination, Joe Overstreet Landing, the rain is soft but steady. We were hoping for both Bachman's sparrow, and endangered rarity, and the Snail kite, also a species in danger. Plenty of eagles as well as some new species like the Eurasian collared dove and the Purple gallinule. Our best shot is that of a very cooperative Bald eagle. The county we find ourselves birding in today, Osceola, has more nesting pairs of eagles than any other in the state, so the sighting is not that surprising. What is surprising is that the eagle lands on a piling ans allows people a reasonably close approach. The photo below was taken with a little SONY Point and shoot, but still turned out to be fairly decent.
From here, we travelled to Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area. The rain had abated for the most part, so we hiked down the dirt road towards the campground. We had a number of Brown-headed nuthatches and Pine warblers in good views. Even without the scope, they were easy to see and identify. Suddenly, the call of one of our targets the Bachman's sparrow was heard. We quietly walked further along the road, drawing closer to the song. As we searched for the songster, we found target number 2, the Red-cocladed woodpecker, out in plain view and remarkably stationary. Too distant for a decent photo (although I'll include the poor quality shot here for documentary purposes), the bird was easily seen through the scope.
Suddenly, one of our number located the sparrow as he looked for the woodpecker! For many, this was two "life-birds" back to back. Sharon and I have not had either of these birds for several years now, so it was indeed a treat to see them both at once.
One of our final stops was the "Florida Forever" Ecotour preserve. We had several new warblers, a fine Great-crested flycatcher, two Crested caracaras, our first Green heron of the year and both the White-eyed and Blue-headed vireo.
We finish out the day with one more specialty...the Snail kite at Bishman Park in Kissimee. Once again, the views is fine through the scope, but too far to capture on film.
A long but productive day and one well worth the time and effort. By day's end, we had added new year-birds and were happy campers.
From here, we travelled to Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area. The rain had abated for the most part, so we hiked down the dirt road towards the campground. We had a number of Brown-headed nuthatches and Pine warblers in good views. Even without the scope, they were easy to see and identify. Suddenly, the call of one of our targets the Bachman's sparrow was heard. We quietly walked further along the road, drawing closer to the song. As we searched for the songster, we found target number 2, the Red-cocladed woodpecker, out in plain view and remarkably stationary. Too distant for a decent photo (although I'll include the poor quality shot here for documentary purposes), the bird was easily seen through the scope.
Suddenly, one of our number located the sparrow as he looked for the woodpecker! For many, this was two "life-birds" back to back. Sharon and I have not had either of these birds for several years now, so it was indeed a treat to see them both at once.
One of our final stops was the "Florida Forever" Ecotour preserve. We had several new warblers, a fine Great-crested flycatcher, two Crested caracaras, our first Green heron of the year and both the White-eyed and Blue-headed vireo.
We finish out the day with one more specialty...the Snail kite at Bishman Park in Kissimee. Once again, the views is fine through the scope, but too far to capture on film.
A long but productive day and one well worth the time and effort. By day's end, we had added new year-birds and were happy campers.
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