Day 44: February 13 - Lake Woodruff NWR - Love is in the air

Sunny, calmer, but still a bit chilly (60’s)

       Woke up this morning to a gorgeous sunrise and the promise of moderating temps.  It was still in the 30’s when we left for DeLand and Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge, but the winds had softened and the radiant sun foretold of a nice day in the offing. 

       When we arrived at the refuge, the temperature had already gotten into the high 40’s and we were dressed for the occasion with several layers.  One of our targets, the Sedge wren, made an apparent appearance early on, but as we got better looks and heard the bird once again, we thought it was more likely a Marsh wren.  We did get another of our targets the Sora shortly after, but here again, the bird was not willing to pose for the cameras and just as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished back into the reeds. 

Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge

      As we hiked  along the dikes surrounding the impoundments, I mentioned to Alan that I had see a report on the web about their already being a good number of sightings of birds of prey on the nest.  As if to prove my point, we heard a Red-shouldered hawk calling loudly and sighted it in no time at all.  Shortly thereafter, a second Red-shoulder responded from a nearby tree lower to the dike.  We were taking advantage of the opportunity to photograph the second hawk when it took to the air circled and landed on the back of the first.  Ah, love is in the air.  The two were locked in an impassioned embrace (can hawks really embrace one another?) for 10 seconds or so and were not so shy as to allow the noise from our shutters to interrupt their rapturous moment.  He then flew off and that was that.  A new Red-shouldered hawk in the making…..

       The other photo worthy sighting of the day was the capture of a rather large bluegill by a Great blue heron.  We wondered about the heron’s apparent lack of wisdom in fishing in water that was chest deep.  Normally, we see the birds in only several inches of water foraging for their next meal.  Obviously this bird new more than we as it emerged from the water with its fine catch.  It only took a few minutes at best to manipulate the sunfish into the proper head-first attitude and ingest the prey. 

       And so, Alan’s introduction to Lake Woodruff went along smoothly.  No “life-birds” or even first of the year birds, but a nice list of a diverse number of hawks, owls, vultures, herons, egrets, terns, ibises, and LBJ’s (“little brown jobs”).  As the day wore on, the temperatures rose and we now look forward to a week in which the forecasts are for warm sunny days ahead.