Day 51: February 20 – Lighthouse Point Park

Windy, cool (61 degrees) but sunny

       It’s a windy day and probably not the best day to go visit the jetty on the north side of Ponce Inlet, but we throw caution to the wind (so to speak) and head up Route 1.  Sharon remembered a small park just off Route 1 south of Rose’s Bay on Sleepy Hollow Road.  We pulled in and found it to be very active with those notorious LBJ’s flitting from tree to tree high in the canopy.  We did manage to get firm id’s on several Yellow-rump warblers, a Downey woodpecker, a Carolina wren and a Tufted titmouse.  The trail down to the shore of the bay is “real Florida” appearing as it was just pulled from the cover of a Florida nature magazine.

       We have to remind each other that our actual destination is the jetty across the Indian River (actually up here, it is the Halifax River).  We set out and after a short stop at BoonDocks restaurant, we arrive at the park.  It is chilly and it is windy, but the sun provides some great lighting for viewing the Red-breasted mergansers which are feeding along the shallow bottom next to the jetty.  It’s nice to get so close to these birds for a good photo.  The wind is driving the surf into some pretty rough water, but the mergs are smart enough to stay on the leeward side of the jetty and are thus protected from the chop. 

Red-breasted merganser takes flight

       The only birds in the water on the windward side of the long rock jetty are a pair of Brown pelicans.  They often get blown in close to the boulders, but then take flight and move further away to begin feeding once again.  It was interesting to note that these pelicans most often feed by plunge-diving into the surf.  These birds were feeding like their much larger white cousings which swim along gathering and straining large amounts of water in their pouched bills.

       I noticed a number of shore birds lining the water’s edge along the beach north of the jetty.  After walking closer to the birds, I found Royal and Forster’s terns side-by-side which made for a nice size comparison.

Royal tern (front left) with smaller Forster's terns

       So, in spite of the weather conditions not being the most appropriate for a walk on the pier, we made the most of it and Mother Nature did not disappoint us.