February 17th
- 23rd
The beginning of the week
proved to be tough for birding by Florida standards. The winds were strong out of the north which brought the
evening temperatures down to the near freezing point. The strong
winds kept the insects and the birds down and made for some challenging
birding. As the week progressed,
however, we found the temperatures and winds moderating and with the more
favorable conditions, birding also picked up.
We had three major ventures
out into the field this week. The
first was a chase for a reported Cassin’s kingbird, a western bird which
wandered over to the “Sunshine State” for whatever reason. It was just one of those “couldn’t be
better” situations where the exact telephone pole where the bird was seen
earlier this week was the one he was perched on when we arrived. As chases go, it wasn’t all that
challenging to begin with as the location was only about an hour and a half
away. Nonetheless, the bird gave
us all we could ask for as far as good views and nice lighting for photos.
The following day, we joined
the Halifax River Audubon Club for our “first-of-the-year” trip to Tosohatchee
Wildlife Management Area, a 30,000 plus acre preserve near Christmas, Florida. Bordering 19 miles of the St. John’s
River, the varied habitat is home to some fine avian species such as the
Bachman’s sparrow and King rail.
We found nesting Bald eagles, limpkin, Black and white warblers, and
American bittern among many other species.
In spite of their very large size (wing
spans of up to 10 feet!), the birds were mere specks until viewed through the
scopes and binoculars. As we
watched the White giants sail overhead, Black vultures were found feeding on
the carcass of a dead gator…..beauty and the beast?
On our way home from
Tosohatchee, we detoured over to Merritt Island NWR and found two active nests
of Great horned owls. We made note
last week of the onset of nesting activity as we move on into spring. We’ll make sure to keep tabs on these
two nests and see how their families progress.
Our final outing of the week
was a pontoon trip over to a sand bar at the confluence of Ponce Inlet, the
Indian River and the Halifax. The
bar is known as a gathering spot for plovers and we were pleased to find our
first of the year Piping and Wilson’s plovers. They were joined by a lone Whimbrel (also first of the year)
and although too distant to allow for decent pics, we enjoyed watching their
activity through the scope.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this viewing on the bar was the
paucity of Semi-palmated plovers.
It’s rare indeed to find so many more Piping plovers that semi-palms.
Palamedes swallowtails |
With the end of the month
approaching and our year list at 176, we’ll have several friends from up north
joining us in the upcoming weeks to help add to our totals. We’re looking forward to our visitors
from the north as the avian flocks will begin to come up from the south on
their jouney north.