Week 5: Florida Pelagic and more….

1/27 – 2/2/2013

            Quite a “birdy” week here in East-central Florida as we began on Monday with a pelagic trip out to the Gulf Stream off the coast of New Smyrna Beach.  With sunny skies and less than calm seas, we traveled out 51 miles to find the relatively warm waters of the current in the hopes that we could find “islands” of seaweed which draw in marine critters and pelagic birds.  Well, we did find a tiny bit of the vegetation and we did find a limited number of birds, but all in all, the birding was off and we didn’t get the numbers we had hoped for.  The number of Razorbills in close to shore has been remarkable this year on both coasts of Florida and we had hoped to capture some nice up-close and natural views of these beautiful birds, but our only looks were distant and far out to sea. 

       We did have great views of the Northern gannets (above), however.  These spectacular divers followed the wake of our ship closely and would occasionally fly in tandem with us as if to check out who these folks were this far away from shore.  Multitudes of gulls, mostly Herring gulls of various ages and plumages, followed along as well.

       The most unusual sighting of the trip had to be the Bridled tern which drifted past us perched upon a small buoy.  We had seen others today, but all were far off and impossible to photograph.  This was a different case, however, so you could here the shutters snapping away all over the boat.

       We took a ride out to Blue Spring State Park during mid-week to see if we could find any of the manatees which hang out there in cooler weather.  We’ve had some chilly nights lately, but before that, the weather was unseasonably warm, so we didn’t know what to expect.  Turns out there were only 5 of the “gentle giants” present, but we did add the Limpkin to our list.  Best shot of the day, however, was a faceoff between a Florida slider turtle and a gator.  We don’t know who won as we had to leave and neither seemed as if it was going to make a move any time soon.

       Later in the week, we ventured over to Smyrna Dunes Park and hiked out to the jetty.  Target birds for this day were the elusive Piping and Wilson’s plovers and the Purple sandpiper.  Although the sun shone brightly, the 34 birders in attendance on this SE Volusia Audubon outing were buffeted by some strong winds out of the north.  I, being a New Yorker in Florida, refused to bend and wore my shorts while most others were wearing ski parkas.  The plovers did not take well to the cold temperatures either as they refused to put in an appearance.  The Purple sandpipers were more accommodating and we did find a pair of them mixed in the omnipresent Ruddy turnstones on the south side of the jetty.

       Along with the turnstones, you can always count on Snowy egrets to be fishing the surf line along the rocks.  This fine specimen walked over looking for a handout and stood posing within 6 feet as I shot away to my heart’s content.

       We rounded out the day with a quick drive down to nearby Canaveral Seashore National Park.  Both this park and Smyrna Dunes are on the island we spend our winters upon, so we had great birding without ever leaving “home”.  I was hoping for a nice look at a Sandwich tern this afternoon.  They are not exactly common here in winter, but if you look hard enough among the other terns and gulls, you can often find them.  Such was the case today.  Nestled in among the scores of Royal terns on the wind-blown beach was a lone Sandwich.  Safety in numbers, I suppose, because the birds allowed me to approach fairly closely without being disturbed.  This was bird #160 on our year-list and we were happy to find it where we expected.

       Walking down the bank on the opposite side of the narrow island towards the lagoon, we found several Common ground doves pecking through the sandy soil.  Again, as is common for Florida birds, they paid us little mind and allowed me to photograph them from close proximity.  Nice way to end the day and the week. 

       Next week, we will be hard at it once again as we travel to Orlando Wetlands and Kissimmee Prairie for extended trips.  Targets will include some Florida specialties like the Red-cockaded woodpecker, Bachman’s sparrow, the Snail kite, and Florida grasshopper sparrow among others.  Come on back next Saturday to see how we made out!