2013: Week 13 – Winter chill in Spring

March 24^th  - 30^th

       The weather actually took a turn in the wrong direction this week with temperatures dropping into the 30s on a couple of nights.  Low 60s was the order of the day for much of the week and only in the past couple of days did the north winds switch to the south and help warm temperatures back into the 70s.  The strong winds did not help make it ideal birding conditions either.  Rather than producing a hoped for fall-out, the winds served to keep many of the smaller song birds hunkered down.  But, this is Florida, and even on the worst days there are birds to be photographed.

       We began the week with a day down at Merritt Island where we planned on checking out the Hammock in hopes of warblers and then searching for shorebirds along a 10 plus mile stretch of dirt road known as Peacock’s Pocket.  As we entered into the National Wildlife Reserve, we were treated to a special view of a mother Great-horned owl and her chick welcoming the new day.  It was special to share the sunrise with these two….after all, this is what they wake up to each morning!

       

       When we made it down to the hammock ( a relatively higher area of deep humus soils and hardwood trees) and found it eerily quiet except for the sounds of the north winds rustling through the treetops.  Eventually, we found a few butterflies flitting along low to the ground in an effort to stay out of the wind.  The best view was of the Giant swallowtail, the first I’ve seen this year.  A number of Florida whites and a Zebra longwing were also seen, but precious few birds.

       

       It was obvious that we would not be finding the hoped-for warblers, and so we headed out to Peacock’s Pocket.  We found a good many avocets working the flats, apparently oblivious to the strong winds.  Indeed, as we struggled to keep our scopes upright, the avocets simply busied themselves with the task of picking up their breakfast in the shallow pools.

       One bird not so unaware of the winds was this osprey.  Rather than its usual perch high atop a tree, it was content to sit in a lower sapling and try to keep in the calmer air.  One look at its tousled head feathers indicated that it was not doing a very good job at it.

     The highlight of the morning (other than our sunrise with the owls) was finding a sand bar with a variety of Florida specialties all together.  Along a 20 foot stretch of dry land out in the lagoon were avocets, Marbled godwit, Black-necked stilt,  and Willets.  Why all these birds decided to move in together on this one sandbar only the birds will know.

    

       Later in the week, we visited Mead Gardens in Winter Park, FL.  It was another chase as the not-so-common Rufous hummingbird had been seen on numerous occasions frequenting the nectar feeder at the butterfly garden.  We did find a Yellow-throated vireo as well a female Indigo bunting (both first of the year birds), but failed in our attempt to see the hummer.  Our hopes were raised when one hummingbird did come in to feed, but alas it was the more common Ruby-throated.  The trees surrounding the butterfly garden did indeed provide us with nice looks at Black and white warblers and Northern parulas, and as we watched these birds we saw a pair of Cooper’s hawks chase off a Red-shoulder.  We later found that the Cooper’s were nesting in the area and had a nice photo-op of one of the pair near its nest.

       The other nice sighting of the day was our first Viceroy butterfly of the year.   We were grateful for the sunny skies, but once again the winds kept many of the birds at bay.  One little Carolina wren found sanctuary in among the shrubs and was briefly seen singing his “tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea-kettle” song.

       Finally, a sad note.  As I was getting ready to sit down and write this week’s blog, I took a quick look out the back deck overlooking the beach and found a large sea turtle had died and had washed ashore.  It’s back was encrusted with barnicles and seaweed and was probably quite old.  This week, a humpback whale and a bottle-nose dolphin also washed ashore on the beach to our north.  State biologists took the carcasses away for necropsy to determine the cause of death.  There’s an old saying about how the sea gives and the sea takes away.  Sorry to see it, but it is nature’s way.

2013: Week 12 – St. John’s River

March 17 – 24^th

              It was a relatively cool and wet week by Florida standards for the end of winter.  Birding was generally confined to short walks on those days when Mother Nature was a little less than perfectly cooperatively, but we did manage to squeeze a couple of nice ventures into the week’s schedule.  The prime birding was on Tuesday morning on our weekly walks with the Marine Discovery Center here in New Smyrna.  We recorded 44 species and noted a slow but steady influx of the migrant warblers into our area.  The prettiest of the bunch is the Northern parula which was content to remain high in the canopy, often within the cover of the Spanish moss.  Betrayed by its song, however, we’ve begun to find the bird on virtually each and every outing….a sure sign of spring.

       On Thursday, we spent the afternoon on the St. John’s River, first at Blue Spring State Park in Orange City and later at Hontoon Landing in DeLand.  We floated along on the St. John’s via a pontoon boat out of Blue Spring and found a nice variety of waders.  Center stage was shared by an elusive Purple gallinule, an equally shy Limpkin, and a nice young little blue heron still in the white plumage of its first year.  A second more mature little blue was hesitant to share the limelight with the younger bird and continually chased it off territory.

Purple gallinule

Limpkin

Juvenile Little blue heron

       While the birds are plentiful here at the spring, the star of the show is the West Indian Manatee.  The spring here at the State Park pumps in millions of gallons of fresh water at a constant 72 degrees and the manatees will congregate here to avoid the chilly and potentially lethal colder waters of the main rivers during winter.  It was a nice calm day to witness the interactions of the young manatees as they actually hugged some of the older and larger individuals.  We’ve had a pretty bad winter for these mammals here in Florida, especially on the west coast where red tide has led to the demise of more than one hundred of this already numbered species.

       After our visit to the spring, we headed over to nearby Hontoon Island where our first hummingbirds of the year normally are found.  The marina is kind enough to set up a number of nectar feeders which tend to attract a good number of these little beauties each year.  Sure enough, we were treated to our first-of-the-year Ruby-throated hummingbirds just as we had hoped for.  Each year, more and more vagrant species such as the Rufous have been showing up, so we are hopeful that we might find some new hummers here before we head north at the end of ext month.

       Finally, this week we’ve been seeing more and more Northern gannets in close to shore.  These oceanic deep  divers are usually associated with the waters far off-shore, so to see them in so close to the beach is a real treat.  This bird was photographed from the deck of our condo…..close enough for you?

Northern gannet from the deck of our condo.....

       Now that spring has officially arrived, we hope to see more and more of our migrants on their way back to New York and points north.  We’ll keep you abreast as to what shows up and when.  See you soon……

2013: Week 11 – Two Forts and a Pintail…

March 10^th – 16^th

Matanzas Owlets from 2012

       It was a busy week as we headed up to the northeast corner of the state to bird the Amelia Island and Fernandina Beach areas.  We met our traveling companions from the West Volusia Audubon at Fort Matanzas National Monument.  Later in the year, this can be a hot spot for warblers in migration and it has also served as home to a pair of Great horned owls over the past several years.  Above and beyond the birding aspects, it is of historical interest, serving as a fortress built by the Spanish in the 1740’s to thwart British attempts to seize this area of Florida.  It is now a nature preserve as well as a historical monument.  We had sightings of some early arriving warblers such as the Northern parula, Palm warbler (actually a winter resident), Black and whites, and Yellow-throated warbler.

       Along the waterfront, we watched as we waited for the ferry to carry us across the river to the fort a Snowy egret closely trailing a Little blue which had snagged a fine morsel from the shallows.  The little blue managed to ingest the meal before the snowy could convince him to give it up. 

       We continued our drive north up to Amelia Island and checked out several birding spots along the way.  Our next historical spot to visit and bird was Fort Clinch, built in 1863 and briefly occupied by the Confederates until it was abandoned and later seized by the Union army.  This seizure gave the Union control of the coasts of Florida and Georgia until the end of the war.

       Regarding the birding, we found our first of the year Oystercatcher working the water’s edge.  Other waders, terns, and sparrows as well as the omnipresent Yellow-rumped warblers were also present.  Indeed, touring the fort and exploring the grounds occupied most of our time, however.  Birds were not the only game in town as we also observed a white-tailed deer browsing on the dry beach grasses and a number of baby gators in the waters further into the surrounding forests.

       Our final destination of the three-day adventure was a trip to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine.  This is a commercial gator farm, raising the reptiles for meat and hides.  The swamp in which the gators are confined (hopefully) serves as a rookery for hundreds of nesting egrets and herons.  The trees in which the birds’s nest are surrounded by the gator infested waters and deter predators from preying upon the eggs and young chicks.  There were a few babies already in the nests such as these Roseate spoonbill chicks.  Click on the frame below to see some of these chicks in action.

       Most of the activity was concerned with nest building by Wood storks, White ibises, and Great egrets.

       As the egrets staked out their territory, more than one squabble broke out as the birds took exception to other members of their species getting too interested in what they considered “their” turf.  The increases coloration of plumages, legs, and lores signal an increase in the hormones driving the mating process, and these increased levels are observed in a bit more aggressive behavior than we see at other times of the year.

       The final day of the week produced a new “Life-bird” for Sharon and I as we continued our pursuit of the White-cheeked pintail we had failed to find two weeks ago.  We were rewarded for our efforts this time however with some nice close-up looks and photo-ops.  We know that some of these birds normally found in the West Indies and not common to Florida can be escapees, but this bird was not banded and had really clean plumage.  We are assuming that it was blown off course by a storm such as Sandy and ended up here in Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, our nation’s first installment in the now wide network of such preserves.

       The upcoming week will include a trip down the St. John’s River in search of more visitors passing through on their way north.  Look for our next posting next week end. 

2013: Week 10 – Birding the wetlands

March 3^rd – 9^th

       We had several very windy but productive days this past week as we concentrated on the wetland areas near Volusia County.  Our first venue was Princess Place Preserve located in Palm Coast, about an hours drive north of our winter digs.  With friends visiting from New York, we felt the need to introduce them to some new birding sites as well as revisiting old reliable areas to bolster their Year-lists.  Princess Place can usually be counted on for a number of warbler species, Marsh wrens, both Sora and King rails, and terns and waders.  The wind was certainly a factor as most of the smaller birds were hunkered down and difficult to locate.  The rails were more cooperative even if only vocally.  It’s great to hear these elusive birds, but even better to photograph them…..not the case today.  Another normally secretive bird, the Hermit thrush, was more obliging and stayed out in the open long enough to give us good looks and a few good photos.

       Our first armadillo of the season also made an appearance, an must in any blog dealing with the wildlife of Florida.

       On the trip home, we stopped to walk the trail at High Bridge Park in Ormond Beach.  The wind had abated by this time and some of the smaller songbirds were much more active and more vocal.  This little Blue-gray gnatcatcher came in close to check us out long enough to give us all good shots.  These little guys have been quite abundant of late and it’s always good to see one of Mother Nature’s real works of art in the realm of cuteness!

       Our next journey found us at the Viera Wetlands and Duda Ranch in the town of Viera.  The ride over to check out the adjacent “Click Ponds” was great.  We didn’t expect to get a whole lot over there, but we found the north pond full to the brim with White pelicans attempting to stay down out of the heavy winds. 

       Hugging the shoreline, we observed another of nature’s best-dressed birds, the Black-necked stilt.  The stilts were joined by both Lesser and Greater yellowlegs, American wigeon, Blue-winged teal, Forster’s terns, and Pied-billed grebes.

       Our first Swallow-tailed kites, a sure sign of spring (which is after all only two weeks away) was observed flying over the preserve and was photographed even if he only gave us a passing view.  This bird is certainly one of the most graceful fliers of the animal kingdom and is an eagerly awaited migrant in mid-March here in Central Florida.

       Our final trip of the week was out to Orlando Wetlands with our friends from Halifax River 

Audubon and proved to be one of the best outings of the year to date.  Early on, we encountered the elusive Black-bellied whistling duck.  The pair we observed flew into a shallow pool and were soon joined by a White ibis.  The ducks were more than willing to share their space with the ibis.

       Next on the list of uncommon birds was the Purple gallinule.  We actually found a half dozen of these iridescent beauties, each appearing to display slightly different colors depending on the angle of the sun’s rays hitting their plumage. 

       Continuing along the dirt roadway, we ran into limpkins, Caspian terns, soras, and King rails.  The calls of the limpkins pierced the otherwise quiet setting.  The goal was to relocate the Vermillion flycatcher seen earlier this year since our New York guests had never seen one.  After all, this bird should be somewhere around the Baja at this time of year, and here he (or more correctly they since two have been sighted here this year) has proven to be a “Life-bird” for many of the visitors to Orlando Wetlands since February.  We had to work for it, but eventually one of the birds was located and although somewhat distant, was cooperative in that it flew back and forth between the same several perches.  By keeping the scoped trained on any one of these, we were able to get fine looks of this rare beauty.

       Next week, we will head north to Amelia Island and see what these locales have to offer.  Check back next weekend to see how we make out!

      

       

2013: Week 9 – Missed the chase

       February 24^th – March 2^nd

       Began the week with a change of plans.  Originally, we had decided to make the trip south to the nation’s first national wildlife refuge, Pelican Island.  Numerous sightings of a White-cheeked pintail at the main pond of the refuge was hard to resist.  So we got up early Sunday morning, packed our provisions for the day and got ready to depart.  One last check on the web and the rare bird bird alert for the state was the bearer of bad news, however.  The bird had finally apparently departed from the area, and driving for 2 ½ hours looked less inviting that it had the night before.  Time to shift gears and make new plans.

       We had reports of a new year bird, the Cinnamon teal, just to the south of our wintering quarters.  Merritt Island is always productive and we had not visited the “Peacock’s Pocket” area this year.  Targets included the teal, male Painted bunting (have had good views of the female, but the male has eluded us thus far), and of course the teal.  By day’s end when the storms began to roll across the flatlands, we had all our targets plus 58 more species.

       Tuesday rewarded us with a new Year-bird which was actually a yard-bird.  More than likely driven over to the seashore by the heavy winds of yesterday’s and last night’s storms, an exhausted Chuck-wills-widow was found lying in the grass of our condo.  The condo manager, Julius, saved the bird from the impending doom of a horde of Fish crows which were descending upon the night-jar.  Florida Fish and Wildlife arranged for a pick-up point to meet Julius and transfer the bird to the local rehab unit.  The last we heard, the Chuck-wills-widow was doing well and expected to survive its ordeal.

       On Wednesday, we again headed out on a chase after that White-cheeked pintail was once again reported as having returned to its haunts in Pelican Island.  We already had a trip planned for the Marl Bed Flats area which is south of us and therefore in the right direction, so we figured we’d just continue in that direction after our morning trip and hopefully score the pintail.

       The morning trip was not the most productive, but it did introduce us to an area we had not previously birded.  The hammock was one of the most beautiful we’ve visited and promises to be a real find later in the migration season.  We had nice looks at Palm, Yellowrumps, Black and Whites and best of all, Northern parulas.  We had hoped to find some shorebirds out on the prairie as it is often quite wet and muddy.  Well, it was indeed wet and muddy with more than one of our number sinking in over our not-so-waterproof footwear.  Between the mud, the cow-pies (the fields are used for cattle grazing) and the large ant hills, it was like walking through a mine field.  To our dismay, we failed to find much more than several snipe which took flight in the distance and some distant meadowlarks.  Our leader David found a Kestrel perched on the periphery of the fields which had some of the most striking plumage colorations we’ve seen this year.  Beautiful bird!

       The sighting of the day in my opinion, however, was a Dusky pygmy rattlesnake which was coiled up along the trailside.  It blended in so well that had it not been spotted by one of our number, the chances were very good that we would have passed right by or worse, right over the snake.  After several minutes of observations and photos, we left the snake as we found it and moved on.

       The afternoon trip down to Pelican Island turned out to be a bit longer than we had anticipated and regretfully it was all for naught.  The pond where the White-cheeked pintail had been seen was occupied by a nice collection of Gadwall, Shovelers, Blue-winged teal, Lesser scaup and a lone Pied-billed grebe, but there was absolutely no sign of the duck we were after.  Re chases…..some you win and some you lose.  We did find this beautiful wildflower to photograph, however.  It is a Butterfly pea which hugged the ground and added to the palette provided by the other more common species.  Not quite the prize we had hoped for, but beautiful all the same.