Moccasin Tract

Moccasin Tract Jubilee

       Earlier in this year's postings, I talked about the great birding found at Viera Wetlands.  Adjacent to the Grisham Preserve at the wetlands is another area that can be productive called the "River Lakes Conservation Area-Mocassin Tract".  The first part of this ride is actually an extension of Wickham Road which leads from I-95 to the Viera Wetlands.  Just before entering the wetlands, however, Wickham becomes a dirt road and turns to the right.  Following this extension down through the Duda Sod Farm property is often very birdy with sparrows, hawks, waders and flycatchers possible.  As we began our trip down this 3.3 mile tract, we came upon what we refer to as the "Niagara of Florida".  A drainage canal running parallel to Wickham flows over a 2 to 3 foot man-made spillway, lofty heights for this part of Florida!  The "falls" churns up the crustaceans, other arthropods, small fish and whatever other food-stuffs can be found in a drainage canal, and it is a veritable buffet for shore birds and waders.  Noted Florida naturalist Archie Carr referred to such areas as "Jubilees" and the birds were certainly celebrating the glut of food provided here this morning.

     In the photo at the top of this entry you will find this morning's attendees at the Jubilee.  They include Great Blue heron, Great egret, Snowy egret, Double-crested cormorant, Wood stork, Little blue heron, White ibis, Glossy ibis, and a pair of Mottled ducks.  Not too far off in the distance was a Limpkin whom we assumed would soon join the party.


     As we continued down the dirt road, things quieted down considerably.  We did find a non-avian creature enjoying the mid-day sun.  Anytime you have fresh water bodies in Florida, you have to be aware of alligators.  As we get into April and the breeding season for these reptiles, they will become more mobile and more aggressive.  During the early winter months, however, they are a bit more sedate as long as you don't trespass too far into their territory.  This fellow was quite content to lay along the bank and enjoy the warmth of the day.

     We were getting into the heat of the mid-day and we have had record high temperatures for February here along the Atlantic coast.  Birds were becoming fewer and farther between, but we still had a few really nice photo ops ahead of us.  An osprey had just finished his meal which he secured from the canal and was preening and enjoying the warmth of the sun.  One of the most striking parts of the osprey's anatomy are his yellow eyes.  I generally aim for the eye of a subject when getting in focus, and the eye of an osprey is an easy target.  This subject was even so kind as to turn his head back to where the sun would catch the radiant glow even more.

     As we came out of the Duda farms, we made a quick left down the road to what are referred to as the Click Ponds.  These are retention ponds which are part of the wetlands complex across the street.  It is usually a hit-or-miss proposition when visiting these ponds as they can be very active or very quiet depending upon the depth of the water.  The last time we were here several weeks ago, there were almost no signs of bird life.  When they drain the ponds down to their lowest levels, waders and shorebirds show up in large numbers.  Today was a "fair to middling" day with no ducks to speak of but some nice herons, egrets and cormorants to view and photograph.

Spotted sandpiper

     The best in show today, however, was a handsome little Spotted sandpiper which was perched on a small snag in the water adjacent to the dike.  While not exactly rare, they are uncommon in these parts and to find one so willing to be seen and photographed is a real treat.  Of course, this bird was not yet in breeding plumage as their time for such activity is still some time away.  Unlike most sandpipers which breed in the far northern parts of North America, this bird is found throughout most of the northern half of the country during the summer months.  It's journey north, therefore will be quite abbreviated compared to other sandpipers, heading up only perhaps as far as North Carolina or Virginia.

     Leaving the Click Pond area, we did decide to make a quick loop around the impoundments of the Viera Wetlands.  I mentioned in my last posting that spring was in the air, and many of the birds have started to pair up and in many cases are already on the nest.  The Great blue heron always gets a jump on things, however, and her offspring are already getting close to fledging!

     One more sign of spring as we come to the conclusion of today's posting is the White ibis.  In an effort to attract his mate, the male ibis will turn up the heat and become more colourful than ever.  Although his plumage is still bright white, his eyes and legs become the center of attraction and they become a deep brilliant red.  Sadly, in Florida, the white ibis is declining probably to loss of habitat.  Elsewhere, the ibis seems to be holding its own, but we certainly hope that the continued development of property down here in the Sunshine State slows down a bit and allows the ibis to reestablish itself to its former numbers.

   Tech Tip of the Day:  Just a quick tip about photographing birds to which I alluded earlier.  When photographing these subjects, it always a good idea to concentrate on focussing on the eye.  Other parts of the bird may or may not be in perfect focus, but our attention is drawn to the eye.  Also, on a day of brilliant sunshine and clear blue skies like this, set the ISO to a low number like 100 or 200.  Using "Auto" may work, but often, the camera will default to a higher ISO giving you more "noise" or graininess that is preferred.

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Dunlin

     One of the best known meccas for Florida birding (or birding across the country for that matter) is Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.  Comprised of 140,000 acres of diverse habitat, the refuge was originally created as a buffer land around Cape Canaveral Space Center.  During its early years, NASA used this area as its primary launch site for all of the early space program launches - Apollo, Gemini, the Space Shuttle etc.  The area was a vast wetlands and was infested with mosquitos.  To help mitigate the problem and make conditions more bearable for its many employees, the government developed a series of impoundments with controlled flooding to help control the biting pests.  As a byproduct, the newly created temporary pools served as an inviting habitat for resident and migratory birds.  Ducks, shorebirds, waders, migratory songbirds, and more all find refuge at Merritt Island during the winter months and even into the sweltering summers of coastal Florida.

Bald eagle parent

     We visited MINWR this past Sunday and found that there were many "signs of spring" as many of the birds have begun pairing up, building nests, and rearing their young.  Although it's still February, the temperatures here in Florida are now hovering in the 80 degree area and with hurricane season long past, the time is right for procreation of the species.  Our first stop as we drove into the refuge was a spot where we have seen a Bald eagle's nest with activity is the past and now, more recently.   We were not disappointed.  Last month, we spotted a pair of our national symbols perching on and near the nest.  So happy to see that this nest survived the ravages of Hurricane Irma this past season!  Today, we were thrilled to see that the fruits of their labours have arrived.  On the nest, we found one parent carefully guarding her two new eaglets.  Dad was off hunting but soon arrived with a nice sized fish for the hungry brood.  Mom hopped off the nest and perched next to the nest as Dad tore bits and pieces from the fresh catch and fed his hungry offspring.  While visible through the scope, it was difficult to get a clear image of the feeding frenzy through the branches, but the perched adult was more than willing to pose for her portrait.

Great horned owl

     Further down the entrance road into the refuge, we found another proud parent tending to her young.  A Great-horned owl was perched upon an old osprey nest along with two very young owlets. Owls are not known as great nest builders.  They prefer to move into vacated nest of other birds like eagles and ospreys.  The ospreys are not the greatest nest architects in the avian world and their nests often look more like a pile of sticks and other refuse found around the nest site.  I once saw a rubber doll incorporated into the nest of a more "stylish" osprey!  Regardless of how attractive the nest is, the owls are more than willing to move in "as is" and will make good use of the otherwise abandoned site.  While the owls are small, mom and dad must remain nearby to prevent larger predators from seizing the young ones as a fresh meal, so you never see a nest with young ones without a parent either on the nest or nearby.  We'll continue to monitor this nest as well as the eagles in the hopes that the youngsters will survive and thrive right up to fledging time.

White pelicans

     We continued our trip by riding down Biolab Road, a one-way dirt road which parallels the Indian River Lagoon.  More impoundments are found on the western side of the thoroughfare and provide great habitat for the overwintering guests.  One of the most attractive of these is the White pelican.  These giant birds (second only to the California Condor in size in North America) are easily found as their brilliant white plumage glistens across the vast expanses of wetlands.  We found a group flying in to a deeper pool to feed as we scanned the horizon.  As the winter wears on, the pelicans will begin to "stage" or gather together in preparation for their annual journey back home to northern North America.  At these times, we will find hundreds of the pelicans in great flocks feeding together "fueling up" for their long flight home to the northern plains.  Like so many human "snow birds", some will stay behind here in the sunshine state and spend their summers in Florida rather than heading back to the plains states.

Roseate spoonbill

     Another attractive bird found here in Florida that chooses to remain here year-round is the Roseate spoonbill.  If you can get passed the not-so-gorgeous face, the striking plumage of the bird is one of the most spectacular you'll find in the wetlands of Florida.  Nesting in the mangroves, they feed upon crustaceans which they stir up in the shallows by swinging their paddle shaped bill through the water.  This bird was seen flying over the reeds not too far from where we had just seen the White pelicans.

Blue-winged teal pair

     After our ride along the 5.5 mile Biolab Road, we headed over to the ever popular Black Point Drive, an 8 mile loop through another part of the reserve.  During the winter months, the drive is a magnet for waterfowl, waders, shorebirds, osprey, harriers and eagles.  As the year proceeds, the cast of characters will change - almost day to day!  There are still many ducks here, but many have already departed.  Today we found a lone pintail (here in large numbers earlier this winter), several Gadwall, a few Green-winged teal, some shovelers, and hundreds of Blue-winged teal.  The teal seem to be the last ducks to head north.  Although they will nest in the northern half of the country, they have already begun to pair up.  Of the hundreds of blue-wings we found, it was difficult to find any that were alone.  Virtually all were found in male-female couplets.  Another sign of spring!

     Finally, as we exit Black Point Drive, we hear the "Spring of the yearrrrr" song of the Eastern meadowlark.  This is another sign that spring is on the way here in the sunshine state. Although present throughout the state through the year, they are much more evident as spring arrives and the males begin to sing their songs to establish their breeding territory.  One of the wonderful things about spending winter here in Florida is that the season unfolds in so many different ways.  We look forward to the next couple of months as more and more species begin to move out of and through the state on their way north to their summer breeding territories.

Eastern meadowlark

Photography Tech tips:  Today, we found ourselves photographing many brilliant white species...Snowy egrets, Great egrets, the White pelicans, White ibises and more.  When photographing these birds under the brilliant sunshine, it is easy to record images which are "blown out" or overexposed.  The camera will calculate the exposure based upon the whole scene, not just the white bird.  To compensate for this, it is often necessary to lower the exposure of the image by at least .7 to 1.0 full stops.  Using the Exposure Compensation adjustments available on virtually all digital SLR cameras, set the compensation to -.7 to underexpose the bird and maintain the detail.  Exposure compensation features for each camera will be found in the users manuals and are generally straight forward as to how to make this adjustment.  For dark birds like vultures, blackbirds, grackles, etc. the procedure is similar except you will have to overexpose the image to pull out the detail of the birds dark plumage.  The compensation will therefore be +.7 or more.  Remember...... a minus (-) compensation when you are shooting white birds, and a plus (+) compensation when photographing black birds.

Lake Apopka

     The 20,009 acre Lake Apopka in the St. John's Water Management District of Central Florida is a model of reclamation projects aimed at reestablishing former heavily polluted farmlands to functioning wetlands.  The area is well on its way to recovery and is now a favorite site among Florida birders.  One of the major attractions is the 11 mile Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, part of the more than 20 miles of trails in the refuge.

     We joined friends from the Halifax River Audubon Society on a warm partly cloudy day for a drive around the 11 mile North Shore Loop.  As we arrived, we were greeted by one of the Florida specialties, a flyover by a small flock of Fulvous Whistling ducks.

Fulvous whistling ducks

Ash-throated flycatcher

     Over the same fields, we observed Northern harriers, Savannah sparrows, and Red-shouldered hawks.  Across these fields, we found another of our hoped-for target birds, the Ash-throated flycatcher.  Last year, at about this same time, we found an Ash-throated in the same tree and wonder if it could possibly be the same bird.  This species is generally found in the far western states of the country.  The bird's habitat is semi-arid deserts and in the fall, most vacate the much of the US other than southwestern Arizona and southern California.  Still, a few make their way to the east coast, and it is not unheard of to find this species here in the winter months.  Always a great bird for the Florida year-list.

Vermillion flycatcher

     A third target of our trip was yet another member of the Family Tyrannidae , the Vermillion flycatcher.      This handsome bird is again most often found out west from Arizona to southern Texas, but each year, we seem to find one or two individuals which have wandered east into Volusia and Orange counties of Florida.  Typical habitat for the Vermillions is stream side and along the edges of ponds.  Our Vermillion was a juvenile male with a bit more red plumage than is seen is this somewhat distant photo.  As we watched and photographed the flycatcher, one of our number noticed a juvenile Black-crowned night-heron behind us.

Juvenile Black-crowned night-heron

     Distinguishing between young Yellow-crowned and Black-crowned night-herons can be a daunting task until you learn some basic morphological differences.  As can be easily seen in the photo of our bird seen above, the Black-crowned species has a sharp pointed bill as opposed to the more blunted bill of the Yellow-crowned.  The leg colour is another give-away as the Black will have yellower legs.  Finally, carefully scrutinising the bill colour is an easy way to tell the two apart.  The Yellow-crowned tend to have all black bills, while the Black-crowned have bi-color black and yellow bills as is easily seen in this photo of our night-heron seen today.

Painted bunting

     Finally, among the many other beautiful species seen today, the Painted bunting is one that always is a joy to discover.  We often find this spectacularly rainbow plumaged species during the winter months at feeders across the state, but to see the bird out in the more wild and natural habitat of Lake Apopka Wildlife Management Area is a special treat.  This bunting was found foraging along the ground at the edges of low shrubs lining one of the trails....a wonderful conclusion to a wonderful day out on the trails of Lake Apopka.

   

Super Blue Blood Moon

Super moon - January 30. 2018

     It's been a pretty exciting couple of days astronomically over the past several days.  Not since the year 1866 has a "Super Blue Blood Moon" been visible here on earth.  So, what exactly is a Super Blue Blood Moon?  The event involves three different lunar events occurring concurrently.

     First, the moon must be in the full moon phase.  This is not a rarity as it occurs every month.  When the earth is precisely aligned between the sun and the moon, the sun illuminates the entire surface of the moon which is facing us at that time.  This is known as the "Full Moon".  What made this full moon special is that it was a "Super Moon".  Since the moon's orbit is not a perfect circle around the earth but is rather an ellipse, there are times when the moon is farthest away from the earth (called the Apogee - 405,410 km from earth) and times when it is closest (Perigee - 302,570 km). At those times when the moon is closest, it appears to be slightly larger and much brighter than normal. Hence the term "Super Moon".  We were treated to a Super Moon rising over the Atlantic on Tuesday night, January 30.  The light from the moon was so bright throughout the night that we were easily able to see the features of the beach during the the middle of the night.T

Super Blue Blood Moon

    The second element of the "trifecta" is the fact that this super moon was the second full moon to occur in the month of January.  This phenomenon is referred to as a "Blue Moon".  Usually, a full moon occurs once a month - 12 times a year.  Occasionally, however, a quirk in the calendar will lead to two full moons happening in the same month. The term 'blue" has nothing to do with the color of the moon. Rather it is thought to be called "blue" after an old English word meaning "betrayer".  Not sure where that came from, but nonetheless we had a Blue moon on Tuesday night making this a "Super Blue Moon".

     But wait, there's more!  Not only did we have a Super Blue moon, but early on Wednesday morning, we had a partial lunar eclipse.  As I mentioned before, the full moon occurs when the sun the earth and the moon are all in alignment.  As the sun hits the earth, a shadow is cast behind the earth.  Normally, the moon orbit takes it above or below this relatively narrow shadow, but on occasion, the moon passes right through the shadow and turns "blood red".  In our case here in Florida, only part of the shadow hit the moon causing a partial eclipse.  Nonetheless, the moon took on that ethereal reddish glow.  Whalah! a Super Blue Blood Moon!

     But Wait!  There's more!  Add to this the psychological phenomenon known as the "moon illusion".  The brain for a number of as of yet unresolved reasons, makes the moon appear larger as it approaches the horizon.  If you photograph the moon high in the sky and again as it sets, you will find that the images are exactly the same size.  And yet, we look at the setting moon and think, "My God, that is so much larger than it was earlier!"  Well, in spite of the fact that it is merely an illusion, it certainly made the setting Super Blue Blood Moon all the more spectacular.  I've taken a bit of "poetic photographer's license" here as my 500mm telephoto lens enlarges and compresses images making the setting moon look even larger.  Yet, this is the way most people will perceive and remember the event,  so just observe and enjoy! If you missed it, the next Super Blood moon will occur on January 21, 2019, but if you want a Super Blue Blood Moon be patient.  The next won't occur until January 31, 2037!