St. John's River with Halifax River Audubon

     Had a great day on the St. John's River with Blue Heron Ecotours captained by Josh.  The trip was sponsored by the Halifax River Audubon Club and organised by our good friend Celine.  The three hour trip featured a wide variety of birds, mammals, and reptiles all set in one of the most idyllic areas of Central Florida.  With so many eyes and a wealth of knowledge of the area between the Captain and the club members, we knew we were in for a wonderful day.

     It's the time of year for birds to be pairing up and getting on with the business of replenishing the population with new chicks and we saw numerous signs of such activity as we motored up the river.  Osprey nests were commonly found high in the trees as these raptors began setting up "house".  Cruising by this handsome bird, we were treated to a close-up encounter as he left his perch and flew overhead.  One of the most prominent features of these birds is their glowing yellow eye, and this bird was in perfect light to display this feature as he cruised on by.

     I was surprised by the number of Limpkin we encountered along the river's edge.  Normally rather reclusive, we had great sightings of a number of the birds seeking out and feeding upon the favorite item of their diet, Apple snails.  The St. John's is an ideal habitat for Limpkins which can be found throughout the tropics, but are only found in Florida and southern Georgia in the continental US.   Surprisingly, they were very quiet today and we never did hear their call which Kaufman refers to as that of a "wailing banshee"!

Limpkin

     Among the mammals seen today were a marsh rabbit and thankfully several manatees.  The water has finally warmed up and we found the gentle giants feeding on the vegetation along the water's edge.  Unfortunately, the most exposed manatee did not care to look in our direction as he was busy grazing and could care less about the tour boat out on the river.  Another of his kind did swim up behind the vessel and poked his snout up for a quick breath.  Even then, if you look closely you'll notice that he had his eyes closed!  No interest in us what-so-ever!

     Reptiles in the form of turtles were also omni-present as we glided along the river.  The sunny skies were a welcome sight for many of the yellow-bellied sliders and an occasional Florida Redbelly which had hauled out of the cooler water onto a convenient log to bask in the light of the sun.  Many would dive awkwardly back into the water as the pontoon boat approached, but this Redbelly was not phased and gave us nice looks at close range.... a case of who's looking at whom?

Florida Redbelly

Swallow-tailed kite

     Probably the most rewarding sighting of the day was a true sign of spring in Florida - the return of the Swallow-tailed kite. Our first sighting was of a single bird soaring high above with its gliding motion and barely a wing-beat.  It's color pattern, graceful shape, and effortless flight make this bird one of the the most mesmerising of all birds to watch and study.  Normally, I've found that these birds appear overhead, offer a brief and memorable flight above, and then disappear over the trees. Today, however, the kite (or kites) continued to swoop down close the the water's surface and along the riverbanks.  Repeatedly it swept back and forth, soaring at high speed as if with little effort.  What a joy it was to watch for an extended period of time as it would occasionally bank into the direct light of the sun with a flash of its bright underside.  Suddenly, it would all but disappear as it turned its darker back to us and blended into the foliage.  Indeed, the term "worth the price of admission" was never more aptly applied than it was today.  A fitting end to a fantastic three hour trip on one of the most beautiful and bountiful bodies of water in the entire continent ..... the St. John's River.

     

Birds amassing along Shiloh Marsh Road

Egret feeding area

     At this time of year, we often come across larger than normal concentrations of migratory birds at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.  While Great egrets and Snowy egrets are fairly abundant throughout the winter months at this site, during middle to late March and early April, we find larger than normal aggregations of the birds concentrating in small pools and impoundments.  I often refer to these birds as "staging", but admittedly, I am probably using the term too broadly.  Most ornithologists refer to Staging areas  as those where thousands or even tens of thousands of birds gather in areas of great food resources for birds migrating thousands of miles.  An alternate term "stop-overs" may be more appropriate for the groups of birds Sharon and I are seeing at this time of year.  One example of such a phenomenon was seen several days ago as we drove along the Shiloh Marsh Drive area of Merritt Island.  In the same pools where we were seeing several egrets among other waders and shorebirds in the past months, we saw dozens gathered together feeding in the shallow bodies of water.

Long-billed dowitchers

     While this is truly not an overabundance of birds, it is more than are normally seen together. Over the years we have seen this type of mass gathering of many species at this time of year.  In addition to these egrets, we found greater than normal numbers of species such as Long-billed dowitchers and Lesser yellowlegs.  White pelicans were not in overwhelming numbers today, but we have seen such impressive gatherings at this time of year in the past.  There are hundreds to perhaps thousands of white pelicans found in Merritt Island NWR during the winter months, so whether this is a "stop-over" of birds migrating from points south or simply an assembling of birds getting ready to begin their journey north I couldn't say.  Whichever it is, it is very impressive as seen in this shot I took several years ago.

Wilson's snipe and Lesser yellowlegs

     Among other birds seen today along Shiloh Marsh Road we found several snipe feeding along with the large numbers of Lesser yellowlegs.  A bit of territorial sparring occurred as each bird felt that this little patch of rich feeding ground was his or her own and didn't want to share.  At this time of year in Shiloh Marsh, it does appear that there are plenty of fish, worms, and crustaceans to go around!  It will surely be a joy to keep watch over this wonderful area of Florida as the season of migration further unfolds.

Tosohatchee Wildlife Management Area

      A great route to bird along in Central Florida is Route 50 between I-95 and the town of Christmas.  A short distance from the interstate, the water treatment plant of Titusville offers some fine birding at the site known as Blue Heron Preserve.  Continuing westward, you will pass the entrance to Tosohatchee Wildlife Management Area off Taylor Road.  Further along, a right turn at the giant Christmas tree (really!) will bring you down to Orlando Wetlands.  I've already submitted several blogs about the Blue Heron Preserve and Orlando Wetlands, so this entry will feature the birding at Tosohatchee.

Northern parula

     When you first enter the preserve, there is a kiosk where you sign in and pay a nominal fee of $3.00 per car to use the area.  It is well worth hanging out at the kiosk for a while as invariably, there are birds of interest to be had right at this point.  My wife, Sharon, admonishes me to never use the term "always" when referring to the possibility of finding a certain species at an area.  That being said, if you are here in early to mid-March, you "always" be treated to sightings of the Northern parula.  This migrant is easy to spot by its song along which is an ascending trill followed by a sudden drop-off at the end.  Watch carefully, and you may well see this colorful warbler flitting among the Spanish moss where it feeds and builds its nest.  These that we are seeing in early March are the first "wave" which are coming into the state to set up their territories and to nest.  Later in the month and into April, a second wave of parulas will move through the state and these birds head north to the Canadian border and points beyond where they will nest and spend the summer months.

Blue-gray gnatcatcher

     While we birded this spot, we also heard and eventually sighted the bird which one of my birding buddies claims ranks a full 10 on the "Cuteness Scale".  A diminutive little member of the "Old World Warblers", the Blue-Gray gnatcatcher flits from branch to branch seeking out small insects that it finds on the outer branches of deciduous trees as well as some conifers.  Most of the time, it simply looks under the leaves of these plants, but will on occasion fly out to intercept an unfortunate fly or gnat on the wing.  In spite of its somewhat subdued color scheme, it does remain as one of the more handsome little birds you can observe.

Bachman's sparrow (archival image)

     As we drove down the dirt road (perfectly passable with a two-wheel drive vehicle), we pulled over to see if we could hear one of the specialties of this area, Bachman's sparrow. This elusive bird was heard, but not to be seen today as it preferred to stay low in the palmettos and stay out of our line of sight.  Having seen this bird and recorded images of it in the past, I will include one of my archival photos here so that you can see what we were looking for.  It's song is a distinctive "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty...." and once heard is hard to forget.  So this bird goes under the "heard only" column for today's list.

Limpkin

     As we continued down the road, we take a right onto Powerline Road (see map above).  This road parallels a canal and wetlands for several miles before ending at the St. John's River.  The park actually includes about 19 miles of the St. John's which in itself is a very productive birding venue.  Along the Powerline Road, we were able to view and photograph a good number of egrets, herons and several well camouflaged American Bitterns. Red-shouldered hawks were working the grassy wetlands habitat as well.    One of our most rewarding findings, however, was a bird that is found throughout Florida, but is in fact quite reclusive and can be a hard target bird to add to the list on any given day.  The bird I'm speaking of is the Limpkin which is most often found foraging along shallow water looking for Apple snails, its favorite delicacy.  As Apple snails have become more and more scarce, the limpkins have adapted by readily feeding on other snails as well as insects, crustaceans, worms, frogs, and lizards.

Brown-headed nuthatch

     As we came back up the Powerline Road, we veered off onto Fish Hole Road which takes us down into a mature pine forest.  In the past, we have found this to be a very productive area during migration.  So, while it is a bit early in the season, we hoped to find early migrants frequenting the area.  We were not disappointed.  One of the birds which is not migratory and is found in the area is the Brown-headed nuthatch.  We listen for the squeaky sound of their call and soon find one dipping down into a small puddle for a quick drink.  We soon find a number of others feeding in the pines in a upside down orientation so common to nuthatches.

Hermit thrush

     Along with the nuthatch, we locate a Hermit thrush which is also skulking along the pine litter near that same puddle.  I often think of this thrush as being a northern bird, but during the winter season they are found throughout the southern half of the U.S.  They will soon be headed north as they are one of the last birds to migrate south and one of the first birds to head back north in the spring.  Always a pleasure to see this handsome bird and a fine way to wrap up a successful day of birding at Tosohatchee Wildlife Management Area.