Warblers

May is an exceptional time of year for New York birders. We all look forward to this month in much the same way that a young child anticipates an approaching birthday or Christmas . There are multitudes of species which come through our state during the month of May, but no birds are more appreciated than the beautiful warblers. Yellows, blues, and greens are all blended into intricate patterns with each warbler species having its own signature coloration. Cerulians, Black and whites, Black-throated blues and Black-throated greens, Yellow warblers, Chestnut-sided warblers, Blue-winged and Golden-wings.....their names allude to the striking designs and hues one can expect to find in the ever-increasing coverage of green foliage during late spring. We have spent the past several weeks searching out these beauties. It is amazing how something so spectacularly adorned can manage to be so ellusive. If it weren't for their individual songs, you would be hard pressed to find them. But the song is loud and insistant and betrays the whereabouts of these birds, so finally we are rewarded for our efforts with nature's true works of art.....the warblers. Look now, for in a couple of weeks, the songs will stop and the birds will either have moved on or will be hiding with their nests and their young deep in the forest. Carpe diem!

Love is in the air.....

Sorry for the long delay in postings, but we just finally got back to New York and have all , well...most, of our ducks in a row. I'll be more punctual in the future. Travelling home from our son Brian's home in Connecticut this morning, we stopped at Bent of the River Audubon Center in Southbury CT in search of spring migrants. We were thrilled to see all the action at the feeders in spite of windy and raw conditions. A beautiful Ruby-throated hummingbird, goldfinches, Indigo buntings, and Baltimore orioles all sang and filled the air with wonderful sights and sounds. But the highlight of the day was the incessant wooing of a disinterested female Rose-breasted grosbeak by a would-be suitor. He danced, he vibrated his wings back and forth at a frantic pace and pursued his lovely target only to have her flit away as if he wasn't even there. Love is not always kind. Maybe next time.....

Heading north

We are finishing up our three month stint here in the Sunshine State and are trying to get in those last few Florida birds before we head north. Today we returned to Viera Wetlands preserve just north of Melbourne. We've had many a fine sighting here over the past three months and figured it would be worth our while to give it one more look. We were not disappointed as we made the loop of the park and spotted over 30 species. Many of these we will no doubt follow up north and will see them once again on new territory in New York. But some of these birds are not about to leave these friendly environs and we will have to wait until next year to get good looks at them. We say good-bye for now to the beautiful Crested caracaras which were flying over head today. We will miss the anhingas and their handsome chicks. The Loggerhead shrikes will no doubt be replaced by their Norther cousins as we head back home. Most of the egrets and herons will soon be found back in more northern haunts as will the warblers we now chase back home. All in all, it was a wonderful winter with 8 new life-birds being added to the list. Our next entries will be from our last stop in Florida, the St. Augustine Alligator Farm where we find hundreds of nesting birds. From there, it's northward bound. See you in the Empire State.

Wakodahatchee wetlands

Well, we're back from our jaunt to the Florida Keys. Several things to note.....the Everglades are really dry! For the past several years, we've visited the glades in hopes of new species like the Cape Sable Sea Sparrow, but lately the conditions are so dry that it's difficult to find an abundance of anything. To make this point more salient, consider the last leg of our Florida Keys trip as we stopped along the route north heading back to New Smyrna Beach. We stopped at three locations in Delray Beach. The two most productive sites by far were the Wakodahatchee wetlands and the Green Cay wetlands. Both of the preserves have been created by the waste water treatment facilities in Delray and thus have plenty of water at their disposal (poor pun). At these two facilities, we walked the boardwalks and had the best-of -the-year looks at Purple gallinules, Least terns, Black-necked stilts, Green herons, Black-bellied whistling ducks and a myriad of other birds. The added attraction at this time of year is that many of the birds are with their young and can be photographed at close proximity. The sad part of the story is that when we visited Loxahatchee National Wildlife Reserve later in the day, it was "dead". There was so little water in the impoundments that we had to really search for ibises and herons. Our thougt is that many of the birds usually found here are now comfortably nesting at the two water reclamation plants mentioned earlier. Bottom line, when in the Delray area of Florida, don't miss the two wonderful birding sites of Wakodahatchee and Green Cay.

Dry Tortugas

We spent Tuesday travelling to the Dry Tortugas via some pretty rough seas. Even though the waves were only 4-5- feet, it felt like much higher. The periodicity of the waves seems to cause each wave to arrive a bit faster than anticipated, so the waves felt much larger. The trip was well worth the effort (thousgh there were those aboard who might refute that) with several new life-birds being the spoils of the victory. The winds were heading out of the north, and as luck would hve it, those are the conditions birders hope for when spending the time and money to visit these outermost isles. Among our "lifers" for the day were the Brown noddy and the Masked booby. That makes the second booby for our Florida trip and we are thrilled to have gotten these two ellusive birds. We also were treated to some excellent photo-ops of the American avocet, the noddy, and a merlin which was taking advantage of the fact that a number of worn-out warblers were huddled at the water feeder in the campground. For the merlins and the peregrines, this was HOJO's on a Saturday morn. Just sit back and watch the buffet line grow richer and richer in "delicasies". All in all, one of the more productive days in Florida....and that's saying something.

The Keys trip

We're off and running on a trip to the Florida Keys and out to the Dry Tortugas. When you want life birds, you have to go search them out in places you've never visited before. We've been to the Keys, but not since we started birding together some 10 years ago. And so.....off we go. We travelled down to the gateway of the Keys, Florida City, today. Having several hours to bird, we went down to the Everglades. The height of the birding down here right now is the spring migration. We ran into some old friends.....the warblers on their way back north. Hearing the familiar song of the Prairie, we sat pat and waited the birds out. Sure enough, two beautiful Prairies flew right in next to us and posed as pretty as could be. They were both in beautiful breeding plumage as seen in today's photo. Tomorrow, it's off to find some new "lifers". We'll let you know how it goes.

Migration

Here in the Sunshine state of Florida, we are seeing the evolving migratory pattern of our "avian friends" moving from their familiar haunts to ports northward. The last of the ducks is always the Blue-winged teal. Several months ago, we could literally walk across the backs of the ducks from one shore to the next. Now, however, there is a completely different scenario. Bluewings, Shovelers, and an occasional Scaup are the only "northern" water fowl still hanging on. We'll head north in the next couple of week, following warblers, the other fowl, and the sparrows. But we have a feeling that the Blue-winged teals will follow us. They seem unusally content here in the warm climes of the southeast. Tomorrow, Sharon and I head south for the Keys and the Dry Tortugas in seach of those birds which are in the midst of their journey north as well as those who don't feel the compulsion or the need to come any further north than the warm (very warm) climate of southeast Florida. We'll keep you abreast of what we find down in the deepest southern realms of our beautiful country.

Persistence

Every once in a while, a report shows up on the Rare Bird Alerts about some exotic or rarely seen bird right in your own back yard. Such was the case yesterday when reports of a Purple sandpiper right here in our neighborhood in Florida were posted. A friend from New York is visiting, and he had never photographed the bird. So, off we went in search of the sandpiper as well as Piping plovers which I had seen recently in the same spot. When we arrived at Smyrna Dunes, there were several listings of recent sightings, but no report of the sandpiper. Still, with our hopes raised, we ventured out to the south jetty of Ponce Inlet. We searched the sand dunes for the plovers with no luck. Much of the activity we witnessed last week at this same location had abated. There were plenty of Brown pelicans, sanderlings, and Ruddy turnstones working the surf, but darn if we could find the plovers or the target bird.....the Purple sandpiper. We searched the jetty with our binoculars and photographed the turnstones and a lone Royal tern to while away time. I finally turned to my friend and suggested we head on back. At that point, he excitedly told me he had a "different" bird in view. Not far off at all, climbing along the boulders of the jetty was our bird. The sandpiper was indeed here as promised. He had obviously been here all along, but was elluding our sight until now. A little persistence goes a long way.

Owls

We began the day by heading out with a naturalist on a pontoon boat on the St. John’s River. We were greeted at the dock by a gorgeous Barred owl that perched in a tree out in full view just above our heads. Our target species for the day included the Purple gallinule, the Limpkin and hopefully the Burrowing owl later in the day. It didn’t take long before we came upon our first target , the Purple gallinule. We had very good looks from a distance of no more than 35 feet, and the bird obliged by staying out in full view for an extended time….something a gallinule is not known to do. We found our limpkin shortly thereafter, calling out its distinctive “screaming” song. Again, for the photographers on board, the setting and the light were almost perfect. By the trip’s end, we had tallied more than 50 species on the river. We then headed out to Eustis in search for Burrowing owls that Sharon and I have spotted before. The owls cooperated nicely and were just where we expected to find them Finding owls is always a special treat, but when you get two wonderful views on the same day of two different species, that is indeed a special day.

Jubilee

The late Florida naturalist Archie Carr once wrote of what he referred to as a "Jubilee". Although Carr's "Jubilee" involved masses of small sea creatures teeming up from the sea and our "Jubilee" occurred in the impoundments of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Reserve, there are still striking similarities. Carr's phenomenon resulted in hordes of human fishermen descending upon the stranded masses and scooping up their bounty by the bucketful. The "Jubilee" we witnessed at Merritt Island on the other hand had fishers of the avian kind. Literally thousands of White pelicans, Roseate spoonbills, Blue-winged teal, Great and Snowy egrets as well as cormorants, Wood storks and American wigeons were crowded in elbow to elbow (or wing to wing) jostling for position and gorging themselves with the small fish that had filled the impoundment. Why so many bait fish were concentrated into this one impoundment was beyond us, but the reason for their presence was of little concern to the hungry birds congregating to partake of the feast. In just a short period of time, the White pelicans will have headed north and we will not see them again for another year. We surmised that this was a "staging" area and that the pelicans were preparing for the journey north. For whatever reasons, it was a sight to behold and one we will surely not forget for a long time.

Bitterns

Bitterns are among the most ellusive birds in North America. According to Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion, the American bittern has a "penchant for ridged immobility and a flair for not being seen". Those of us who have heard the bird's "thumper pumper" call and been so frustrated by not being able to find the bird among the reeds know what Dunne is talking about. The least is at minimum just as secretive, but the fact that he is so much smaller than the American makes him even more difficult to find. And so, on this day in March in Florida, when both bitterns were found and photographed by yours truly, the day was all the more special. Both birds turned up in Viera Wetlands north of Melbourne. We were on day 2 of a five day trip with the Mearns Birding Club from Orange County New York. The Least was a life bird for several of us and it was the first time I was able to get a decent photograph of the bird. Having people around us to share the experience with made for great day.

Networking

For those of us who keep life-lists or those who simply want to see new birds for the aesthetics of it, the networks established by the birding community have become all-important. Today, our target bird was the elusive Red-cockaded woodpecker. The chain of events leading to this bird included e-mailing for information to several local Audubon clubs, a couple of phone calls to local naturalists, suggestions from people as far away as New York, and finally a most helpful lead provided by the Sebastian River State Park here in Florida. We were here at the wrong time of day as the birds would surely have left their nest cavities and would be scattered over a large range foraging. But fate was on our sides today and shortly after we entered the woodlands, my wife called out that she had a woodpecker in her binoculars with "no sign of red". We scampered over to her side, and sure enough, we found not one but three Red-cockaded woodpeckers working the pines on either side of the trail. We had (with the help of many others) found our target within the first 1/2 mile of our search. Without networking, we would have been hard-pressed to even know where to start.

The Heart of Florida

We ventured inland to the St. John’s River today. Much of the river, often called the “River of Lakes” has been altered to make it possible for larger ships to navigate its waters, but there are many stretches where the river remains much the same as it has been for hundreds of years. These waters serve as home to some of Florida’s most beautiful and elusive species. On the river today, we spotted our first Purple gallinule of the year as well as several fine looks at the American bittern and the usually elusive Limpkin. An added bonus for Florida birders at this time of year is the fact that many of these birds are heading into the breeding season. Courtship displays, spectacular breeding plumages, and actual mating behavior adds to the enjoyment of our “sport”. You cannot be on the St. John's River and not feel that you are experiencing the true “heart of Florida”.