Day 29: January 29th - Goodrich's Restaurant

Sunny and mild, mid-60's

       Along the Indian River in the town of Oak Hill, FL lies a restaurant known as Goodrich's Restaurant.  A couple of years ago, the place was sold and it lost a bit of its ambiance.  In other words, they cleaned the place up.  It has always been an institution in this part of Florida, serving the finest in fried fish you'll find anywhere.  While the ownership and the atmosphere changed, the quality did not, and so it is one of our favorite haunts when we are birding that part of the state.  

     We got to know Goodrich's a number of years ago, not as a place to eat, but rather as a place to bird.  White pelicans gather here each winter into March.  It used to be that they were reliable in large numbers and could be found swimming right behind the restaurant.  Now, since the place closed for a year or two during renovations, the numbers have diminished.  But, you can still count on at least some of the whites being there.  And so it was today.  Perched upon a piling adjacent to the deck of the place, a fine White pelican was to be found.  We did not see amy others here today, but I'm sure they were in the area.

White pelican

       We did get a bonus today as we were on a tight schedule and could not tarry for long.  On the wires above Goodrich's, a Loggerhead shrike was hunting grasshoppers in the grass below.  Although the lighting was not good from our first vantage point, the bird was cooperative enough to wait for us to drive below it and get a more proper angle of the sun.

       One last shot before we headed south as a winter plumaged Laughing gull flew overhead.  While I've photographed plenty of Laughing gulls in my day, I decided to get in another shot of the bird in its not-so-glamorous garb.  And now, it's back on the road, heading south once again.

Laughing gull