Florida Day 5 (Feb 1)

Crested Caracara, Indian River Co. Wetlands, FL, Feb 1, 2012

Sandhill Crane, Indian River Co. Wetlands, FL, Feb 1, 2012

Osprey, Indian River Co. Wetlands, FL, Feb 1, 2012

Crested Caracara, Indian River Co. Wetlands, FL, Feb 1, 2012

The final day in Florida started at our lodging right on the coast where I found all the typical and expected birds here.  After walking the beach in the morning we began our trip back south the fly out of West Palm Beach.  We split the trip up with a stop at the West County Wastewater Treatment Facility.  This series of manmade ponds hold some nice variety of birds and provided a final test of the warm Florida weather before our return to home.  Several Sandhill Cranes provided close looks including one that walked along with us for several hundred feet never getting more than ten feet away.  In addition a pair of Crested Caracaras poised nicely in a tree before flying off not to be seen again.  We then continued on to catch our plane back north.  Oddly we returned to very warm weather at home with a temperature of 59 degrees (from high of 61!) when we arrived around sundown.  A very nice (and unusual) transition back ton February in Massachusetts!

During this short trip down to Florida I managed to find 112 species with four of those new for me in Florida (Least Bittern, Eurasian Wigeon, Vesper Sparrow, Greater Scaup).  A short, but fun trip.

Additional photos on my Flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54277284@N05/sets/72157629148115137/