Florida trip to the Melbourne area from March 17-22

Ruddy Turnstone, Melbourne Beach, FL, Mar 17, 2018

Willet, Melbourne Beach, FL, Mar 17, 2018

Forester's Tern, Melbourne Beach, FL, Mar 17, 2018

Sanderling with injured right leg, Melbourne Beach, FL, Mar 17, 2018

Brown Pelican, Melbourne Beach, FL, Mar 17, 2018

We made a trip down to Florida for a few days leaving on Saturday the 17th and returning on Thursday the 22nd. We flew into Orlando midday and then made the drive east to the coast in the area of Melbourne Beach. We arrived mid afternoon and stayed around our lodging which produced some close looks at some common shorebirds as well as a few other species.

Northern Parula, Turkey Creek Sanctuary, FL, Mar 18, 2018

Blue gray Gnatcatcher, Turkey Creek Sanctuary, FL, Mar 18, 2018

Pine Warbler, St Sebastian River Preserve SP, FL, Mar 18, 2018

Brown headed Nuthatch, St Sebastian River Preserve SP, FL, Mar 18, 2018

On Sunday I headed out before dawn to go to Turkey Creek Sanctuary. I arrived before first light and was rewarded with a couple Eastern Whip Poor Wills calling. Once it got light enough to see I headed out on the numerous trails there primarily looking for some early migrants, especially warblers. The location is well known for attracting warblers (with at least 35 species seen, but usually a little later in the spring or in the fall). There was definitely some migrants moving through with the most numerous species being Northern Parula, with at least 33 individuals around including several singing. A total of seven warbler species in just a couple of hours was really just the tip of the iceberg of migrants starting to move north. Other notables around included a calling Barred Owl, several each of White eyed and Blue Headed Vireo, lots of gnatcatchers and a Painted Bunting. I could have stayed there longer but wanted to check out another new area for me at the St Sebastian River Preserve SP. The park is quite large but I concentrated on just a few spots primarily looking for Red cockaded Woodpecker and Florida Scrub Jay as well as other pine land species including Bachman's Sparrow and Brown headed Nuthatch. I found all of the species mentioned except for the scrub jays.  After a break for lunch at our lodging I made the ten minute trip south to Pelican Island NWR (the first NWR in the US, created in 1903 by Theodore Roosevelt). Due to the heat and lack of shade in the early afternoon I kept my visit relatively brief but still turned up some good stuff. A sunny and warm day overall with temperatures topping out in the mid 80's.

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Turkey Creek Sanctuary, FL, Mar 19, 2018

I had plans on Monday to hit a few new areas a bit further away but I unfortunately a sore throat I had the night before got worse by the morning. I decided to return to Turkey Creek Sanctuary before stopping by the drug store to pick up meds. The area was productive once again but there was certainly a turn over of some species with much reduced numbers of Northern Parula and Blue headed Vireos.

Little Blue Heron, Maritime Hammock Sanctuary, FL, Mar 19, 2018

American Alligator, Maritime Hammock Sanctuary, FL, Mar 19, 2018

Gulf Fritillary, Maritime Hammock Sanctuary, FL, Mar 19, 2018

After a couple hours there I headed back toward home base before setting out late morning to nearby Maritime Hammock Preserve. Although the low scrub habitat and mangroves looked great for birds the first half of our time there was nearly bird less with just a handful of species...very odd. Once we made it out to some small ponds the activity increased a bit and turned up some good stuff including a mixed flock that contained my first Northern Waterthrush and Ovenbird of the trip plus a female Painted Bunting. The hike here also produced an alligator as well as a close (but brief) look at a Bobcat that nonchalantly crossed the trail in front of us at a distance of perhaps 20 feet.

Wood Stork carrying nesting material, Pelican Island NWR, FL, Mar 19, 2018

Lesser Scaup, Pelican Island NWR, FL, Mar 19, 2018

Northern Shoveler, Pelican Island NWR, FL, Mar 19, 2018

Tricolored Heron, Pelican Island NWR, FL, Mar 19, 2018

Prairie Warbler, Pelican Island NWR, FL, Mar 19, 2018

Palm Warbler (western), Pelican Island NWR, FL, Mar 19, 2018

Great Egret, Pelican Island NWR, FL, Mar 19, 2018

After a break for lunch I headed back down to Pelican Island NWR where I checked out a new trail that included a small pond with lots of waterfowl on it. There was also a steady stream of Wood Storks flying by with nesting material heading to a small island. The rest of the day was spent sitting outside at our lodging enjoying another day of warm weather before a cold front arrived.

Bonaparte's Gull, Pelican Island NWR, FL, Mar 20, 2018

Osprey, Coconut Point Sanctuary, FL, Mar 20, 2018

Red bellied Woodpecker, Coconut Point Sanctuary, FL, Mar 20, 2018

Yellow throated Warbler, Coconut Point Sanctuary, FL, Mar 20, 2018

Black and White Warbler, Coconut Point Sanctuary, FL, Mar 20, 2018

Tuesday was forecast to be occasionally stormy so I didn't venture too far plus I was not feeling too good.  I started the day with an early morning trip to Pelican Island NWR where I spent about an hour and a half exploring a couple different areas but didn't turn up anything too unusual. The original plan for the day was for us to make a trip up to the north to take a midday boat ride but the windy weather with potential severe weather cancelled the trip. We decided to instead head up to Coconut Point Sanctuary where we walked the roughly 3/4 of a mile trail through scrub habitat that eventually produced some impressive mixed species flocks moving through with double digit counts of Black and White Warblers as well as my first Yellow throated Warblers of the trip. A total of nine warbler species was quite decent in a just a small portion of the trail. Lots of swallows were also moving north, fighting the strong wind. Although a little early for a major movement of migrants the conditions during the last couple days had been perfect for birds leaving the Yucatan and parts of Cuba. During the rest of the windy afternoon I kept a low profile at our lodging as I continued to fight my cold. The storms never arrived in the area until dinner time and thankfully they were not as severe as they were just to our north. The cold front that caused all the storms moved through during the night setting up our last full day to be sunny but cooler with lows in the upper 40's and highs in the low 70's.

Northern Parula, Coconut Point Sanctuary, FL, Mar 21, 2018

Prairie Warbler, Coconut Point Sanctuary, FL, Mar 21, 2018

Snowy Egrets, Coconut Point Sanctuary, FL, Mar 21, 2018

Northern Cardinal, Coconut Point Sanctuary, FL, Mar 21, 2018

Eastern Towhee, Coconut Point Sanctuary, FL, Mar 21, 2018

Western Sandpiper, Coconut Point Sanctuary, FL, Mar 21, 2018

Western Sandpiper surrounded by Sanderlings, Coconut Point Sanctuary, FL, Mar 21, 2018

The last full day of the trip was cooler but sunny and I unfortunately spent a part of the morning at an urgent care clinic to get treatment. I did manage to get a short walk during a return trip to Coconut Point Sanctuary while I waited for my prescriptions to get filled. The location once again produced some decent variety of warblers including my first Orange crowned Warbler of the trip. The big numbers of Black and White Warblers appears to have moved on. I tried hard to turn up an early Swainson's Warbler but I didn't have any luck here (nor any other spots I stopped over the course of several days). It was just too early to get a push of them but it was still fun to try....full report and more photos of warblers at the following link: warblers.

Overall for the trip I managed to find a total of 102 species including three new species for my Florida list, Eastern Whip Poor Will, Chucks Will Widow and Lesser Black backed Gull bringing my total in the state to 216. I certainly could have added more species if I had visited more areas but my sickness during most of the trip put a damper on traveling extensively. Although a little early to produce a big variety of warblers heading north a few locations did produce some groups of migrants moving through with decent numbers of Northern Parula and Black and White Warblers. It was nice to hear some of the warblers starting to sing.  Full album with all photos from the trip at the following link:  Florida -March 2018