Trip to Florida in late March

Least Bittern, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Mar 26, 2021

We finally managed to get away for a little this year with a short trip down to Florida after being stuck in the north due to the ongoing travel issues from the pandemic. With some of the travel rules relaxed for travel in the US and with both of us being vaccinated we felt comfortable with going. Unfortunately there are still too many rules for international travel so no luck with going to more exotic locales for now. We flew down to West Palm Beach on Thursday and spent one night in that area before heading north to Melbourne Beach where we spent four nights before ending the trip with one night in Orlando.

Black bellied Whistling Duck, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Mar 26, 2021

Green Heron, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Mar 26, 2021

Anhinga on nest, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Mar 26, 2021

Solitary Sandpiper, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Mar 26, 2021

Ovenbird, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Mar 26, 2021

Ocean view, Melbourne Beach, FL, Mar 26, 2021

On the first full day we spent about an hour and a half at the always productive Green Cay Wetlands before visiting with some family. Not much unexpected at Green Cay but I did finally add a new species with sightings of the now well established introduced population of Egyptian Geese in the nearby area. After lunch we started the drive north along the east coast of the state up to Melbourne Beach. 

Brown Pelican, Coconut Point Sanctuary, Melbourne Beach, FL, Mar 27, 2021

With three full days available to explore the local area around our lodging in Melbourne Beach I spent all of my time in the local area with multiple visits to Maritime Hammock Sanctuary, Coconut Point Sanctuary and Pelican Island NWR (plus a few other spots).

Saturday morning I started off at Maritime Hammock Sanctuary before sunrise (sunrise at this time of year is not until 7:15 which is about 45 minutes later than it is at home at this time of year). I then headed to Coconut Point Sanctuary before a return trip back to Maritime Hammock. Nothing too unusual to report and in fact many areas were very quiet with little bird activity with warblers especially sparse.

Western Spindalis, Pelican Island NWR, Vero Beach, FL, Mar 28, 2021

Western Spindalis, Pelican Island NWR, Vero Beach, FL, Mar 28, 2021

Common Yellowthroat, Pelican Island NWR, Vero Beach, FL, Mar 28, 2021

Bobcat, Pelican Island NWR, Vero Beach, FL, Mar 28, 2021

Osprey, Maritime Hammock Sanctuary, Melbourne Beach, FL, Mar 28, 2021

On Sunday I decided to head a bit further south to Pelican Island NWR (the first NWR in the country). I arrived just as it was getting light enough to see and headed out on one of the trails. It was fairly quiet on the trail so I headed back toward the parking lot in the hopes of finding some birds elsewhere. I quickly noticed a bunch of birders and stopped to talk to them. Apparently a Western Spindalis was seen at the location yesterday afternoon and several birders had arrived to try to relocate it. This species occurs in The Bahamas and Cuba (and a few other islands) but is very rare in the United States with a handful of records in southern Florida. I had seen the species in the US once before back in February 2017 at Bill Baggs Cape Florida SP and on multiple occasions outside the US so not a new bird for me but to see one this far north would be nice so I spent some time looking. After a bit of looking someone else turned the bird up actively feeding and very occasionally calling. I got some great looks at it as well as some distant photos. I assume the bird came north courtesy of southeast winds the previous few days. Unfortunately the winds didn’t seem to bring in much in the way of other migrants and all the areas I checked for the remainder of the morning were quiet. I stayed out until midday enjoying another hot and sunny day. In addition to the birds I had a sighting of a Bobcat as well as a snake (racer species I believe). 

Cattle Egret, Indian River Lagoon Preserve SP, Melbourne Beach, FL, Mar 29, 2021

Snowy Egret, Indian River Lagoon Preserve SP, Melbourne Beach, FL, Mar 29, 2021

Raccoon, Maritime Hammock Sanctuary, Melbourne Beach, FL, Mar 29, 2021

Monday was a little cloudier and cooler but still in the 70’s for most of the day. I tried my luck once again at Maritime Hammock but it was once again very quiet. After my fairly short time there I headed back to the lodging and then we went nearby to kayak for a few hours along the Indian River where we saw some Manatees and dolphins as well as a decent selection of birds. After our kayaking time I went out for another few miles of walking at the nearby Indian River Lagoon Preserve SP. As it was midday and the breeze had picked up quite a bit it was not too active. 

Common Gallinule with chicks, Orlando Wetlands Preserve, Christmas, FL, Mar 30, 2021

Common Gallinule chick, Orlando Wetlands Preserve, Christmas, FL, Mar 30, 2021

Purple Gallinule, Orlando Wetlands Preserve, Christmas, FL, Mar 30, 2021

Little Blue Heron, Orlando Wetlands Preserve, Christmas, FL, Mar 30, 2021

Pied billed Grebe, Orlando Wetlands Preserve, Christmas, FL, Mar 30, 2021

On our last full day in Florida we left Melbourne Beach and headed north and west toward our final destination in Orlando. We stopped at the always productive Orlando Wetland Park for a few hours in the sun and heat and I walked a few miles adding typical species to my list for the trip. Waterfowl was a present in fairly low diversity as I'm assuming many species have already left for points north (with the main exception being Blue winged Teal). I also had loads of Common Gallinule and American Coots around and came across a few recently hatched Common Gallinule chicks. After finishing up at the park we headed west to Orlando and I got a couple of short walks in late that afternoon and the following morning.

Overall for the trip I found a total of 110 species with three new for Florida and one new life bird bringing my life total to 1580.  Warblers were relatively sparse with only ten species seen during the week (more on warblers on the trip at the following link)