I started off the last week in Florida hitting a few local parks not too far from the house including Gemini Springs Park, Thornby Park, Campbell Park and Audubon Park. It was yet another cold morning with temps in the 20's with a slight breeze (at least it was not quite as cold and windy as the day before). It was weird to see some thin ice on some of shallow part of marshes. Given the conditions I tried to find some edges that got sun early in the morning and this proved somewhat successful with a number of species taking advantage of the sun warming things up. Overall a more productive day then the day before.
Tuesday featured another cold start with frost. Thankfully it was sunny with little wind so it didn't feel as bad as previous days. I headed out well before dawn to make the trip up to Lake Woodruff NWR and arrived just after six. With the near full moon you could walk with a headlamp on and I focused on rails and had some fantastic luck with the best by far being a Black Rail (a life bird for me...species #2186) that sounded off a few times. I had five species of rails...something I have never done before (plus a variety of gallinules and coots).
A morning without frost arrived for Wednesday morning (although it was still cold early with a low of 35). Eventually the day warmed up nicely into the low 70's with abundant sunshine. I started off before dawn at Gemini Springs Park and added a number of unusual species for the day including a White winged Scoter, Lincoln's Sparrow, White crowned Sparrow and American Redstart.
After one really nice day we returned to cooler weather and some rain for Thursday. I awoke to heavy rain so stayed at the house until it finally stopped around seven (at least for a bit). I visited just a couple spots within a few minutes of the house including Blue Heron Nature Park. Eventually a few showers showed up later in the morning but at least I got out for a couple hours.
Friday morning yet again featured frost...not what I wanted to see when I got up to head out. At least it the sky was clear and once the sun came up things started warming up. Of course then the wind picked up but by then I was headed home. I spent nearly three hours at Gemini Springs Park and had a number of good sightings. Rarities included the continued White winged Scoter and Lincoln's Sparrow. I also got to witness some interaction among a couple male Pileated Woodpeckers (check out the video in the above attached eBird list) plus got to watch a Blue headed Vireo feeding on a lizard of some type. I have never seen that behavior before with the species and I got video of that too. I also added a new warbler species for the year with a Black throated Green Warbler that showed briefly in a mixed flock. Overall a great morning despite the continued cool temps.
On Saturday the weather was very similar to the day before although thankfully no frost. I initially was going to head up to Lake Woodruff but with the breezy conditions I figured it was not worth the longer drive. I instead returned to Gemini Springs Park for a few hours. The wind was an issue at times and made tracking down some stuff difficult. Nonetheless it was still a productive morning with a few continuing rarities, nine species of warblers and some good looks at a Bobcat.
For the last full day in Florida I headed to the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive before dawn and did a little birding at Apopka Birding Park before the gates opened. Once the gates opened I spent a little over three hours exploring the drive and I had 90 species on the drive alone...it really is a great birding spot. Loads and loads of waterfowl and waders and other marsh birds. The list sums it all up quite well and it was a great way to end my time in Florida. I then headed home a little before midday and finished packing for the trip back to the arctic wasteland of home. I ended the day with a nice round 100 species total. For the entire week I had 128 species with two new species for Florida. Full report from week five at the following link.
The week in warblers can be found at the following link: Final week warblers.
Overall for my time in Florida (from January 4-February 9) I found a total of 212 species with one lifer in Florida (Black Rail) bringing my life list to 2185. I added 15 species to my Florida list, which now stands at 265.
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