More from Florida trip

Reddish Egret, Merritt Island NWR, FL, Jan 21, 2013

Reddish Egret, Merritt Island NWR, FL, Jan 21, 2013

Reddish Egret, Merritt Island NWR, FL, Jan 21, 2013

 

Great Blue Heron, Merritt Island NWR, FL, Jan 21, 2013

On Monday I was feeling OK in the morning so I decided to try my luck by heading to the coast and going to Merritt Island NWR and Canaveral National Seashore. It was, as always, a great time birding. I managed to hit just a few areas, specifically Black Point Wildlife Drive and Playalinda Beach and surrounding areas. Lots of waterfowl, waders and shorebirds along the wildlife drive.

Florida Scrub Jay, Canaveral National Seashore, FL, Jan 21, 2013

Northern Gannet, Canaveral National Seashore, FL, Jan 21, 2013

Royal Tern, Canaveral National Seashore, FL, Jan 21, 2013

Along the beach were the typical birds plus a good gannet show.  The road on the way to the beach produced several Florida Scrub Jays as well as a huge gathering of waterfowl in one of the water impoundments with tens of thousands of mainly American Coots and Lesser Scaup and a scattering of other species.

Meanwhile back here at home in the icebox the arctic cold continues with high temperatures today topping out in the mid teens with the morning temps at -5 and the forecast for this evening to be at least as cold.  Adding in the winds today dropped the windchill into the areas around -15 to -20.  Perhaps a warm up is in store next week, but who knows.

Florida Day 3 (Jan 30)



American Wigeon in flight, Merritt Island NWR, FL, Jan 30, 2012

Eurasian Wigeon (two of three), Merritt Island NWR, FL, Jan 30, 2012

Florida Scrub Jay, Canaveral NS, Jan 30, 2012

Royal Tern, Indiatlantic beach, FL, Jan 30, 2012

Black Vulture, Canaveral NS, Jan 30, 2012

Great Horned Owl on nest, Merritt Island NWR, FL, Jan 30, 2012

The third day found me travelling north to Merritt Island NWR arriving around dawn to find the gate on the Black Point Wildlife Drive closed.  I waited a bit but it didn’t open so I headed to Canaveral National Seashore instead.   I made several stops along the beach checking both the beach and the ocean.  Nothing too extraordinary, but some nice looks at birds fighting the strong winds here.  The road out was more productive with several groups of Florida Scrub Jays along the roadside that provided some great looks at this Florida endemic.  After leaving the national seashore I checked out a nest that had held Great Horned Owls in the past and held them yet again with a bird sitting in the nest and giving great views.  I stopped briefly at the Visitors Center and heard the area of the wildlife drive was now open but remained quite dry so I decided to bypass it and instead concentrate on the various ponds along the road that held some waterfowl.  The most productive pond was on the road out past the Visitors Center where one area held several thousand American Wigeon as well as three male Eurasian Wigeons.  Besides the large numbers of wigeon I had Lesser and Greater Scaup, Northern Shovelers, dozens of Redheads, American Coots by the thousands and Green-winged and Blue-winged Teal.  Oddly I did not have a single Northern Pintail my entire time here (I have had several thousand here in the past). 

Sanderling, Indiatlantic beach, FL, Jan 30, 2012

Royal Tern, Indiatlantic beach, FL, Jan 30, 2012

Tree Swallows, Blue Heron Wetlands, Titusville, FL, Jan 30, 2012

After spending the early through mid morning on Merritt Island I travelled south a few miles to the Blue Heron Wetlands in Titusville.  This area of water impoundments can be quite productive at times and usual is not too crowded.  It was indeed not crowded and provided all the typical species expected.  The highlight here was seeing swarming grounds of Tree Swallows moving through feeding on the abundant insect life.  It is always an impressive sight to see thousands and thousands of Tree Swallows swarming over a small area.  I tried to pick some odd swallow out of the masses but had no luck.  I then made the drive back down to the Melbourne area.

Florida trip continued...Orlando area

Snowy Egret, Merritt Island NWR, January 16, 2011
Roseate Spoonbill catching a fish, Merritt Island NWR, FL, January 16, 2011
Cattle Egret, Blue Heron Wetlands, January 16, 2011

Florida Scrub Jay, Canaveral NS, FL, January 16, 2011
Florida Scrub Jay, Canaveral NS, FL, January 16, 2011


We left the area around Sanibel Island on Friday and made the drive up to Orlando where we would stay for three nights. I made the most of the two full days I had available visiting areas around Orlando on Saturday and making the trip to the coast on Sunday. I did mange a little birding on Friday afternoon after the drive up and went to Tibet Butler Preserve.

Brown-headed Nuthatch, Disney Wilderness Preserve, FL, January 15, 2011

Saturday began at Lake Toho wathcing the birds come alive for the day. I then went south to Southport Road to the end to Southport Park which turned up some new birds inlcuding Crested Caracara, Eastern Meadowlarks, another Snail Kite, several American Kestrels, groups of Sandhill Cranes and others.

I then went to the Disney Wilderness Preserve which is operated by the Nature Conservancy. I was the first one out on the trails and came across some great birds including a large number of Yellow-rumped Warblers, a group of three Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, several Bald Eagles, several species of woodpeckers and many other species. I spent several hours here and walked several miles enjoying the warm weather and sun.

On Sunday I took a trip out to the Atlantic coast at dawn beginning at Merritt Island NWR. The refuge was amazingly dry. The wildlife drive that typically would hold thousands upon thousands of ducks and coots was almost empty. I typically would expect hundreds or thousands of Northern Pintails and there were none. The little water left did have concentrations of birds, especially waders that were no doubt feasting on the fish that were concentrated due to the dry conditions. I spent less time here than intended but I also knew there were many other good birding areas around. I next went over to Canaveral National Seashore and immediately happened upon three Florida Scrub Jays. The beach held the typical terns, gulls and shorebirds. One water impoundment on the way to the beach contained several thousand ducks and coots including dozens of Redheads. I made a few more stops on the way off the island but didn't find anything too spectacular beyond a nice view of a nesting Great Horned Owl.

Northern Shoveler, Viera Wetlands, FL, January 16, 2011
Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, Blue Heron Wetland, FL, January 16, 2011

My next stop was the Blue Heron Wetland in Titusville which was very productive. I had the place to myself and saw not another person for the couple of hours I was there. The number of Yellow-rumped Warblers was in the hundreds. There were numerous waders and waterfowl including a large, vocal group of Black bellied Whistling Ducks. My final stop for the day was in the mid afternoon at Viera Wetlands. This area was somewhat productive but very crowded by the time I made it there. I stayed for a bit but then decided it was time to make the drive back to Orlando. It was a very productive day with some fantastic birds and some good photo ops.

Florida trip continued...Merritt Island NWR

As mentioned in a previous post I will now continue a review of my recent trip down to central Florida. This post will cover my trip out to Merritt Island NWR and Cape Canaveral NS on December 8. A nice warm, hazy day with temperatures reaching into the low 80's. Always a great stop when down in Florida although it did appear that overall numbers were down a bit from previous visits but this is likely a result of timing as I usually go down to Florida in January. Enjoy some photos of my stop there.