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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Florida, Winter 2013-14 (1 Viewer)

I just wanted to say how much I'm enjoying this report. My father worked in satellite communications for a company 45 minutes or so south of Merritt Island, starting in the late '60s. As a kid in the '70s and '80s, many a weekend was spent birding at Merritt Island with my parents. There was no Viera Wetlands (there was no town of Viera!), just cattle and sod ranches out there. I can't even begin to think about how much of my childhood was spent messing around in the Indian River.

It has been years since I've been back to visit, but reading your report has got me seriously thinking about a trip this spring. Even if I don't make it, I can still close my eyes and picture birding MINWR!
 
Great report so far, brings back memories of my 2 visits to Florida.
Joe Overstreet and Three Lakes are excellent areas as are Viera and Merritt Island. We managed to see RC Woodpeckers during both trips and lots of the species you mention.
 
I was in Florida in 1988 and enjoyed it very much: I am similarly enjoying Jos's report (and envying some of his sightings!) keep it going old boy!

John
 
Do you ever dip on a bird Jos?

You're success rate is quiet astonishing. Fair play though, I know its down to research, effort and birding skills.

Not sure I would have wanted to skulk around the woods with loads of trigger happy hunters lingering.
 
27 December - Day of the Manatee.

Essentially a day of travel, the basic plan was to shift from the Atlantic coast to the Gulf of Mexico, a direct drive of some 350 km. I however had plans to do it rather less directly by first detouring north to incorporate Blue Springs State Park into my itinerary, an extra 120 km or so.

And the purpose of the detour? West Indian Manatees, not in some murky estuarine river or as noses poking up beyond mangroves somewhere, but in the crystal clear waters of the Blue Spring, surely one of the best places in the world to view these endangered aquatic mammals in all their glory. So much I had wanted to see them here in fact that I had purposely avoided one at Merritt Island and felt fortunate to miss one that swam in front of me at Flamingo in the Everglades!

And so it was, another pre-dawn departure from Cocoa Beach, hitting Interstate 95 for an hour or so to reach Blue Springs as the sun rose. Or didn't rise, as the case happened to be, a rather overcast dawn it turned out to be. But the sight awaiting was simply a joy, no other tourists at such an early hour and in the tranquil waters, overhung by the deep green of lush palms and ferns, dozens and dozens of Manatees, most seemingly still in semi-slumber, gently drifting along a picturesque kilometre or so of river. With a number of viewing platforms close to the water, it was truly an eye-to-eye experience with these half-tonne giants, chubby mermaids with the faces of sad old men. Over an hour and more, slowly they began to wake, graceful aerobics in the water, younger animals rolling, larger individuals nudging and shoving. Attracted to winter in the warm waters of the spring, 172 Manatees this morning, far more than I expected, very nice they were.

By 10 a.m., a steady procession of other tourists were beginning to arrive, so I decided it time to depart, first having a quick look around the adjacent St John's River and the wooded fringe. Best of the birds, one Black-and-White Warbler, one Orange-crowned Warbler, one Yellow-throated Warbler and one Baltimore Oriole. Also seen, five Tufted Titmice, a Belted Kingfisher, a Sharp-shinned Hawk and assortment of other common species.

Much of the rest of the day was spent upon the highways, multi-lane roads with no sense of slower vehicles sticking to any particular lane. Result, a fairly steady crawl southbound, made slightly longer by a scrape with the fringes of Disney World and an accidental detour into downtown Tampa. Arrived at the very touristy Fort Meyers Beach just in time to join a mighty traffic jam, eventually getting to my hotel in time to watch Brown Pelicans cruising into a glorious sunset. Home for the next three nights was a decidedly upmarket hotel, way above my usual standards ...at least there was a Tropical House Gecko on the wall!
 
What a fantastic experience that sounds. I well remember seeing them in a river, but not where and few of them. Magnificent. Thanks for sharing it.

Phil
 
A selection of manatees ...
 

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28 December - Ding Darling/Fort Meyers Beach.


Duff day of the trip to some extent, sun-seeking tourists, choc'a'bloc roads and birding that hardly set the stage alight. Ah well, at least the sun was shining and the temperatures touched 28 C again.

First stop, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island, one of Florida's premier reserves on the Gulf coast, raved about in many trip reports, top spot for photographers. Have to say though, nice though it was, I found it perhaps the least productive of all the major localities on my itinerary. Heart of the reserve, and offering the best birding, a four-mile auto drive loops though a series of brackish pools, each fringed by fairly extensive mangrove forests and with lookout points at regular intervals. One Reddish Egret, five Roseate Spoonbills, a couple of Hooded Mergansers, a dozen or so Mottled Ducks, dozens of the commoner herons, egrets and ibises ...not bad at all, but certainly the most enjoyable bird of the morning was a young Yellow-crowned Night Heron that decided to plod about just in front of me while I was sitting down on on a grassy bank admiring a flock of about 120 American White Pelicans.

With the sun rising high, and rather many tourists begining to arrive, I decided I had seen everything I was likely to see, so set off to explore the rest of Sanibel Island.

Wild beaches, exposed headlands, mass roosts of waders and terns, frigatebirds patrolling the beaches. Er, not exactly. The residential retreat of the wealthy, the entire coastline seems to be edged by the wooded gardens of well-to-do mansions, eateries and modest hotels, a sedate road linking all, a snail's crawl the best I could do stuck behind other tourists looking for non-existent parking. The first accessible beach I found sported early sunbathers and random deckchairs, the next was rather better. Parking at the further point the road actually goes, in a tiddly little car park that I imagine is jam-packed full by mid-morning, I took a little stroll. Lots of folk on the beach, but a quick scan with the binoculars and I was impressed to find quite a selection of birds too, a big 'black patch' some way up looking most inviting. And nice it was too, roosting down between kiddies playing on the beach, ladies taking a dip and joggers pounding along at the surf's edge, one communal roost of birds, barely blinking at the human activity all around. Sat myself down and did actually quite enjoy the spectacle - several hundred Laughing Gulls, 40 or so Royal Terns, at least 15 Sandwich Terns and, cream of the crop, a magnificent 60 Black Skimmers. Edged down onto my belly and wiggled forward, ending up lying with the flock just 10 metres or so in front, quite resplendent. Probably didn't really need to do the wiggling, occasional passing tourist didn't bother giving them a wide berth, but still the birds basically didn't care, a bit of shuffling this way or that, and that was it. Just to top it off, a pod of Magnificent Frigatebirds cruised just offshore, pirates on the wing, eight in menacing silhouette.

Well that was nice, leaving Sanibel Island and returning to Fort Meyers Beach was not! With half of Florida seeming intent on squeezing into Fort Meyers, the last half dozen kilometres was a real treat ...near-stationary traffic, bored kids in the back of SUVs with feet stuffed on the seat backs in front and a manic jogger doing a comic act as he weaved in and out of the cars. Slight distractions here and there, Brown Pelicans in roadside quays, a few American White Pelicans too, one Belted Kingfisher on roadside wires, Ospreys perched like traffic police on a road island.

Should have learnt my lesson, but instead I decided to round the experience off with a visit to Lover's Quay State Park. Tinker toy tram ride to reach the beach, tourists all the way along and not a single bird of any note to mitigate. Still, long suffering companions on the trip didn't seem to be complaining. As evening began to approach, still not defeated, I decided it was turn of Fort Meyers Beach itself to possibly impress me. Walking a five kilometre or so stretch, basically from Holiday Inn back towards the town, I didn't really have high hopes ..but, hey ho, up popped half the birds I had been looking for all day! Not only about 20 Magnificent Frigatebirds, another Reddish Egret and about 40 Black Skimmers, but (finally) a decent gathering of waders - Ruddy Turnstones, Black-bellied Plovers, Willets, Least Sandpipers, Sanderlings and, huddled in a fairly tight posse, the birds I had been seeking - ten Semi-palmated Plovers, three exquisite Piping Plovers and a rather splendid 40 Wilson's Plovers!

Was dark by the time I finally got to my hotel. In reflection, for a duff day, it had actually been quite good.
 
Hi Jos,

Enjoying the read. Have to say I found Ding Darling rather underwhelming too, great visitor centre though. I found some the smaller sites like Green Cay much better. Stuff seemed much more concentrated and views were much better.
 
Beach snaps...
 

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29 December. Corkscrew Swamp/Tigertail Beach

The ultimate 'almost was' experience! Corkscrew Swamp, dark primeval swamplands, the greatest expanse of bald cypress forest remaining in North America, a wetland forest habitat par excellence. Arriving in the still dark pre-dawn, I toured around awaiting the official opening at sunrise, then ventured out onto the boardwalk that loops through the forest. First visitor of the day.

A hanging mist added a spook factor to the ancient forests, epiphytes draping gnarled branches, Wood Stork clipping tree tops as emerging from roost off yonder. Here however was about to be my fatal mistake, as the mist gave way to a heavy drizzle, the forest dripping at every quarter, I decided to return to my car to leave the camera behind. Ten minutes only it took, but returning to the boardwalk, another gentleman had arrived, a gentleman that strolled slightly faster than my preferred mode in such habitat ...soon, he would be far ahead. And so, as the drizzle turned into a rather heavy rain, off around a corner he went, forest to the one side, wet prairie opening on the other. With tee-shirt already decidedly damp, on I went. And then the gentleman was back, 'Er, how big are Panthers? I think there was one on the boardwalk'. And strewth, he'd even got a blurry picture of the thing, indeed a Florida Panther! As far as I can gather it was just sitting on the boardwalk, then with the arrival of this first visitor, it had jumped over the handrail and slipped away into the forest!

Arrgh! Panther, a.k.a. Mountain Lion, one of the hardest animals to see in all North America, if only it hadn't been raining, if only I had not turned back to my car! Sure felt Lady Luck hadn't been smiling down on me that morning! And with the rain remaining heavy for the next hour, didn't really see much to even offer a slight tad of compensation. Two soggy Yellow-crowned Night Herons in roost, a couple of Black-and-White Warblers running up and down trunks, a little flock of Tufted Titmice. As for the cypress swamp however, its pools of water lettuce, its magnificent trees, its orchids hanging from branches overhead, it was truly impressive, perhaps even more so for the weather ...I half expected somebody from the Blair Witch Project to step out, or an Ivory-billed Woodpecker in flop into view!

After an hour in the rain, I required a chance to dry out a little, so made my way to the visitor centre to wait for drier conditions. Fortunately, soon the sun did begin to peek out, a couple of Wood Storks soaring over, a small flock of Tree Swallows too. Wandering around again, with the better weather, the nooks and crannies of the forest seemed to come alive, far more bird activity, the best of which being a single mixed flock of some 50 birds or so, Yellow-rumped Warblers most, but also another Black-and-White Warbler, a Downy Woodpecker, a couple of Carolina Wrens, several very vocal Great Crested Flycatchers and, a couple of each, both Blue-headed and White-eyed Vireos. Also encountered another large mixed flock in the open pine forest closer to the visitor centre, a pleasant mix of Pine Warblers and Yellow-rumped Warblers forming the core, but with a loose assemblage attached, the best being Piliated Woodpeckers, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and, a right stunner, one Prairie Warbler.

Before leaving Corkscrew Swamp, there was to be one last treat - one of the reasons that I had come to the sanctuary was the knowledge that a certain colourful chap was near guaranteed att he visitor centre feeders. And so there I waited, Common Grackles and Common Ground-Dove for company, and then the female of the desired species, she a mere drab green replica. Ten minutes later, an eyeful of bold reds, purples and greens, up he flitted, one superb male Painted Bunting. Stuffing himself on the feeders, end up with four in all, two males and two females. A nice species indeed to finish my visit to Corkscrew Swamp, but oh for that missed panther, I think I shall never forget this locality!

Next up, back to the beaches. Not content with my mixed bag of results on the day before, thought I would potentially bore myself by walking the beaches on Marco Island, Tigertail Beach to be exact. To be truthful, I actually hoped to add Snowy Plover to my Wilson's, Piping and Semi-palmated trio of the day before. First impressions at Tigertail were not good - another expanse of sand with more people than birds, cruising Magnificent Frigatebirds nice, but waders on view amounted to a grand total of two Willets! The Tigertail car park is not at the sea itself but on a small lagoon, so undeterred, I drudged round to the sea and decided to walk north, the idea being if I went far enough, I must surely find a bird or two. And indeed I did, after a kilometre I got to a patch of mangroves and beyond that, on a broad spit that separated sea and lagoon, tourist numbers were negligible and suddenly I was amongst birds, not one or two, but heaps and heaps of them. In the next hour or so, I truly enjoyed the best beach birding of the trip. Mostly roosting on shingle or feeding in the shallows of the lagoon, a very respectable 14 species of wader were noted - Willet, Sanderling and Least Sandpiper in best numbers, Ruddy Turnstones, Black-bellied Plovers, Dunlins and Western Sandpipers also prominent. For me however, the best were two American Oystercatchers (the only ones of the trip) and, all congregated on a sand ridge, a neat flock of small plovers - 25 or so Semi-palmated Plovers, 15 Wilson's Plovers, six Piping Plovers and, yippee, three Snowy Plovers. Success at last, plodding the beaches had done the trick.

Also Reddish Egret here, one Belted Kingfisher and an Osprey that was unbelievably tolerant of passers-by, simply sitting atop a post as folk wandered past less than fifteen metres away! Certainly proved good for photographs.

Having seen Burrowing Owls in California just a few months earlier I had not really intended to seek them out in Florida, but remembering reports of them in residential areas on Marco Island, it seemed a shame not to do a little 'kerb-crawling' in the area. From Tigertail Beach, after a couple of random turns, I spotted a little area fenced off with tape between posts. Stopping, a helpful little signpost explained it was a Burrowing Owl nest. No owl present, or at least above ground, but another turn or two and I found two more fenced off areas ...and bingo, on the first, there was a little head peeking out of the burrow, one Florida Burrowing Owl. Well, that was easy! I sat and watched a while. He peered around, swivelling his head, occasionally throwing a glance my way. Very nice he was.

And with that, back to Fort Meyers Beach I went, a monster flock of about 60 Magnificent Frigatebirds awaiting my return, 50 or so Black Skimmers also on the beach behind my hotel. Sunset over the sea, back to the hotel.
 
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