Author: Lonely Birder

SCBWF 2015 : January 22 : Diceandra Scrub Sanctuary, Chain of Lakes Park, Fox Lake Park at Night

The Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival kicked off on Wednesday, January 21st, but I didn’t have my first event until Thursday morning. There was a morning excursion to the Diceandra Scrub Sanctuary in Titusville. The main goal of this particular trip was to see the endangered Diceandra Mint (sometimes called the Titusville Mint) which is endemic to the sanctuary. Much of the focus of the trip was on scrub ecology and how it related to the plant’s presence there.

ready-to-go
A flock of birders descend on Titusville.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I appreciate ecology and biology in general. I’m an environmental geographer and conservationist, but I was there for the birds. Many were singing, and we got some decent views of the Florida Scrub Jays that live on the property. Unlike the jays at either Malabar Scrub Sanctuary or at the Cruickshank Sanctuary, these jays were wary and kept their distance.

Florida Scrub Jay on the lookout
This jay was acting as a sentinel as it’s family members foraged below. The jays insisted on being between us and the sun, making photography a challenge for me.

Our trip leader was very interested in the mushrooms and other fungi we saw, and stopped to explain the various types. I was surprised by how many wild mushrooms are edible, We didn’t come across any overtly poisonous ones, though.

Here’s the list of species identified on the property.

  • Eastern Towhee
  • Blue Jay
  • Red-shouldered Hawk
  • Carolina Wren {♫)
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Eastern Phoebe
  • Fish Crow
  • Florida Scrub Jay
  • Gray Catbird
  • Palm Warbler
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • Black Vulture
  • Common Grackle
  • White-eyed Vireo
  • American Robin
  • Common Ground Dove
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Tufted Titmouse

After heading back to Festival HQ (at Eastern Florida State College – Titusville) for a quick lunch, I decided to take a walk to the park area behind campus. Chain of Lake Park consists of some artificial lakes (or large ponds, more accurately) with paths, boardwalks and footbridges around and through the park. On the adjacent fields between it and the EFSC campus were several dozen Killdeer and one medium flock of Ring-billed Gulls.

The variety of bird life was an unexpected pleasure for a suburban-type park. The ponds I walked around had Blue-winged Teals, Mottled Ducks, and even a Lesser Scaup. I flushed at least 3 Wilson’s Snipes from one side of the first pond I walked along.

lesser-scaup
This Lesser Scaup kept looking over his shoulder at me. It’s not paranoia if a birder really is taking photos of you, is it?

There is even a pair of nesting Bald Eagles nearby. I could hear them making their squeaky and giggly calls from the EFSC campus. They appear to be building up their nest in anticipation of some eggs and chicks later in the spring.

Eagle in flight with a bundle of roots
At first I thought this Eagle was bringing food for its mate, but upon closer look, it appears to be a clump or roots or driftwood for nesting material.

The list of bird species at Chain of Lakes Park:

  • Killdeer
  • Cattle Egret
  • Ring-billed Gull
  • Loggerhead Shrike
  • Wilson’s Snipe
  • Savannah Sparrow
  • Lesser Scaup
  • Bald Eagle
  • Red-shouldered Hawk
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Mottled Duck
  • Anhinga
  • American White Pelican
  • Fish Crow
  • Palm Warbler
  • Great Egret
  • American Robin
  • Eurasian Collared Dove
  • Black-and-white Warbler

Finally, on Thursday, I participated in a nocturnal nature hike at Fox Lake Park. I had such a good time last year at the Owl Prowl at Sams House at Pine Island Sanctuary that I immediately signed up for this field trip when I registered for the festival in November.

For this trip we were seated in a flat bed trailer (like what you might ride on in a hay-ride, minus the hay) and driven to a few places to try and call some owls.

First, the trip leader used a recorded Barred Owl call to attract an owl to our vicinity. It worked! A Barred Owl flew in only a few meters over out heads. They don’t seem very bothered by spotlights, so the trip leaders spotlit the bird while many of the people took photographs with their smart phones. I wasn’t expecting that any photos would come out, so I left my camera in the car. I really regret that, but I got some amazing unaided eye and binocular views of the owl. After a few minutes, it called out and got a response from another owl (probably its mate) and got to hear some pretty wild barking and whooping calls.

After they moved off into the distance, we went to the next location to try and call some Eastern Screech Owls. We did not get any responses; however, one of the Barred Owls (perhaps the same one as earlier) followed and watched us for a while. We tried another location, but the Barred Owl continued to join us. Owls are known to be pretty vicious with other owl species, so it’s likely the presence of the Barred Owl kept any Screech Owls from calling out or getting close to us.

It was a beautiful night in any case, and we did some star gazing along the way. Part of the park had been burned as part of a management effort to control the scrub vegetation, so a few places were a bit smoky, but that small annoyance was well worth putting up with for a great night hike.

After that, my first day at the festival wrapped up and I headed home to rest for the next morning.

Forever Birding

As you may have noticed, things are slow here at the Lonely Birder blog. With a couple of weeks of intense birding coming up, I’ve taken the past few weekends to spend time at home and rest up. At one point I mentioned how some of my birding mentors and friends seem to bird every day, versus my once per week adventures. Mrs. Lonely Birder quickly pointed out, “You do go birding every day.” This caused me some pause, and I realized, she is right.

Although Sunday mornings are usually my “official” birding hike for the week, any time I am out and about, I am watching birds and identifying what I see. On the ride to work I might see a dozen or so species, for example, along the main street between home and work. I drove to my parents’ today, which is mostly highway, and saw 15 while driving (there could have been more, but safety first!).

  • Fish Crow
  • Ring-billed Gull
  • Boat-tailed Grackle
  • Palm Warbler
  • Fish Crow
  • Red-tailed Hawk
  • Mourning Dove
  • Cattle Egret
  • Snowy Egret
  • Anhinga
  • Turkey Vulture
  • European Starling
  • Black Vulture
  • Osprey
  • Sandhill Crane

My point is that birding is not always a suburban safari or hours long hike. I know people who are content to watch birds in their yard from the kitchen window. Any time outside affords one the opportunity to see birds (or dragonflies, butterflies, and even lizards). You don’t need fancy equipment (although that can make it more fun!) or field guides (although that can make it easier). You just need eyes, ears and curiosity.

Will It Fly High Like A Bird Up In The Sky?

This past Sunday was my first birding-specific outing of the year, and I decided to check in on my old favorite haunt, Turkey Creek Sanctuary. The weather has been pretty mild, so I was hopeful for some good bird activity.

The past couple of years have really been a let-down for the Sanctuary. Birds seem to be utilizing the park less and less, and good activity is much more sporadic. I’ve seen a couple of reports via the BRDBRAIN and FLORIDABIRDS-L e-mail lists of some decent sightings there, but my morning was more typical of my other outings there.

One major change in the Sanctuary from two or three years ago is the relative dearth of Northern Cardinals. Regular and long-time readers will note my somewhat antagonistic love-hate relationship with these birds. They are beautiful to see and hear, but they had nearly overrun the Sanctuary. It had gotten to the point that their calls and songs were drowning out those of other birds I was trying to find and observe. Oh, how I wish for the good ol’ days! I saw a total of 2 and heard perhaps half a dozen cardinals for the entire morning.

What were plentiful were the American Robins and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. Right upon entering the park and nearing the boardwalk, the first of what would be at least half a dozen overflights of a 10 or 15 American Robins flew overhead. American Robins are migratory; birds from the southern USA make their way to Florida and Mexico for the winter, while birds from further north move into the southern USA. The end result is a north-south shift of the the robins’ range, out of Canada, with a large section of the country having robins all year, though probably not the same robins. I never saw any robins in the park, just flying high over my head, en route to whatever winter roost they will use until they leave in the Spring.

Image ©2007 WhatBird.com

I caught up to a small flock of gnatcatchers on the boardwalk and enjoyed watching them hop and flit about the tree-tops, singing out their wheezy little calls. I was also watching the group closely because often other small birds will associate with the gnatcatchers. Sure enough, a small group of Blue-headed Vireos was there in the same tree. Both the gnatcatchers and the vireos are quite active, but I managed to snap some photographs, clearly showing the Blue-headed Vireos’ diagnostic fieldmarks: white spectacles on a gray head, with yellow flanks and an olive-greenish tail.

bh-vireo
This Blue-headed Vireo was palling around with some Blue-gray Gnatcatchers.

A breeze picked up by mid-morning, sending leaves and other debris swirling around the more open areas. By this time of year at the Turkey Creek Sanctuary the deciduous trees have dropped most of their leaves and the canopy is much more open, which makes observing any overflying birds (like the American Robins) easier. On this day I noted White Ibises, Black and Turkey vultures, a Double-crested Cormorant, and even a high-soaring Anhinga. A pair of Ospreys also went by, calling to each other as the wind swiftly carried them out of sight.

Some typical winter residents were also present, though in very low densities. I saw a single Yellow-throated Warbler, one Downy Woodpecker and two Ruby Crowned Kinglets. My very first visit to this park in 2002 coincided with a mass visitation of kinglets. There were literally hundreds of them throughout the park, hopping on the boardwalk railings and filling the adjacent trees with chittering notes.

I took the opportunity this trip to walk the Scrub Trail. I tend to neglect this trail, mainly due to low bird activity, but it’s a nice loop off the trail leading to the jogging and exercise paths.

path
“A path! A path!”

As I returned back along the western and northern edge of the park toward to exit, I caught the song of a Yellow-throated Vireo over the fence-line. It sound like it came closer a few times, but I never did catch sight of it. I hung around for a while (getting a fire-ant bite on my finger for my troubles) before moving along and out.

Species seen by approximate order of identification:

  • Black Vulture
  • Ring-billed Gull
  • Rock Pigeon
  • White Ibis
  • American Robin
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
  • Blue-headed Vireo
  • Carolina Wren (♫)
  • Fish Crow
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Yellow-throated Warbler
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Gray Catbird
  • Anhinga
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • Ovenbird
  • Palm Warbler
  • Blue Jay (♫)
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • Yellow-throated Vireo
  • Osprey
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker (♫)

Happy New Year everyone, and here’s to another great year of birding!

Scaup ID: A Few Tips

Two varieties of scaups frequent east-central Florida. Telling them apart can be a little challenging, especially if they are not seen together, but there are a couple of tips that might help.

Greater Scaups generally have flatter or rounder heads, compared to Lesser Scaups. Lesser Scaups often have a slight crest or point at the top of the head, behind the eye. Head color is sometimes mentioned as a way to tell them apart, and in the photos below you can certainly see how the Lesser Scaup has a redder head. My experience in the field, however, shows that sometimes the head colors are almost indistinguishable.

g-scaupl-scaup-alt

When seen from the front, Greater Scaups have a wider head bill and nail (the spot at the tip of the bill). The Lesser Scaups’ bills and nails tend to look “squished” sideways. The photo below and to the right isn’t exactly head-on, but you can see how the nail is almost completely round, while the nail on the Greater Scaup (on the left) is a bit wider than it is tall. There is certainly overlap, and viewing angle can complicate things, but at least it is another ID tool that might help with a positive identification.

g-scaup-frontl-scaup-front

Remember, not all birds can be positively identified every time. I have ambiguous bird sightings almost every time I’m out (birding or just doing errands). For example, more subtle point between these two species is the amount of white showing on the sides when these ducks are on the water. Normally, more white shows on the Greater Scaup, while less is evident on the Lesser Scaup. In the photos above, you can see more white on the Lesser Scaup. Trying to figure out what’s what is sometimes its own reward. The joy of birding is in the journey.

Will It Go ‘Round In Circles?

Another year and we’ve about circled around again. It’s fitting that I end the year at the same place I ended last year: at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge’s (MINWR) Blackpoint Drive. This year I saw some of the same cast of players as last year, but hopefully with a keener eye and with some surprises on the way.

The main stars this time were the Roseate Spoonbills. At several points along the drive, several cars were pulled over and everyone was out taking pictures of relatively large flocks of spoonbills. I was fortunate to catch a good look at this pair, pictured below. I’ve not seen an immature Roseate Spoonbill until now.

spoonbills-young-old
An immature Roseate Spoonbill (left) and an adult (right) with a White Ibis in the foreground.

The spoonbills were aggressively feeding with a group of mixed herons and ibises, along with smaller interlopers like Hooded Mergansers and Boat-tailed Grackles.

As I made my way around Blackpoint Drive, the most obvious birds just about everywhere were the American Coots. It must not take much to make a coot happy. They are generally present in large numbers, especially during the winter. Unlike Common Gallinules, American Coots seem to thrive equally in brackish or fresh water. Overwintering ducks often raft with them, I imagine for protection (safety in numbers).

coots-n-things
Going incognito: Look closely and you’ll see Lesser Scaups and Pied-billed Grebes in with the American Coots. I think there’s even a RIng-necked Duck back there somewhere.

I was surprised to learn this past year that Reddish Egrets are actually fairly rare and of conservation concern in Florida. I’ve only seen them at MINWR and at Fay Lake Wilderness Park. I was able to make a short video clip of one feeding, using it’s characteristic “drunken” dance strategy.

“What will we do with a drunken egret? What will we do with a drunken egret? What will we do with a drunken egret? Early in the morning!”

MINWR is a good place to find Northern Pintails, too. Pintails are dabblers; they tip back-end up to reach their food and then briefly upright themselves before tipping back down again. Dabblers will often synchronize their tip-ups, looking like some mad duck Esther Williams wannabes.. This would seem to be counter to an effective predator look-out system, since there is significant time where their heads are all underwater, but it seems to work.

pintail-male
Male Northern Pintail after coming upright. This one has either recently lost or has not yet grown in his long “pintail” for which the species gets its common name.

Both species of scaups were present, though as usual the Lesser Scaups far outnumbered the Greater Scaups. There are a couple of good pointers for telling the two apart, especially if they are both present near each other. I’ll have that as an upcoming post, after the New Year holiday.

g-scaup
Oh, great, a scaup! He is Greater than any other scaup I’ve seen!

Scaups are diving ducks. Like grebes, they will often quickly submerge when they feel threatened and resurface quite a distance from where they first went under water. This can cause some consternation when trying to focus on them in a viewfinder and suddenly they have vanished and you have to remember to put the camera down and wait for it to resurface.

invisible-scaup
This is not a photo of an American Coot. OK, well, it IS a photo of an American Coot, but it’s SUPPOSED to show a Greater Scaup.

Blackpoint Drive is definitely a “waders and rafters” sort of experience for many visitors. There might be the occasional hawk or eagle, and in the shallower sections there can be sandpipers and other shorebirds. But even with my 8x40s the shorebirds can be hard to distinguish. I did bump into a couple that had a nice digiscope out and that was useful in identifying some gulls, terns and sandpipers. There were hundreds of Dunlins, but also a few yellowlegs (both Greater and Lesser species) and some Black-bellied Plovers. Black-bellied Plovers seem so gentle and almost fragile in their winter plumage. They walk very delicately, compared to the frantic running and dashing of the yellowlegs, and the purposeful striding of the Willets.

Just as last year, flights of American White Pelicans soared overhead. I am always awed and impressed with these huge birds. They are ponderous, yet graceful and majestic, yet slightly goofy.

pelican

On the other side of MINWR from Blackpoint Drive’s entrance, just a short drive away,  is the short Scrub Ridge Trail. This trail loops through a small section of upland scrub vegetation adjacent to the marshes and ponds and provides some habitat for Florida Scrub Jays. There had been an e-mail alert the previous day about a Groove-billed Ani sighting near the parking area, so I was hopeful, especially after missing the ani pair that had been seen at Lake Apopka. Unfortunately, I did not see the ani, but I did encounter a family of Florida Scrub Jays. These jays were much more skittish and more prone to hide than the ones I’ve seen at the Malabar Scrub Sanctuary.

scrubjay
This jay acted as a sentinel for the others who would dash out into the grass or shrubs for a few seconds before launching up and over the tops of the bushes and out of sight.

Along the Scrub Ridge Trail the most numerous birds were the Tree Swallows, Yellow-rumped Warblers and Palm Warblers. I heard a few Eastern Towhees, and one female Northern Harrier raced past, scattering coots in a nearby pond. After completing the trail loop, it was time to head home.

Here’s the complete species list, roughly in order of confirmed identification:

  • Great Egret
  • White Ibis
  • Roseate Spoonbill
  • Snowy Egret
  • Glossy Ibis
  • American Coot
  • Boat-tailed Grackle
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Reddish Egret
  • Little Blue Heron
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Wood Stork
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • Fish Crow
  • Pied-billed Grebe
  • Northern Pintail
  • Blue-winged Teal
  • Tri-colored Heron
  • Hooded Merganser
  • Lesser Scaup
  • Northern Shoveler
  • Ring-necked Duck
  • Caspian Tern
  • Ring-billed Gull
  • Herring Gull
  • Dunlin
  • Belted Kingfisher
  • American White Pelican
  • Willet
  • Greater Yellowlegs
  • Lesser Yellowlegs
  • Black-belled Plover
  • Anhinga
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Black Vulture
  • Osprey
  • Merlin
  • American Wigeon
  • Eastern Towhee (♫)
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • Florida Scrub Jay
  • Palm Warbler
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • Tree Swallow
  • Northern Mockingbird
  • Downy Woodpecker

That likely ends by birding excursions for the year. It was fun to come full-circle to MINWR,  and the adventures will continue, with the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival in January, and a short trip to see my friend Laura for Superb Owl Sunday!

Long Walk on the Shortest Day

Sunday morning, I decided to check out Pine Island Conservation Area to see how it’s settling in for the winter. The restoration efforts continue for the southern half, but little has changed for the rest of the park.

I always underestimate Pine Island, and it always ends up taking longer to do whatever I’m trying to accomplish there compared to other birding spots. The main pond is over 1.35 km (.84 mi) long, and I walked a total of 6.5 km (4 miles). Bird densities are usually low, except for the vultures, so you have to work a bit for it.

My day was significant for a couple of reasons. One, was sighting a yellow variant of a House Finch. I’ve seen orange variants described, but never a yellow one. I first noticed a normal reddish individual and then the yellow one nearby. At first I thought it was a warbler with a deformed beak, but after a prolonged look in the binoculars, all the patterns and shapes of a House Finch were there. The call notes from the individual were also in keeping with the rest of the House Finches in the branches close by. The bird came into the light, during a 2nd sighting, enough for two photos, only one of which it wasn’t facing completely away from the camera.

photo yellow-house-finch.jpg
Unusual or “aberrant” plumages, while rare, are normal. There are even occasional reports of yellow cardinals!

Another great find was a flock of American Wigeons sitting at the far end of a secluded pond. I could only see them through some dense understory and they were back-lit, but I’ve included this photo. The glare was so bad in the binoculars that I had to rely on this photo to identify them.

photo wigeons.jpg
I don’t often see American Wigeons, but when I do, I prefer they aren’t back-lit and far away.

Pine Island usually has large groups of both Black and Turkey vultures, but this time as they took to the sky on the first thermal of the day, they had a diverse mix of soaring birds with them. In a single large kettle (that’s a group of birds circling in a thermal together) I saw Anhingas, Ospreys, Wood Storks, Red-shouldered Hawks and even some gulls and terns, in addition to both vulture species.


Nothing says “Good morning!” like a swarm of vultures!

I scared up a number of egrets and herons through the morning, with the Tri-colored Herons being the most vocal and skittish, as usual. There were fewer waders in the main pond than I expected, but there were a few larger alligators around the area, so perhaps they sought out a safer place to be.

photo gator-pan.jpg
“Not if I see you first!” said the 10-foot gator.

There was this nice group of waders, though. A nearby Red-shouldered Hawk had them a little on edge, but they had obviously found a great foraging area, so they stood their ground. Eventually the commotion generated by the Common Gallinules annoyed it enough to fly away, and everyone calmed down enough for me to get this group shot.

photo waders.jpg
A motley crüe…er, crew, of waders!

My morning ended with a nice mixed flock of finches and warblers, including a Prairie Warbler, a very yellow Palm Warbler with some grayer friends, and a few Yellow-rumped Warblers and House Finches for good measure.

Identified birds, in approximate order of confirmation:

  • Black Vulture
  • Bald Eagle
  • Tri-colored Heron
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Palm Warbler
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Common Gallinule
  • Little Blue Heron
  • Royal Tern
  • Savannah Sparrow
  • Eastern Phoebe
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Cattle Egret
  • White Ibis
  • Roseate Spoonbill
  • Wood Stork
  • Osprey
  • Anhinga
  • Ring-billed Gull
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • Common Ground Dove
  • Pied-billed Grebe
  • American Wigeon (FOY)
  • Boat-tailed Grackle
  • Red-shouldered Hawk
  • Killdeer
  • Carolina Wren (♫)
  • Common Yellowthroat
  • House Finch
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • American White Pelican
  • Great Egret
  • Snowy Egret
  • Glossy Ibis
  • Prairie Warbler
  • Green Heron
  • Pileated Woodpecker

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukkah, and Happy whatever holiday you choose to celebrate!

Quick Run to Turkey Creek

I made a quick jaunt to Turkey Creek this morning, and it was fairly quiet, except for near the trail/boardwalk entrance and exit. On my way in the pines near the picnic area were full of a mixed flock of Northern Parulas and Pine Warblers. At the end of my walk just before the end of the Sand Pine Trail by the nature center was a mixed flock of Pine Warblers and several Blue-headed Vireos. Otherwise, there were REALLY worn Zebra Longtail Butterflies throughout the park.

image
Tattered survivor.

And there was this mystery whistle.

Any help with identifying this sound would be welcome. How about it?

Otherwise, here’s the list of birds seen today.

  • Rock Pigeon
  • Pine Warbler
  • Northern Parula
  • Gray Catbird
  • Anhinga
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Green Heron
  • Cattle Egret
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Osprey
  • Black Vulture
  • Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
  • Blue-headed Vireo

It’s been chilly (for Florida) the past several days, but the sun’s been warm, and by mid-morning I’ll take mid 60s Fahrenheit over freezing any day.