I was up with the 4:15 a.m. alarm, and
drove up to the Scottsmoor Kangaroo Express station to meet the other birders
for the Space Coast Bird Festival’s field trip for Shiloh’s Sharptails,
Marshbirds and More. About 20 of us
assembled, used the store’s restrooms and bought our coffees, then drove out to
the marsh access, which is part of the Merritt Island National Wildlife
Refuge. It was beginning to sprinkle, as
we left, and I’d offered local birder Elza Phillips a carpool ride. As daylight broke, it was obvious that a rain
squall was blowing toward us from the southwest.
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| Things are always blurry before I've had my second cup of coffee . . . |
Soon, the rain began in earnest, and thunder
and lightning – coupled with the weather forecast for the next 3 hours - convinced
the trip leader Mitchell Harris to wisely cancel the field trip. Most of us were crazy enough to go birding in
the heavy rain, but when the lightning flashed, we counted “one-one thousand,
two BOOM!” Not wishing to be the tallest
objects on the marsh was the better part of valor.
As most of the group headed back to
EFSC,
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| The Venue for the Space Coast Bird & Wildlife Festival |
there was a short break in the storm, and Elza and I stayed to bird for a short time
before following everyone back to Titusville.
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| Cattle Egrets in the Rain |
There, Elza and I piled into my rental car, and we headed out toward the
auto tour route at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.
As we crossed the bridge over the
Indian River, we pulled into the parking lot for Parrish Park,
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| Greeted by a Boat-tailed Grackle |
where we saw a flock of Black Skimmers
on the roadway.
These birds have such impossible
profiles!
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| Black Skimmer |
Most of the Black Vultures were soaring
past us,
but several were drying their wings after the morning rains were
slacking off
There was an obliging Cattle Egret in
the shrubbery, and I had forgotten that they can show a dark tarsus (lower leg)
and a yellow tibia.
The Skimmers took off,
and it was time
for us to head down the road to the Pumphouse Road turnoff to check for
birds. The big draw here was a large flock
of Coots and a flock of American Wigeon.
Across the highway, we turned onto the
West Gator Creek loop drive. In the
mile-and-a-half traveled, we saw 30 species of birds. I love seeing Ground-Doves, but the ones here
kept running away ahead of the car, before flying off
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| Ground Doves frustrating my attempts at a decent photo |
The water level was pretty high here,
but that kept the wading birds up where they could be easily seen
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| Snowy Egret |
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| What's not to love about large pink birds? Roseate Spoonbill |
I was thrilled to see the Horseshoe
Crabs along the shoreline, mating by the thousands
During the breeding season, horseshoe
crabs migrate into shallow waters, where the male selects a female and clings
to her back.
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| The male is the little one on the female's back |
You can often see several males
surrounding a female and all fertilize together.
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| Horseshoe Crab cluster-hugs |
A female will then dig a hole in the
sand and lay her eggs while the male (or males) fertilize them. She will lay between 60,000 and 120,000 eggs
in batches of a few thousand at a time.
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| I think this one is "Barnacle Bill" |
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| The pincer of a Blue Crab was in the Flotsam |
Finishing that loop, we continued down
to the Black Point Wildlife Drive.
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| The USFWS has artistic signs - even during the Government Shutdown |
This is a fantastic auto tour route,
providing views of
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| Snowy Egret has black legs and a black bill with yellow "lores" |
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| Immature Little Blue Heron has blue-grey legs and a bluish bill |
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| White Ibis |
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| Tricolored Heron |
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| A very dapper Anhinga in Breeding Plumage |
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| More Big Pink Birds! . . . |
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| . . . next to Big White Birds |
We finished the loop around 1:45 p.m.,
and we parted company in New Smyrna Beach, as I had another field trip through
the Bird Festival in Daytona Beach. The Gull Fly-In at Daytona Beach Shores trip was led by Amar Ayyash & Michael
Brothers, and we met at the Frank Rendon Park and beach access
According to the program, “This beach
has what may be the largest congregation of gulls on any beach in the US. In
addition to the amazing array and density of gulls, the birds allow close
approach. This presents an extraordinary opportunity to observe and photograph
minute details on each species, and a chance to compare various plumages and
age classes.”
The hype is true. There were zillions of gulls on the beach,
and more flocks further up the beach to the north,
as well as more yet
offshore, waiting to return to the beach for their night roost.
There was a gap in the gull flock, due
to the presence of a Peregrine Falcon, which actually grabbed a Laughing Gull
just over the head of Amar! I missed
getting a shot, of course . . . The
Peregrine did keep the flocks stirred up for the entire afternoon
Studying the many plumages of the
gulls, I enjoyed this pink-legged & red-billed Laughing Gull, which stood
out from its more-somber neighbors
Amar and Michael gave the group great
information on the gulls we were seeing
And described the Cannonball Jellyfish
(Stomolophus meleagris) that were washed up on the beach.
These are not supposed to ‘sting’ people, but
some folks have reported that they have a toxin that you might adversely react
to.
We left at dark as the birds were settling
down, and I enjoyed learning more about the East Coast birds
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