January 26 - Lake Woodruff NWR

Again, I was up at 3:15 to make coffee, eat a quick breakfast of cold cereal, and head out to Titusville for a visit to Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge.  The bus with 18 birders left at 5 a.m., stopping at a convenience store for a “Potty Stop” because the restrooms at the Refuge are still locked due to Trump’s Government Shutdown.  Theoretically, the fight that resulted in the Shutdown has been, at least temporarily, resolved - but it will certainly take a while for the poor government employees to catch up from weeks of neglect.

We arrived at the parking lot at daybreak, and hooted for owls, but had no responses.  Lake Woodruff is a 21,574-acre National Wildlife Refuge, managed through the Merritt Island refuge complex.

Apparently, we need to watch out for the wildlife

We walked out onto the dike, and immediately began hearing and seeing birds.

Trip leader David Hartgrove gets them on the Sedge Wren

The marsh was alive with the calls of Soras, and the photographers in our group had a field day - none of my shots were in focus... something about leaving the camera on the wrong setting.

We heard a Least Bittern’s distinct call from about 20 meters away, but never got to see it.  The call notes of Common Yellowthroats and Sedge Wrens also resounded.  The Sedge Wrens were a species, I hadn’t seen for years, and I finally saw them popping up and down from the grasses and rushes for “identifiable” although not great views.  The Swamp Sparrows are much more obliging, and would tee-up for photos.

A sparrow in the swamp - must be a Swamp Sparrow!

We took the Hammock trail loop through the pines and palms,

Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas any more . . .

then back out on the dike where they have done some clearing to open up the habitat

White Ibis making good use of the cleared marsh

past the observation tower

Sometimes, you can see just fine from the ground

and back to the parking lot along Spring Garden Lake.  We had good views of Turkey Vultures sunning themselves out of the wind,

fly-bys of Sandhill Crane pairs,

and of course there were more Soras, Anhingas,

herons, ibis and egrets – as well as a very cooperative Pied-billed Grebe.
Among the many species of plants that I didn’t recognize was this splash of bright red.  The red maple is one of the first signs of the Southern Spring, with red fuzz of the tiny red flowers creating a hazy effect.

Later (now) the tree appears to turn even more vibrant red, but that color is from the seeds - the bright red winged samaras.  The leaves apparently emerge subsequently.

Red maple - Acer rubrum

We drove back to the College, and through the bus windows I saw several of the feral Muscovy Ducks that are now an ‘established exotic’ species here in Florida.  No photos . . .

At the festival venue, I went through the Exhibitors’ booths again to see their wares, and check up on the Festival’s bird sightings.

Didn't we see that today?

They were drawing the winning raffle ticket for a Swarovski BTX 95 package at 3 p.m., so I decided to go over to the home of a couple of birders just north of town.

Doug and Susie Stuckey had graciously opened their home to Festival birders, and as I got out of the car and began scanning the yard with my binoculars, I was immediately greeted by a Baltimore Oriole at the driveway feeder.

Male Baltimore Oriole

Doug invited me inside and I met a wonderful and kind couple!  Doug has turned his average Florida yard into a wildlife haven with plantings and well-placed feeders and bird baths.  The big draw here was for the flock of Painted Buntings (sorry, no photo.  Hey, I’m a birder, not a photographer…), and we were lucky enough to see a Prairie Warbler sneaking through the cover.

I left these fine people and went back to the Festival, only to find that I was - unfortunately - not the winner of the Swarovski scope.  I checked the schedule with the Festival folks, because the weather was blowing up tomorrow, with heavy rain and pretty good winds projected.  I was signed up for a Pelagic trip on Monday, but sadly found that it had been cancelled.  Sigh . . .  I guess I’ll have to get out on one of Brian Patteson’s pelagic trips to  see the offshore Atlantic birds.

Lake Woodruff NWR eBird Checklist is Here
The eBird Checklist from the Stuckey's yard is Here