Today was a terrific day of birding and learning. With my birding buddy, I left Gainesville at 4:00 AM, heading toward Merritt Island NWR. On impulse we decided to travel via Sanford and do a bit of nosing around a county that neither of us knows very well. We ended up spending a little time driving along W. Osceola Road until we reached an area known as the Osceola Fish Camp. It looks like a gorgeous spot, but the grass was too high, the trails hadn't been mowed, and the water was WAY off in the distance. Since the target was MINWR and shorebirds, we gave the place only a cursory look and decided it would be better in winter. Still, I scored two county ticks for Seminole, an American Coot in Lake Monroe and a Prairie Warbler in the parking lot of the "Fish Camp". I'll find out the correct name of the place and report it in a future blog.
Then we went on to Merritt Island and had a wonderful day studying shorebirds. I readily admit that shorebirds are daunting at times. I mean, usually when we see them in Florida, they all look alike. OK, not really, but how many shades of beige are there? So today was a treat. Many of the birds were in breeding plumage or close enough to it to make them look different ... and beautiful. Hey, there was a Spotted Sandpiper that had spots! Who knew? So, knowing me, you wouldn't expect me to say this: I really enjoyed looking at a flock of peeps and deciding which were Leasts, Semipalmateds, and Westerns. I actually started to see differences in bill thickness, length and shape. That was cool. I was thrilled to become suspicious of a slightly larger bird whose primaries projected beyond the tail and then find a nice white rump peeking out from under the folded wings. I was pleased to see the butt-bobbing walk of a Solitary and then be able to confirm that with few details. Add killer looks at nearly a dozen Stilt Sandpipers and four baby Black-necked Stilts, and you have a great day. And I added five county ticks to my Brevard list ... hoo-rah!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Tell me what you think!