Birding Merritt Island NWR

Howdee all,

While at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival

I skipped one of the classes I signed up for to spend the day birding with the gals.

Linda, Melanie and DonnaWe went to Merritt Island NWR

We started out on the Refuge driveStopping on our way for a photo opt with a Great EgretWe drove to the beach…And took a stroll…Fisherman lined the beach…Little Sanderlings chasing food…Jelly fish..looked like beached UFOs A Grackle hanging out at the beach…We then took Gater creek road to see what we could seeWe spied a Wood stork in the grass..So, we stopped to get close up photos..Roseate Spoonbills..A beautiful warm day in Florida…Tropical paradise…We spent at least a half hour watching this Osprey…

who didn’t seem to know how to adjust itself to eat the fish…It finally flew away with its catch…Our last stop for the day was the park behind the college where the festival took place…It was close to sunset….see the Vultures in the trees?

Turkey and Black VulturesA Great Egret takes on a Golden hue as the sun starts to set..White Ibis feeding in the evening light…A sweet ending to a LOVELY day with friends

Jeff and I are in Lake Worth now...Have a few birding outings lined up and lots of time will be spent with family here…

Hope you all stay toasty warm…Its 80 here today..and HOT! Almost a bit to hot for me..but I cant complain.. Sending you all a big package of warm…I hope it reaches you soon!

Wings on Wednesday

Howdee all,

I think the Anhinga is a beautiful bird….

The anhinga is a water bird. It does not have oil glands for waterproofing its feathers like most water birds. When it goes swimming its feathers get wet. This helps it dive and chase fish underwater. However when it is above water, it must spread its wings to dry in the sun. It can fly with wet feathers but not as well.

 The adults have beautiful white feathers. The long tail has given the anhinga the nickname, "water turkey". It is also known as the snake-bird because of its snake-like neck. The female anhinga is easy to spot. Her neck and chest feathers are much lighter in color than the male.

Look at that neck…

Those eyes…It stood there pretty much in the same position for over 20 minutes..Just turning its head now and then…

What do you think…is the Anhinga a Beautiful bird?

Brevard Hot spots

Howdee all,

While at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife festival,Jeff, Linda and I went on the Bird outing to the Brevard Hot spots.

Except…the spots weren't hot…

They were cold, burrrr....and no birds…But what did it matter….we had a beautiful sunrise

So..It was ok…

That there weren't that many birds…Here's one…

So bear with me…I got carried away..With the sunrise photos…Isn't it just so serene?

Birders looking at no birds…ok maybe a few Egrets and HeronsBut still it didn’t matter to me..I enjoyed the clouds…and the stillness of the water…And the quiet…Oh look…a non bird…:)

What do we have here?

A flock of birders

ok..enough of this you say… what about the birds?

No birds here…just beautiful clouds

OH here's a bird…a sweet Savannah Sparrow

Digiscoped by JeffWe left the non birdie area and went to  a few other local hot spots..that were hotter..

In one small pond ,in a housing development, were five Roseate SpoonbillAnd about a hundred Black-bellied whistling duckJust standing still in water…Looking like statues…A Turkey vulture in a nearby yard…For all the non birds on our first stop..we ended up seeing many birds..It was mostly by quick drive by birding….to and past the hotspots..

By the end of the day..we had 93 species..Of which I might have seen a bit over half and some for just seconds…So..not my type of birding..but we got a few places on our list to go back to…

Happy Birding!

Jeff and I are headed south as I type..in two days we will be near West Palm Beach..to visit family and to Bird with a few Facebook and twitter friends!

If anyone wants to join us let us know…This Sunday will be Green Cay.