Black Terns

Ah, a nice vacation day. Time to head to Titusville and try and find a bird I have previously been unable to locate: Black Terns. There have been reports of them in the Cape Canaveral area for a solid week so I hoped to find at least one bby getting there as fast as possible.

I turned onto Bio Lab Road (adjacent to the NASA launch facility) just around 10 AM. The first bird that I saw was feeding low over the marsh. Could it be...?

Yes! A Black Tern. Then another. I hopped out of the van and tried to get a shot as they sped over the marsh and occasionally dove into the swallow waters to grab a fish.



They flew along the roadside and sometimes across it to provide some very nice views. A nemesis bird, no more.



Farther along the road I noticed a shadow in the waters of the Indian River Lagoon. I had seen this shape before so I slowed to see what would happen. It was, as suspected, a large alligator that soon breeched the surface with its tail and head arched upward.

Soon, it grabbed downward onto some prey, But what had it caught?



Upon closer inspection, it seemed that it had caught a Horseshoe Crab and was trying to figure out how to swallow the thing without getting that barbed tail stuck in its throat. An awesome sight to watch.

One the way home, I stopped at Parrish Park to see if any shorebirds were hanging out. I found many but my favorites are the Ruddy Turnstones at this time of year. The plumage is just striking.



Not a bad day. Except for the tons of mosquitoes hanging around Scrub Jay Ridge. No Jays. Only the bugs and a few migrating Prairie Warblers. Danged blood suckers nearly drained me dry!