I got there right at sunrise so I swung around the Click Ponds to see if anything interesting was there. Not a lot of birds except for a lot of Wood Storks.
Once I got to the far side of the ponds I had a great view of the sunrise along with a large flock of Tree Swallows grabbing insects from the water's surface.
There were already a lot of car traffic near the Masked Duck spot but no duck yet so I made a short trip around the berms to see what else was waking. There were Caracaras flying over and the swallows here as well. Near the shore, a Limpkin grabbed and banged away at a snail.
Through my binoculars I could see photographers stepping out of their vehicles so the duck must have started its morning foraging. I made my way back around Cell 4 but was distracted by sparrows in the grass. There were several Savannah Sparrows hopping in the grass and dirt flinging dirt out of the way with each hop to see if they could uncover any breakfast. This one managed a nice treat.
On the opposite side, a Northern Harrier cruised overhead in the low light.
Closer to shore, a Great-blue Heron sat in a low palm tree.
I finally got back to the real reason I was here for the morning and the Masked Duck was out in the open.
Pretty little duck. Females were here a couple years ago but this is the first reported drake.
Right on schedule at 8:30 AM the duck began to move back into the reeds. This timing was observed in the preceding days, as well.
So, back to exploring the other cells before moving on. Other ducks are here, too, including the resident Mallards.
The wintering Blue-wing Teals were present in large numbers and often close to shore.
Green Herons are always a nice find but a bit more secretive most of the time.
Many Anhinga can be seen at close range drying their black and white wings.
Nearby, I spotted this small group of female Ruddy Ducks which were paddling just off of the shoreline.
One more bird to view on the way out of the Wetlands. A Glossy Ibis caught some sort of little eel (or something like it) and made a quick meal of it.
Time to head home but what is a trip to the coast without a stop by Merrit Island. Out at Parrish Park there was a large group of birds including Ring-billed Gulls and many resting Black Skimmers.
Just behind them was a very loud and begging Royal Tern. Another beautiful bird.
One more stop for the day (OK, two. I did go around Bio Lab Road but there was not much out there besides the alligators.) with a trip through Black Point. A lot of cars but not too much near the roads. There were Northern Pintails, Wigeons, etc. way out on the flats but not much more. Except for this nice flock of American Avocets near stop 7.
A nice way to round up the year. Time to head home and chill the champagne for New Year's Eve.
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