JayWatch at Blue Springs

JayWatch had there annual report and volunteer appreciation at Blue Springs this year. I convinced my oldest to tag along and we got there at the time they asked us to be there. turns out they weren't doing anything for us for another 2 hours so we took some walks around the park before hand.

In Orlando, all of the Black Vultures have vanished leaving us with only Turkey Vultures overhead. I was wondering where the Black Vultures had gone. Seems they all came to Blue Springs! There were hundreds of them all along the river. This one found a dead Armored Catfish as we approached the docks.



A Bald Eagle was also present, along with many other usual suspects, but the light was not that great so early in the morning. But the main draw for Blue Springs are the Manatee that congregate in the warmer waters near the spring in the Winter. The winds were very high so getting any good shots were tough.

Fortunately, there were a few near the canoe launch point so we could watch several at the surface up close.



Farther up the stream we found dozens of Manatee. The water was just a bit less obtrusive here soother views were better. Especially when they surfaced.



Right after that shot, a Belted Kingfisher flew in and actually landed in good light. Without the auto-focus I could only get an OK ID shot. Kingfishers are notoriously skittish so having one stay fairly close was nice. Plus, this is a male. Typically, I only find females. They have an additional rusty band on their chests.



As we headed toward the lunch program we had some nice views of an Eastern Phoebe.



The JayWatch results were revealed and, again, the numbers of Scrub Jays are still in decline. We had lunch and headed out to visit nearby Gemini Springs. Nice park! Will have to return in the future. The only good bird shot was of an Osprey searching for fish.



Despite the continuing dire news for the Florida Scrub Jay, my son and I had a great day outdoors.