Black Point Drive, Part 2

Now that I had gotten my target bird, Gadwall, I continued my tour of the loop at Black Point. I wanted to try and make it around to the entrance again before dark so I made my way down the road, stopping briefly to get some other shots along the way. Just past Stop 7 I spotted a small flock of American Avocets resting in the shallow water.



To the right, a Belted Kingfisher watches for its next meal.



Some of the driving was slow as tourist stopped in the middle of the road to stare at something they have never seen before like this gator drifting up near Stop 10. "That's a baby!," I told them as I passed them on the left.



Back to the entrance and back to Stop 4 to see if the Gadwall had come closer to the road. Nope. Oh, well. I had the ID shots I was after so now a I could take a casual drive as sunset approached. There were not a lot of shorebirds around only a Semipalmated Plover...



...and a few peeps on the mud flats.



I relocated the Reddish Egret that was posing during my last trip. This time it was dancing around and fishing.



Drifting by in one of the impoundments, a male Northern Pintail. Such an impressive duck.



Approaching the Avocet flock again, I found a Snowy Egret cruising the edge of the road.



As the last of the day's sunshine finally breaks through the clouds a Pied-billed Grebe chugs along.



Nearby, a pair of Hooded Mergansers looks for a place to rest for the night.



Finally, a flock of Roseate Spoonbills glows in the waning light. One even yawns as I make my way towards home.



12 hours and 300 miles later and I can get some sleep myself. A long day but an inspiring one. I love Black Point Drive.

Viera Wetlands

Made a run out to Viera Wetlands for the last trip of the year to locate the Masked Duck drake that has been hanging out and first reported by fellow photographer friend, Donna Faylo. Nice spotting, Donna!

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.

North Lake Jessup Has New Name

First off, I am disappointed with my horrible shots on this trip but I thought it was worth a post anyway. Exposure off? Was it the heavy winds blowing me off balance in the mud? Who knows. It is always fun to get out to Lake Jessup on most occasions, though. Most birds were far away so the close cropping doesn't help, either.

Also, it seems that what I knew as the North Lake Jessup Conservation Area has a new name. It is now the Lake Jessup Marl Bed Tract. OK.

I was hoping for some fun sparrows or maybe the return of the Vermillion Flycatcher but didn't get any of this species. Did find a lot of Savannah Sparrows all along the lake's edge.



Running along the cattle paths were several calling Eastern Meadowlarks. Always a great sound to have as background ambiance.



There were many shorebirds resting and feeding in the muddy, shallow water just past the pasture grasses.



Also resting by the water was a large group of Caspian Terns and Ring-billed Gulls. First time I have seen the Caspians there.



Started to hear a rumbling off in the distance and then realized it was an air boat approaching on the far side of the slough. I watched as it spun around and then made its way over to where I was. Eventually, it swung around toward the enclosed area where all the birds were trying to get some rest. It then sped straight through this spot which caused all of the resting birds to take flight to avoid this very loud intruder.

Ah, humans...



Eventually, several Forster's Terns rose up and began feeding, using the wind to aid them to hover before diving down for a fish.



This is a really bad exposure but pretty interesting and I didn't notice it until processing the photos. Notice that the bird is in its usual flying position but its head is completely upsidedown!



Best discovery of the day was an American Avocet which was back behind the reeds when I first spotted it and then it flew from that spot and then passed out in front of me out over the lake.



The larger bird was overtaken by one of the many Killdeer patrolling the lakeside before coming to rest in a new feeding spot.



Though it was one of my first discoveries, this Dusky Pigmy Rattlesnake resting in the grass near the parking area was a nice surprise.



Beautiful but deadly. The snake did not move as I took photos and was gone by the time I returned to the van.



Can't wait for another trip to this excellent birding area. Sans air boat...