2014 Orlando Wetlands Festival

Where the last few weeks go? Past me too quickly, that's where. Finally, our first off-site banding for the year out at the Orlando Wetlands Festival. I have a whole other post over at the banding blog that focuses more on the visitor interaction if you are interested and you can see that by clicking here.

I also wanted to show some shots that were not on that post by adding them to my regular birding blog. I didn't take many shots as I was busy banding birds and giving info to the visiting public and thought I would share here. So...

For many years, we have been doing banding demonstrations at the Orlando Wetlands for their festival. The wetlands are a pretty amazing spot between Orlando and Titusville and is primarily used to treat waste water as it leaves residential homes around the area and is cleaned up before it reaches the St. John's River. It is a wide expansion of land and marsh and draws many bird species throughout the year. This year, they are modifying some of the ponds and a large amount of new birds are feeding throughout the property.



The forecast was for ZERO rain for the day but wind. By mid-morning a ranger reported a storm coming in. Great. We had to close the nets for a while and I took the opportunity to do a little walking about for bird watching. I was very happy to see large numbers of Blue and Green-winged Teal near the shoreline. I have a bad track record of getting good shots of these birds as it always seems that when I see them it is when there is poor lighting. I tried anyway.



Even worse, when I got back to look at the photos I realized that I had neglected to reset my camera from when I was taking indoor shots of my oldest during a concert. Tons of noise. Blech.



The storm began to clear and the winds picked up in earnest and led to Black Vultures taking wing in the gloom.



Black Skimmers rested along a bank out in the pond. They are not often seen this far inland.



Just to their right were some terns. Royal and Forster's loafed along the other birds.



Just in front of the Terns and Skimmers were several Dowitchers, Long-billed, I think.



As I was watching the ducks and other species American Coots began to go crazy and call out in alarm and spooked most other lake birds. What? A shadow drifted overhead and I was greeted with the sight of a Bald Eagle on the hunt.



While the ducks and Coots headed for cover the other species didn't take much notice. The Sandhill Cranes continued to forage out in the marsh.



White Pelicans were seen way out in the waters beyond the Cranes and ducks.



With the water levels down, up to 200 Roseate Spoonbills have been seen in the area. I only found a few and got only one shot on my trek.



Hunkering down in the growing wind, a Snowy Egret



Nearby, a Great Egret hopes for the increasing crowds to move along.



I noticed a different kind of Ibis out in the distance. A White-faced Ibis was sitting calmly out on the flats. A rare bird from year to year.



The sunshine began to work its way in and I tried for some more shots of the Green-winged Teals.



If only I had the setting correctly set. I love to see Green-winged Teals, especially so close by.



I did a bit more searching and found some Gadwall and even a Northern Shoveler trying to stay hidden from prying eyes.



Later in the morning, a huge flock of White Pelicans soared overhead.



Finally, an American Robin stopped by the banding table for a quick view before we had to leave for the day.



The festival is always an interesting day but I hope that next year we have less wind and more captures during our stay. Time to get all the poles back for the next banding day next Sunday.

Chasing (and missing) a Godwit at Fred Howard Park

So it was twitch time. With the predicted heavy rain still far off in the Gulf and with a couple hours to spare thanks to my understanding wife, we made a bee-line for Fred Howard Park to look for a possible new Life Bird: A Bar-tailed Godwit. I wasn't even going to try but a post came through that the bird was there now and we arrived in less than 90 minutes at the described location.

We arrived and, as Dad paid the entry fee, I jumped out to scan the flock in the area where the bird was not long ago. The bird...was not there. All we found were a few Marbled Godwits hanging with Willets on the beach.



We decided to walk around the parking lot and take a rest stop. The most obvious birds were Red-winged Blackbirds feeding along the vegetation.



Laughing Gulls were resting on top of the restrooms so I had to take a quick close-up while I could.



The rain was beginning to move in on us, wave after wave, as we rounded the western edge of the park. Not much there but a Semipalmated Plover.



Back by the initial flock the best I could discover was a Wilson's Plover. Not too bad, but not the bird I was after.



I had thought I saw a possible candidate bird as we drove in so I opted to go back and see if it was THE bird. Nope. Just another Willet. I had to retreat to the car as the rain increased and we watched another Semipalmated Plover along the embankment.



On the opposite side of the road I spotted a few Common Loons coasting in the gloom.



Not willing to conceded defeat yet, we headed back and the flock had shifted to the other beach. Right by the road was a small flock of Short-billed Dowitchers in the seaweed.



People were crossing the beaches and flushing the resting flocks, especially the hundred Black Skimmers just looking for a place to relax.



Still no Bar-tailed Godwit. Dang. Time to give up. Rain was still coming. On the way home, we made a stop at a water treatment plant where we noticed a TON of ducks on the ponds there. Dad stopped the car and I got out in the pouring rain to get some shots for later processing. Most ducks we have ever seen in one spot ever. I am guessing 6,000 Redhead.



The shot above is just one frame of a couple of dozen I took of the entire scene. I made panoramas of each side but am not sure how to present such a large photo here. I did make sure to take a closer shot of one very lightly colored Redhead before I had to escape the rain. My camera was getting too wet.



We headed home. Life Bird #2 missed for the trip. Oh, well. According to later forum posts, the Bar-tailed Godwit headed North and was spotted miles away and even returned to the first spot after we got back to Orlando. Thanks, Godwit. No year-ending new birds for me. Guess I will just have to gear up for local birds next week.

Black Skimmer Feeding Near Dark

One of the more interesting sights we discovered while watching the Spoonbills was the sudden appearance of a gliding form between the mangrove banks. A Black Skimmer was feeding just before nightfall above the swallow waters.

Here, it makes a grab at the water's surface. A miss.



You can get the full view of this image by dragging it to your desktop and then you can probably tell that this grab was a success. There is a tiny fish in the bird's bill!



Once a run through this section of water was completed, the Skimmer would make a wide circle back to its starting point and would fly right towards us again and again.



I usually only seem to encounter Skimmers while they are resting and have always wanted to get a shot of them feeding because it is such a unique technique.



Could have used better light but it was fun to watch and shoot, anyway.



I also liked the trails it left on the water as it skimmed along.



A very exciting end to a nice stroll at Black Point. Never seems to disappoint me no matter when I visit.

Meeting Laura Erickson

A friend joined up to support the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and to get subscriptions to "Living Bird". I get to share the magazine as well as any other goodies (decals, etc.).

She received a letter letting her know that she was invited to a special bird walk with Laura Erickson during the Space Coast Birding Festival. My friend doesn't go out on too many outdoor hikes so she passed the invitation along to me. I hadn't planned on attending anything at the festival this year but since it was a special walk, why not?

Plus, I have been listening to Laura's radio shows and podcasts for years so it would be a chance to meet someone of like mind.

However, as the day approached, word of a strong front was posted and by the time I got to the meeting location the rain did begin to fall. I went inside to receive my complimentary copy of Laura's book, "The Bird Watching Answer Book", which she compiled for Cornell (thanks for the autograph, Laura!) and we all gathered to discuss if the walk would go on as planned or not.

Some folks opted out. Some wanted to go on the planned excursion to Viera Wetlands to find the Masked Duck. The rest of us stayed close and decided to try finding anything interesting at Black Point. Seeing as I had a van, I was elected to drive. My pleasure since it is a favorite haunt.

We paused at Parrish Park first to look over the resting gulls and a Black Skimmer that Laura is peering at through her scope.



Then I hurried the folks along as darkness was approaching and I wanted to get a look at Black Point before we were not allowed in. Not many birds in the first parts of the drive but I suggested that we stop at the new observation areas along the way. Here, the group finds a Sora in the mangroves.



At the farthest blind we all took in the wading birds.



I will be posting more of my bird pictures from here shortly (as this post is getting long!) but it was a pleasure meeting everyone involved even during a gloomy late afternoon with only a few handfuls of birds along the way.

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.