A Different Bird for Thanksgiving

It doesn't matter if there is a holiday any particular day. I still head out whenever I can once or twice a day to scan the neighborhoods for any new birds that might show up in the area. Today was Thanksgiving but our plans for family events ended up causing us to celebrate the holiday tomorrow. So, off I went into the morning. Seems like I was the only person to do so.

It was rather odd. There were very few cars anywhere as I traveled around. Not a lot of birds out either. This super hot weather is seeing fewer migrants in Central Florida and it took a while before I even spotted something of interest. As I headed to my next body of water through a side street I saw a bird up on a wire that had a different shape than I was used to. East Grant Street is not super busy but it typically has a few cars on the move at all times. Today? None save myself. I even stopped, put the car in reverse, parked and got out to take a few shots. In the middle of the road.

Ghost town.

I couldn't really figure out what the bird was right away but when I got the images up on the computer my brain scanned through what might be around and finally decided it was a female Brown-headed Cowbird. I usually have seen then miles from here but this was the closest to the house ever. I sent the photo to a friend with my ID and he confirmed. The main thing throwing me off was the white throat.



I did some image searches and some females do show a bit of white but not to this extent. No Turkey for me today but a different special bird for the holiday. Can't wait for Turkey tomorrow.

Searching for a New Life Bird

We were over on the Gulf Coast for the Thanksgiving holidays and there were reports of another potential Life Bird hanging out near Fort De Soto. A Great Cormorant was flying back and forth around Bunches Pass just before you reach De Soto. Knowing most everyone would be sleeping in on Thanksgiving I got up before dawn and headed out on my own. Being the holiday, there were not many others out on the road at sunrise. I looked for the Cormorant but failed to nail it down. Maybe that speck out on the piling? Too far to confirm. Dolphin were passing by, though.



Not wanting to pay $5 just to park and walk around at the boat ramp, I drove slowly through and took note of birds as they presented themselves. It was nice to see a Sandwich Tern after so long away from the coast.



On one of the dock pilings, a Royal Tern refused to wake for the morning light.



Four docks down held a Brown Pelican just arriving from an early breakfast.



Just before exiting the parking lot I spotted a Belted Kingfisher. Of course, they spot you, too, so you usually only get shots of them bolting for the next distant perch.



Since I was there, I decided to actually spent the $5 to go into Fort De Soto itself to see if there were any interesting birds. The Sun was shining brightly on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge but there were not too many birds at the East Loop.



Over at the Gulf pier, I found a few Double-crested Cormorants either snoozing on pilings or posing on street lamps.



A young Brown Pelican cruised past just overhead.



The Double-crested Cormorant was not amused. I find the yawn of these birds to be one of the more unusual sights around.



Off to the side of the pier was a Willet chasing the surf.



A noisy Osprey caught my attention s I headed toward the car. The male was calling while perched on the electric wires near the boardwalk.



The female Osprey was just above on the nest platform gazing out into the distance.



European Starlings were gathering on the wires as I was about to leave. I almost didn't notice the Brown-headed Cowbird trying to blend in among them.



European Starlings left me with a nice bit of symmetry against a bright blue sky.



I stopped at the end of a bridge on the way out and found a Great Black-backed Gull sifting through the seaweed rack.



A few more feet out in the shallows, a White Ibis probed the mud on the lowering tide while reflecting nicely.



Later, before the turkey and fixin's were consumed I refilled Dad's bird feeders and eventually a few birds stopped by, including a juvenile male Red-winged Blackbird.



I was disappointed that I couldn't definitely verify the Great Cormorant but still had a good time. I might still have a chance to try again as we are here for a few more days. Fingers are crossed. I missed two possible Life Birds last year during the holidays.

Mead Garden Mockingbirds

I had a little time to kill so I headed over to Mead Garden. It had been to long since my last visit. OK. Maybe only a couple weeks, but I used to go there every morning before the hurricanes of 2004 wrecked the place. I was hoping to find something of interest. Perhaps some lingering migrants. Most of my time was spent with the locals.

As soon as I arrived I started hearing a sound that I dod not recognize. I pinned down the are where the calls were coming from but still could not find the bird. Eventually, the flock came together in a different tree. Turned out to be Brown-headed Cowbirds. They are seen here from time to time. The first I ever saw was being fed by a warbler after an egg was hatched in its nest, unwittingly.



Not much else was moving besides some high-flying Parulas so I moved toward the boardwalk. Something made a crashing move through the underbrush and I finally found the source. A rabbit was trying to nibble the grasses before I spooked it.



Down near the creek I found the vegetation looking much more healthy after the recent rains. I also found a LOT of Lubber Grasshoppers, most in their pre-molt into adults.



I was happy to see that the ginger plants were blooming. Then I noticed a lot more grasshoppers just as happy.



Along what is left of the boardwalk I only found more overgrown plants and something made a very strange call. I could never find that call-maker but I was soon surrounded by this year's brood of Northern Mockingbirds. They quickly grabbed my attention. Especially when they would sit up in the Elderberry branches right in front of me.



The feather patterns easily identify these birds as juvenile but so does the brown iris staring back at me.



The young birds were greedily gulping down berries as the adults stayed lower and foraged for insects and the occasional fruit.



I finally made my way to the end of the walk and came into the butterfly garden where Titmice and Cardinals fed. However, another Mockingbird surprised me by picking up a Lubber. Lubbers have very few predators so it was heartening to find something eating them as the Lubbers can easily overrun some areas.



This juvenile thrashed the grasshopper into smaller pieces and swallowed the legs while I was shooting. Hopefully, the others will join in.



So, no real finds, otherwise, but this was the biggest brood of Mockingbirds I have seen in years here. A good sign for their flock.

Huge Flock of Brown-headed Cowbirds

I have never noticed many Brown-headed Cowbirds in the Orlando area except for over at Mead Garden where I witnessed a Northern Parula feeding a chick of this parasitic species many years ago.

Today, however, I found a flock of around 200 at a park toward the airport.

It was raining and I had some chores to do, otherwise I wouldn't have even been on that side of town. Since I documented a Snow Goose out here a couple of years ago I decided to see what was in the ponds.

I heard them well before seeing them. They carpeted the trees and were flying to and from the small pond.



They sometimes landed right near me, when they weren't being flushed by the other park visitors. This male gave me a pose for a few seconds.



As did a female.



Why were they all over the pond's shore? Someone had spread many piles of bird seed all over the place.



Meanwhile, the Mallard family was having none of it...

St. George Island Vacation, Pt. 1

We headed to the Panhandle for a much needed vacation and I hoped for some new birds along the way. That ended up not happening but there were a lot of birds to keep me searching, nonetheless.

We stopped for lunch at the western side of St. George Island before heading to the campgrounds. While we waited for our pizza to cook, I noticed a large flock of birds calling across the street. I had to go check it out.

Many, many Brown-headed Cowbirds were there on the lines.



Probably the most exciting find was right at our campsite.

We were set up in one of the many areas around the grounds. Our site was backed up to some shrubs that were growing in very moist ground. Part of the area there actually had made a small pond of water that we could see through the branches. I looked through to spy what might be in there and, too my complete surprise, there was a Clapper Rail!



I had only seen one of these before in the early dawn at Cape Canaveral and it was pretty dark. Here was one right in afternoon light paying very little attention to me. Could signal a good birding trip, after all.

Not long after that, our fellow campers, longtime friends, settled in and broke up some firewood. Turns out that one of the logs was filled with termites. Upon releasing them, birds flew in from the surrounding bushes and hungrily devoured the insects.

Most successful of these birds was this Eastern Towhee.



Joining him were several smaller birds and this Gray Catbird.



We had to get ready for dinner soon but we took a quick walk to the beach on the intercoastal side of the island. Not much there as it was high tide but I did spot something out in the waves.



A nice flock of Bufflehead ducks rounded out the arrival here before Thanksgiving.

The boys had a great time walking the beaches and picking up trinkets and we steeled ourselves against the thought of a very chilly night to follow. Tomorrow, we would hit the main beach and explore some more.