Hike at UCF

The wife had committed to helping at the Scouting event at UCF today and talked me into tagging along with the caveat that I could go, literally, "take a hike" while she worked. I planned on just walking the campus but ended up finding the nature trail and quickly realized I was wearing the wrong footwear. Flip-flops and scrub trails are not the best mix, BTW.

It took quiet a while to find any birds so I was taking photos of flowers to ID for a long time. I might do a post about the flowers all on their own at some point as I found a ton of good plants and flowers. However, I finally heard a long-missed sound erupting from the scrub and soon found a female Eastern Towhee that I had to get closer to despite the fear of stepping on any snakes as I headed off-trail.



As I got closer to the neighborhood near the edge of the trail I began to hear the familiar sound of Chimney Swifts sweeping overhead. There was enough of a breeze to slow them a bit for a shot as they cruised over the pines.



The farther along I walked, I started finding more birds but was surprised as an Eastern Bluebird flew in to perch for a few seconds ahead of me.



High overhead, a flock of Double-crested Cormorants flew past quickly.



Besides the Bluebird, I was even more surprised to start hearing Brown-headed Nuthatches. I had to look hard but finally got a view of a juvenile calling to the adults as they gathered food to feed them.



It waits patiently...



...while an adult Brown-headed Nuthatch plucks a pine seed to work into the lunch menu.



Nearby, a Common Ground Dove dropped in to preen and take a break from foraging near the Nuthatches.



I continued to walk the trail and walked out into the open to get around the ponds and make my way back to the stadium. A police helicopter was flying in and it seemed that they were curious as to why I was there. It circled many times and I noticed volunteer staff walking toward me to see what I was up to.



I began to make gestures that I thought would signal that I was just a bird watcher and not some threat and, eventually, the helicopter landed near the ball field and the volunteers backed off. Don't know who was in it, but they did take their time to get settled in as if it might have been some VIP. My complaint is that is scared off most of the birds I was tracking.



Once the noise subsided, the Eastern Bluebirds dropped back down before heading off into the woods.



I got closer to the stadium where I had started and noticed a flock of Fish Crows exploring something on an island in a retention pond. They were not alone. A pair a Loggerhead Shrikes were defending territory from the crows and gave me some good looks as they chased the crows out of the area.



Just before I finished my walk I could hear another familiar sound in Central Florida. Sandhill Cranes were squawking in the distance and they took flight as I rounded the curve.



Back to base and we finished the day with a lunch provided by the Scouts before heading out. An unplanned hike that provided some nice birds that I had no idea were in that spot. Can't complain.

In Search of Nuthatches

For some reason, I had the urge to go hiking out at Wekiwa Springs State Park. Perhaps it was because we heard the calls of Eastern Towhees at the banding site last week. When we banded at Wekiwa we heard them constantly but this was a first for us at Lake Lotus. I also figured I could check on the old stomping grounds and set a main goal of finding Brown-headed Nuthatches and trying for better shots than I have gotten in the past. This would mean a lot of walking. Been too long. Need the exercise.

This would require a long hike. Nuthatches only show up in the pine flatwoods portion of the park way out along the hiking and horse trails. Most of it is in the open. First, you have to cross a small creek and head out. As soon as I got to the other side of the creek I heard calls all over. Calls of Carolina Chickadees!



Easy to hear and see, not so easy to photograph. There were several pairs of adults being pursued by hungry chicks. I tried to get the begging behavior they show but most of those were obscured. I got one chick in the open for a few seconds.



Fun. But also in this section was a wall of Deer and Robber Flies which zoomed around and onto me relentlessly as I tried to photograph the Chickadees. Time to hike into the open and be free of these pests. After about 20 minutes of hiking I heard a White-eyed Vireo in a bush up ahead. I was happy to think I could get a close shot of one of these guys today, too. Just before I got to the bush, a small shape dropped out of the sky and then back onto a branch of a pine tree. Nuthatch!



I was listening for their 'squeaky play toy' calls but this family was not making a sound. If not for that bird dropping out of the pine I would have walked right past them. Now I had to try and get a shot as they zipped around the branches and kept their backs to me when actually in the open. I still like this shot for the color and the feeding behavior it demonstrates.



Flying around with the Nuthatch family was another bird you would expect here. A Pine Warbler. They were calling all over the place today but tend to also stay way at the tops of the pines.



A bit of patience (not my strong suit) finally paid off with a shot of a Nuthatch looking my way with a seed ready to eat.



They soon headed to the tip-top of the trees so I headed on. The vireo moved on so I continued up the trail and toward the water. I was actually kind of disappointed with what I found. The map shows Rock Springs Run along the property but all you see from the trail is a little open spot of water to put in your kayak, I guess. I had hoped to have the trail go all the way down the run where I could see it. At least a Pearly Eye made it more interesting.



I walked all the way to Camp Cozy and back out into the open and began my turn back to try and find more Nuthatches or other birds. A 1/4 mile down the trail a Summer Tanager flew in for a brief minute and then headed off into the distance.



I heard another call up ahead but didn't recognize it right away. Finally I could see it. An Eastern Bluebird! The bird would never let me get closer than this but it stayed along the trail occasionally perching and singing before flying ahead of me again.



The next stand of pines revealed a couple birds that I thought were Nuthatches but turned out to be Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. Easy to find but I noticed it was flying back to a spot on a high branch, flying out for food, and flying back to the same spot. I could finally tell it was returning to a nest! More interesting is that this is a male, told by the black eyebrows.



The trail led me back to where the Chickadees were and it forks off to a blue trail blaze I have never been on so I decided to take that. It goes back into the trees along the creek a couple of times. Down in the creek at one spot I discovered an Ebony Jewelwing resting in the one spot of sunshine. These are very large damselflies and so green it is amazing.



Now up into the palmetto scrub section of the park and I finally got a White-eyed Vireo to come down to eye level for a moment. Still need a better shot but it was off in a hurry.



I also began to hear Eastern Towhees the closer I got to our old banding territory. Luckily, a male jumped up out of the scrub and sang while I got to a good spot for a shot.



Another stoke of luck. Just after the Towhee flew off two White-eyed Vireos flew in with competing songs and in search of bugs. One flew fairly close to me and I managed to catch a shot of that bright, namesake eye.



I was almost back at the banding trail and hoped to find some Red-headed Woodpeckers. No luck there but I did find all the old net poles still where we left them many years ago. The trees have grown up over the paths but if you know where to dive in... I did like the patterns on the young Pine Trees now growing in various locations.



Whew! Long post. 7 miles of walking. Tired but I got what I came out here for with the Brown-headed Nuthatches and got some other fun experiences, as well. Now, still nearly an hour drive home...

St. George Island Vacation, Pt. 4

The boys and I took one last walk down the shoreline on the northern edge of the island. I had only been over there during high tide and wanted to see what might be feeding there on the mudflats. There were a different variety of species on this side.

Out on the far edge of the flats were Killdeer and a Semipalmated Plover.



A bird I find more and more attractive as I photograph them, Willet, feeds in great morning sunlight.



Out at the tip of the island, a large gull fed on something mysterious on the beach. As we got closer the gull walked to the edge of the beach and I could see it was an adult Herring Gull. I am used to juveniles on the Atlantic side of the state so the adult version was throwing me for a minute.



But what was it feasting upon? Yum! An octopus!



On our walk back, we had many other birds fly past us. This Brown Pelican made a close pass.



As did this Laughing Gull.



We got back to the campsite and packed up and began our trip home. There were a couple of stops I wanted to make along the way so we headed over to Bald Point. The weather was taking a turn for the worse (it had been raining inland for a day or so) and there were not a lot of birds to be found.

The best spot was the main entry to Bald point which was alive with sparrows, Blue Birds, and more. I stepped out to investigate and heard a familiar voice. A Carolina Chickadee!



Finally, I found some Brown-headed Nuthatches. Not the Siskins I was hoping for but something nice all the same.



A great trip. Some day we will have to get back here and really go through the other bird sites such as St. Marks. Until then, back through the rain, into the night, and home.