Birding in Largo

We went over to see my sister and niece before they left the state for a new life in Virginia. We had a nice pizza dinner and talked awhile before retiring for the night. The next morning I got to head out for a little birding before we returned to Orlando. My Dad and I went looking for Towhees at Walsingham Park but only heard them so no photos like I was hoping for.

Following the call of an Eastern Phoebe we instead ended up under some oaks with a mall feeding flock of warblers. The branches made for difficult IDs but finally a bright Prothonotary Warbler was in view.



Next we headed over to Walsingham Botanical Garden as Dad was searching for some ideas for plants to get that attract pollinators.



The entire collection of Milkweed was being consumed by voracious Monarch caterpillars.



In another part of the gardens we found some adults scattered about flowering trees and shrubs.



I remembered that we were not far from Largo Nature Preserve so we drove over and took a walk through the nature trail that goes through a small forest of oaks and other plants like native Wild Coffee. In a short time we were surrounded by birds. I have never seen so many White-eyed Vireos in a single day ever.



More Prothonotary Warblers were high in the trees. Previously, I had only seen 3 Prothonotary Warblers in my life. Today we found 4.



While we were craning our necks to ID warblers a Gray Catbird popped up directly across the boardwalk railing and then flew off just as quickly.



A Pine Warbler grabbed a caterpillar along one of the branches and thrashed it about before stopping to feast.



Suddenly, a wave of birds came in near to the ground. By the time they were close enough we could see that they were Hooded Warblers. They were moving so fast it was difficult to get a shot. This female paused on the log for a couple of seconds before heading deeper into the underbrush.



We rushed along the boardwalk in hopes of intercepting them but they stayed just ahead of us and did not make for a sharp image. this male only stopped to enjoy the Crane Fly it snagged.



He gave me a few seconds more of that pose and then was gone into the shadows.



If it weren't for a trip home to make we would have stayed even longer but it was time to move on. As we got to the end of the boardwalk we saw that an Osprey was flushed away from its perch by another visitor. The bird had a large fish in tow and landed on the nest platform ahead of us before flying of again.

Down along the path, pair of Mourning Doves watched us anxiously but didn't fly off.



Just as we were about to head to the car I spotted the Osprey making a return. It still had the fish as I saw it dive behind the trees. It seemed like it found a private spot to continue lunch so I quickly hurried over to see if it was in view. Yes!



I got to spend several minutes getting shots as the Osprey fed upon the large bass it had gotten form the pond below. Even with the harsh backlighting (and no flash) I was able to get some nice action photos.



One more species was back near the doves on my way out. A Double-crested Cormorant sat quietly even when I walked pretty close. Smile, Blue-eyes!



The boardwalk through the woods was not yet built the last time I was here when the Nature Preserve was first opened years ago. Now I know where to come for migration the next time I am in town.

A Warbler Wearing Golden Robes

Be prepared for a history lesson.

It has been too long since I took part in a a monthly Mead Garden bird count. After my nice birding encounter yesterday and seeing a calendar reminder I figured it was time to get back there and help. After all, we just got our birding checklist printed this year after years of collecting data on the monthly count for the past 6 years.

I blame the kids and their Scout events.

I got there at 7. My calendar program had it listed to start then but it turned out to be starting at 8. Fine. I can walk around and keep myself occupied. Not 15 minutes into exploring as the sun began to rise was the discovery of a rumored Prothonotary Warbler preening in some plants.



Lighting was bad but there was no doubt. The bird soon moved along toward the creek and I explored some more. Soon, I met a jogger by the creek who mentioned that a Barred Owl was seen on the ground upstream.
I headed that way but did not find it. On the way back, however, it was back there and flew up into the cypress. We chatted for a while.



Once the main birding group assembled and began searching for whatever we could find, we all relocated the Prothonotary. Everyone got good looks and then moved on. Paul Hueber and I were trying to nail down a few more IDs before catching up and I rediscovered the Prothonotary feeding over the creek. The early sunlight was still not great for photos for me but didn't stop me from trying to grab as many images as possible.



O.K. History lesson, as promised. The Prothonotary Warbler was "named after officials in the Roman Catholic Church (originally a "principal clerk of a court") known as the protonotarii, who wore golden robes".



A beautiful little bird. Something we don't see in Mead often. If ever before.



I checked back later in the morning to try and relocate it but failed to do so. At least we had a nice stretch of time with it in our presence.



As the group headed off toward Pennsylvania Ave, I detoured onto the crumbling boardwalk alone and went in search of anything new. The only thing out there besides more Cardinals and wrens was Greg. Greg is a Great Egret that frequents this portion of the river and marsh. For some reason he accepted me walking up to him and at times refused to give up the boardwalk to my advance. I love that.



Back in the oaks toward the parking lot, the group found a nice Red-shouldered Hawk. It was looking for something on the ground for a while and then appeared to have found something when we turned our heads. We could not determine exactly what it was eating.



This was a really nice specimen. It soon flew off and as the rain moved in, we ended our count. Great to hang out with old friends again. Not that you are all old. ;-)



The months should bring in more surprises soon. Tomorrow we open mist nets before dawn.

Blue and Gold Migrants

My mantra of late has been "blue and gold" since I have been hoping to get something exotic at the site like a Cerulean Warbler or Golden-winged Warbler. No luck on those. However, we did get those colors today at Wekiva!

Another welcome sight was the first male American Redstart of the Fall season. We have been banding females for a couple of weeks. This male had interesting orange edges to all of its black feathers.



Then came the blue! A Black-throated Blue Warbler, actually.
A lovely male.



Bring on the yellow! My first ever Hooded Warbler was seen at Wekiva last year. We even banded a few females. This year, I was stunned to see this adult male as it we got it out of the bag.



We later caught a younger male Hooded but the colors were nowhere as striking.

The same cannot be said of the Prothonotary Warbler that greeted us late in the morning. To me, it fairly radiated gold as I brought it out of the bag. The first I have ever gotten to hold.



A nice range of color for the day which also brought us the brown of Verrys and the black and white of Chickadees. That should change in the next few weeks as we get the full onslaught of gray. Catbirds are right around the corner!