In Between Cub Scout Nature Walks...

I was volunteered to give Nature Walks for groups of Cub Scouts and their parents through parts of Mead Garden all day today. Despite having my camera slung over my shoulder for over 8 hours, I barely took any shots. I was too busy pointing things out to take many photos.

However, I did have a few minutes during lunch and a few minutes once the walks were over and actually got more things on the card than I thought I did. In fact, I almost forgot that my fellow Mead birder friends pointed out a bird to me as I was making my way back for the next group. The first Eastern Wood Pewee of the season. Not the best shot but it counts!



During my lunch break I found my sandwich in the cooler beset by ants. Sigh. Off to circle the lake. More walking instead of relaxing but I can't resist the urge to find something while I am out. At the amphitheater I saw a bird dart into the Virgina Creeper berries. Turned out to be a female Summer Tanager. From below...



It didn't take long, though, for a bunch of Red-eyed Vireos to fly in and chased the Tanager away. Then they stood watch for a bit.



Down by the lake, a few Ibis, Titmice and herons rested along the shoreline and in the shrubs. I liked this pose of a Tricolored Heron up on the old dead tree over the water.



I headed around the shore and was surprised by a movement at my feet. It was a frog. More surprising was that it did not hop directly into the water as most frogs do. I had to do a little research and discovered this is a Florida Leopard Frog. Neat. I love the way the skin looks painted.



This little fella even let me get up close and personal for a more interesting view. It never even tried to move any further.



On the far side of the lake (OK, so it is really a large pond...) a number of Red-eared Sliders were sunning on the logs. Most jumped back into the water as kids ran by but the largest paused to look me over.



On the way back to get some more checklists for the next group of Cubs I saw the only raptor we would see all day. A Red-tailed Hawk circled high above and then off into the distance. Didn't even hear a Red-shouldered Hawk today. Weird.



I was being distracted most of the day by some birds that were enjoying the Beauty Berry shrubs on the first part of the Nature Walk. Just inside the shade where the shrubs were growing, warblers and thrushes scattered every time we walked through. It was driving me crazy because I knew I could get some shots if it weren't for all the humans in tow.

So, at the end of the day I packed up and made a quiet walk back to the spot. The light had changed so it was all shade but who can complain when you can hangout with Black-throated Blue Warblers enjoying an afternoon snack?



My feet were killing me by the end of the day but a bunch of warbler shots certainly give me enough lift to make it back home.

Another Day at Mead Garden

Took a morning stroll over at Mead Botanical Gardens again today. Yeah, I end up here a lot in the Fall. For good reason. It is a magnet for migrating birds in the urban edges of Winter Park.

Things were interesting as soon as I stepped out of the van today. Over near the restrooms, Tufted Titmice were calling so I headed over to see if any other species might be feeding with them. There was a flash of some almost orange bird and I tried to get around the trees to get a better view. I could not refind that bird but up against the glare was a female Summer Tanager.



Turns out this was also the first weekend of the Mead bird walks so I met up with all my old friends. We headed toward the pond and watched thrushes and other birds. Soon, that orange bird flew in over head. A young Baltimore Oriole! I have always missed this species on my years of visits. Glad to have that off my shoulders.



The group kind of split up and I ended up wandering over to the back of the park and I went into the wooded edge of the creek. Yellow Warblers, Parulas, and Common Yellowthroats were feeding on the insects. Up in a tall Cypress tree I found a couple of Magnolia Warblers.



At the first turn of the creek I scared off a Great Egret. The Snowy Egret, however, did not perceive me as a threat at all.



Heading back toward the garden club building I paused to make an attempt at getting a shot of one of the many Red-eyed Vireos feeding all over the park. Not too bad.



Under the shade behind the amphitheater I searched for the flycatcher we saw last time out. Alas, all I could manage was a female American Redstart. At least, this time she dropped down to about eye level.



Back out in the sunlight I found more thrushes feeding up in the Virginia Creeper vines. Another bird flew in, too, and I almost dismissed it. Then I realized it was a juvenile. Mourning Doves have scaly looking feathers when they are young.



I made my way along the creek to head around the boardwalk on the way out. It was very quiet as I made my way under the Cypress stand but I was glad to get a view of a male American Redstart actively feeding. Like the female earlier, he came down low enough for a pretty good angle even if it was in the deep shade.



He bounced back and forth in from of me for a couple of minutes before taking off to the treetops.



The tour around the boardwalk was uneventful. All I could find moving was a dragonfly. It did stop for a couple seconds for a photo, though.



I walked through the butterfly garden and toward the education building. A strange sound came from the marsh and I quickly searched the vegetation. A bird flew under some leaves and I soon realized it was a Blue Grosbeak! haven't seen one of them in a long time.



The last bird of my day was a Red-shouldered Hawk surveying the property from tall trees over the old clay pit area.



A fun walk with some nice species. I couldn't get a photo of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird but that can wait until next time.

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...

Summer Tanager at Moss Park

We headed out to Moss Park for the annual Cub Scout camping trip. Moss park is pretty reliable for several bird species such as Great-crested Flycatcher, Crows, White-eyed Vireos, and the ever present Sandhill Cranes which try to beg for food throughout the day.

As night closed in on us there was a sound I was not familiar with. It took quite a while to zero in on the bird but it finally flew to a new tree and in the gloom I could just make it out. A Summer Tanager! I had only seen them across the marsh at Split Oak Mitigation in the past but this one was right over the campsite.

I vowed to find it again in the morning when the light was better. Sure enough, it was still flying about, this time making the more familiar song calls I am used to. Still, it was hard to find high up in the pines. Even though the calls are quite loud, they seem to come from different spots all at the same time.

Finally, I spotted it at the very top of a pine 30 yards from the tent.



It remained in that spot for a long time allowing my to get some passable ID shots.



Hard to believe it is so hard to locate such a brightly colored bird among the dark green needles of the trees. Easy to love to beautiful calls as it forages high above.

Ft. DeSoto and Another Lifer

That time of year when the early warblers start heading up the Florida coast by the end of March. Word has been that the trees were 'dripping' with Hooded Warblers for a week but were starting to thin out. I had not even figured on being over there today but after our family day at the beach I was allowed to run over for a short time.

Dad and I got there just after sunrise. I really wanted to get a shot of the sun rising above the Sunshine Skyway as I have been doing the past couple of years but...oh, well. We still had birds to find. Worse still, I had forgotten my binoculars.

For the Hooded Warblers, we would not need them. They were still showing a strong presence at the East Beach area even at dawn.



They filled the trees. They were calling all over. They were dropping on the ground for food right in front of us.



They were even foraging in branches at eye-level. My camera was acting up so it became hard to get some easy shots but I can live with the ones I did get.



Could have stayed at East Beach all day but we actually had a couple other birds on the list for the day. We headed to the Mulberry Trees to see if the reported Blue-winged Warbler was around. No sign of it but we did get a first of the year Worm-eating Warbler feeding among the palm fronds.



We vowed to stop back to check here again later but we wanted to get over to the North Beach side to hopefully get a view of the rare bird spotted here: a Brown-crested Flycatcher. We looked around for a bit. More Hooded Warblers. Then a group of birders huddled in one spot. Could it be the flycatcher?

Nope. I had forgotten the Great-horned Owls had set up a nest here, too. Might as well take a quick shot though I was really not interested that much since I see owls all of the time, it seems.



We decided to circle back around the parking lot side to make sure we covered all of the trees before heading back to a spot another photographer said he had seen the bird we were after but it had disappeared not long ago. At least I got to see one of the first Yellow-throated Warblers of the season grabbing a bite.



Heading toward the beach again, I was distracted by blackbirds and then a flock of Waxwings. Soon, I noticed my Dad motioning to me to come over. I had given him some things to look for (size, color, etc.) regarding the flycatcher and it seemed that he had caught the suspect bird flying into a Brazilian Pepper bush. Two different birds, in fact.

Soon, the bird we were focused on, which was busily preening, took off to a nearby branch. This seemed to be our bird! The best shot I got was this but it is the Brown-crested Flycatcher! My second Life Bird for the weekend. Nice. The bird was fast, though.



Later, I got a better shot of it as it flew from branch to branch around the area. A very nice bird to have added to the Florida list!



We left over a dozen photographers which had now gathered in the same spot and headed back to the Mulberries before heading home. Still no Blue-winged Warbler but there were many Cedar Waxwings in the trees grabbing fruit.



They perched in one tree and then would fly over to the fruiting tree to grab food before flying back to the other tree again. Always fun to watch.



Last bird of the day was dancing around the mulberries. A bright male Summer Tanager! The fruits are not yet ripe there but in a couple weeks time these trees will be full of black berries and very hungry birds.



Wish I could be there, but...

Cub Scout Campout

We had a camping trip with the Cub Scout group of families at Camp La No Che. The prospect of a few days in the heat of Florida usually weighs heavily but the thought of doing a little birding along the way softens the blow a bit. Plus, it is good to get a chance to spread some birding knowledge with the young ones.

There were a pair of Sandhill Cranes at the entrance to the camping grounds which was a nice start. By the time we made it to the tents the bird song was clear and I planned to explore a bit at least by morning.

The most vocal of birds around us were Northern Parula which were feeding everywhere overhead. Joining the calls of the males was another call. Young chicks were chasing the adults around begging for food. Every now and then an adult would venture down lower to provide a photo op.



Glancing through the treetops while tracking the Parula I noticed a Swallow-tailed Kite soaring across the strong breeze.



We had planned a nature hike up to the sulphur spring to give the kids a chance to look for some things found in nature nearby. It was such a hit that we went back a couple more times.



On the way back from the first hike I heard a song up in the pines. Finally, I found the Summer Tanager near the top of one tree.



Near the tent, a squirrel competes for food along with the Parulas.



As did a few Tufted Titmice.



Foraging for ants, a Six-lined Racer scampered back and forth.



Despite the ticks, all had a great time. We all headed home just as the rains moved in. Always fun at La No Che.