Coming & Going

Traffic at Click Ponds can be quite minimal at times. A handful of common herons and egrets and Coots are always a guarantee  Yet, I find myself  there each week as it's quiet and peaceful and there's always a chance of finding something out of the ordinary. For the past two weeks, though, the ponds have been packed; I've probably seen more species in these past two weeks than I have over the past two years.

The White Pelicans have definitely been a highlight for me. With the ponds being so small, I've had a chance to watch these huge birds in action at close range. These migrating groups are most likely passing through as they make their way north. The first day I saw about 35 of them, a few mornings later there were over 150. By that same afternoon, they were just about gone. I arrived early on this past Sunday morning to find just this low key trio. I did wonder why they didn't leave with the large group.

No sooner did I look up to see a new group arriving. They flew past me to the west.

Then made the turn back towards the ponds...

and down they came.

I often saw the pelicans paired up with their fishing partners, Double-crested Cormorants. Check out the size difference in the bills of these two species below.

I'm pretty sure the White Pelicans wiped the ponds clean of all fish!

Many different species of ducks have also stopped by.

Mottled Duck and ducklings

male Ruddy Duck

Ring-necked Duck

American Wigeon pair & Coot

Killdeer

The lower water levels have attracted some long legged friends.

Black-necked Stilt & Lesser Yellowlegs

Thanks to this Stilt I was able to see just how shallow these ponds are.

There was even a pair of Bonaparte's Gulls hanging around. They seemed to be struggling to "fit in". They first to try to join this group of ducks, but that didn't go so well. Where did everyone go? Was it something we said??

Bonaparte's Gulls

The gulls thought maybe they would fit in better with the pelicans.

Many species are now displaying their breeding plumage.

Great Egret in breeding plumage

Tricolored Heron in breeding plumage

Anhinga in breeding plumage

Click, Click Clicking at the Ponds

We stumbled upon a sweet family of fourteen nestled along the shore of the Click Ponds last week. I took a few photos from my car window as we did not want to disturb them. Black-bellied Whistling Ducks are late breeders in Florida, but this seems really late.

I love the stripes on these ducklings. It's amazing how different they look from the adults.

Seeing these tiny little ducklings go bottoms up was too funny.

The birds at the ponds are pretty sparse these days. A Little Blue Heron, numerous Greenies, and a handful of Pied-billed Grebes...

And this Killdeer that was standing in path, and did not want to move.

I walked along the heavily vegetated exterior to see what creepy crawlers were lurking.

There were several of these Gulf Fritillary caterpillars munching away.

Not exactly a fuzzy caterpillar...

I also saw this Gulf Fritillary that was still drying its wings.

There are so many different species of dragonflies buzzing around the ponds right now.

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge 3/17/12

Very little wind and bright blue skies made for a great morning at the Merritt Island NWR. It has been a little over a month since I visited and there seemed to be fewer visiting birds. Shore birds were the most abundant birds at the refugee today. I observed one or more of the following varieties: Willet, Dunlin, Killdeer, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, Black-bellied Plover, and Wilson's Snipe.

Willet
MINWR

Greater Yellowlegs
MINWR

Killdeer
MINWR

 The variety of ducks was minimal. I saw numerous Blue-winged Teals and Northern Shovelers as well as one Mottled Duck. There were several Coots throughout the area. I saw a few pairs of nesting Ospreys, but no other raptors. There were a few Roseate Spoonbills; I had a opportunity to observe one foraging right near the shore. 

Roseate Spoonbill
MINWR

I saw several Great Blue, Tricolored, and Little Blue Herons as well as one Green Heron. I also saw 1 Great Egret, 2 Snowy Egrets, and 1 Reddish Egret. White Ibises, Boat-tailed Grackles, Mourning Doves, Savannah Sparrows, and a Pine Warbler sum up the day!

Great Blue Heron
MINWR