MINWR 9/15/12

I had a hard time deciding where to go this morning...a nice sunrise at Jetty Park or Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, but we decided on the refuge. As we approached our exit on the highway, some large storm clouds appeared along with some rain. I had a feeling it wasn't going to last, and thankfully it didn't.

Luckily for us, with the rain, comes rainbows. And we saw a bunch of rainbows this morning!

We headed out to the shore first, but things were pretty quiet there. I had hoped to see some Black-bellied Plovers, but once again, they were not there.

Ruddy Turnstone

But there were several Ruddy Turnstones foraging in the sand.

Sanderling

And this sweet little Sanderling preening in the sand.

Dragonhunter

This dragonfly was resting along the sea grape plants. After the beach, we decided to make a loop through Black Point Drive. It was pretty quiet there as well. We saw plenty of herons and egrets. We saw 2 Reddish Egrets which are always fun to watch.

Finally, from quite a distance, we saw some of the plovers we were looking for. In this area, we saw the largest number of birds. There were Black-bellied Plovers, Willets, a Caspian Tern, Black Skimmers, Forster's Terns, Laughing Gulls, some Blue-winged Teals, and probably a few others that we missed.

Turkey Vulture

On the way home, we drove along the edge of the causeway where there were numerous Turkey and Black Vultures scuffling over a small dead fish.

Turkey & Black Vulture

I loved the look on the Turkey Vulture's face when the Black Vulture took its food. It looked as if to say..."hey, I had that first!!!".

juvenile Black Vulture

Little did they know, this juvenile Black Vulture was sitting on a jackpot just up the shore.

Dowitcher

We also saw two Dowitchers, which I think were Long-billed....We made one more stop at another small park on the way home.

Northern Mockingbird

We saw some interesting interactions between this Mockingbird and a Brown Thrasher.

The two were attempting to occupy the same tree, but the Mockingbird was not pleased about that.

The moment the thrasher would come out of the brush, the mocker would attack him.

The Thrasher didn't give up though. It kept trying to claim an upper branch. This is about as far as it got.

Loggerhead Shrike 

This shrike was observing the action from the next tree over, wondering what all the fuss was about...

Hope you're having a great weekend:)

The Clean Up Crew

I know Vultures are not considered by most to be very attractive or desirable species to encounter, but, I'll admit, I find these scavengers to be quite interesting. I will say Vultures are definitely not a species I seek out to observe, but I find do quite regularly  see these birds in my everyday travels. Most of these photos were taken last week at Kelly Park in Merritt Island. There are two species of vultures that reside here in Florida, the Turkey Vulture and the Black Vulture.

Black Vulture

Black Vultures are, you guessed it, large, solid black birds with wrinkled, featherless heads.

Juvenile Black Vulture

Juvenile Black Vultures are a touch more pleasing to view as their heads sport a fuzzy, peach fuzz appearance.

Juvenile Black Vulture

 Turkey Vultures are easy to distinguish from Black Vultures as they have bright red, wrinkley heads. Black Vultures also have shorter wings and tails than Turkey Vultures.

Turkey Vulture

Turkey and Black Vultures can be frequently seen soaring the skies in their quest to find a meal. Both vultures feed primarily on the carcasses of dead animals and fish.

 It always amazes me how quickly a large group of them will arrive after the unfortunate demise of a poor critter. For Turkey Vultures this is thanks to their keen sense of smell. Black Vultures utilize vision to a greater extent than Turkey Vultures to locate food.  Black Vultures are the more social of the two species and tend to stick together in larger flocks. On this day there were a handful of Black Vultures and only one Turkey Vulture, but the Turkey Vulture definitely seemed to be dominating the small dead fish they were all gathered around.

Fresh fish is definitely not a requirement of these birds!

Stormy Skies

This pretty well sums up the afternoon weather this week.

I made a few trips to the wetlands and ponds this week. The wetlands were closed to cars all week, so we enjoyed several peaceful, long (hot, humid) walks. 

Anhinga

When the sun was out, it was time to dry out!

Double-crested Cormorant

Snowy Egret

At the wetlands, the Cattle Egrets continue to nest. The majority of them nest on a large island in center of the wetlands. The Egrets can be seen coming and going from the mainland, taking nesting material to their own private island.

Cattle Egret

Osprey

Loggerhead Shrike

Great  Blue Heron

The vultures were people watching. 

Turkey Vulture

Have a wonderful weekend:)

Road to Moccasin Island

A cold front passed through the area this week bringing with it most frigid temps we've experienced this season. I decided to take a drive and see how the birds were keeping warm. We drove the road to Moccasin Island out and back and were pleasantly surprised with the variety of birds that were out and about.

Belted Kingfisher

There were two Belted Kingfishers, about three trees apart from one another, watching the creek for an early morning snack.

Eastern Phoebe

This solitary Eastern Phoebe just seemed to be enjoying the sun.

Savannah Sparrow

Numerous Savannah Sparrows and Palm Warblers were perched along the way.

Palm Warbler

Cattle Egret

There were lots of Cattle Egrets among the cattle as well as along the road chasing down the crickets.

Red-shouldered Hawk

Turkey Vulture

This guy looked like he was daring me to try and steal his raccoon.