Florida: The Remainder

My first two blog posts featuring my trip to Florida covered a trip to the Dry Tortugas and the chases for some rarities that are hard to find in the United States.  There were many more birds that were on my list and of course we planned them into our schedule as well.  This trip resulted in 24 new life birds for me and added 30 new species to my ABA list.  I am currently at 1042 life birds and 619 ABA birds.  For my next goal, I probably have a better chance at hitting the 1100 life bird target.  One strategically planned international destination would probably push me over that number.  Reaching 700 ABA birds will be a bit tougher as it will require several planned trips to more than one destination in the US.

One of the species that was high on my list was the Florida Scrub-Jay.  There are 4 species of Scrub-Jays in the United States and I had seen and photographed 3 of them prior to this Florida trip.  The Florida Scrub-Jay is endemic to Florida and found no where else in the US.  They have a specific habitat requirement and although they are not super rare, their range is a bit limited and they are listed as 'Vulnerable' by IUCN.  On this day, my birding friend Jeff Kietzman, who lives in southern Florida, offered to show us around and chase some of these target birds on our list.  The Florida Scrub-Jay was one of those birds.  Our target location was Jonathan Dickinson State Park.  When we reached the entrance to the park, Jeff thought we might be at the incorrect entrance, so we pulled in at the immediate parking lot to see if there was another entrance that we should maybe try.  As he parked the car, I was looking straight ahead into the scrub and saw a bird perched on the dead snag.  Immediately, I could tell it was our target bird the Florida Scrub-Jay and all 3 of us quickly got out of the car to view it through binoculars and try to get some fairly distant photos of this bird.  As we were watching it, the bird dropped down off the dead tree snag and headed directly to us. It kept coming and I thought it was going to land on my head, but veered off at the last second and landed in a tree very close by.  It was so close, that I could not even use my zoom lens for photos.  I had to back up a bit to get photos.  You will note that this bird has quite a bit of jewelry on its legs.  Most of these birds are banded as young birds in nests to assist in keeping track of their numbers and distribution.

Florida Scrub-Jay

Same bird on the distant perch.

And here it is, preparing to launch itself in our direction.

Jeff also knew where to find some of our other key targets, including Snail Kite, Gray-headed Swamphen, Shiny Cowbird, White-winged Parakeet, and Common Myna.  We are so thankful that Jeff volunteered to help us locate some of these birds.  In the process of finding those birds, we also saw many more that gave me opportunities to get photos of some of these birds that I had not been able to photograph in the past.  

Gray-headed Swamphen

Snail Kite - Juvenile

Shiny Cowbird - on right, Brown-headed Cowbird on left for comparison.  Had to settle for a couple of distant photos like this one.

Common Myna - An introduced species, but is well established in Florida.  This was taken in the dark before the sun came up.

White-winged Parakeet - Another introduced species, but established in Florida.  Recent trends show the numbers are declining.

Of course we found many birds on our own as well.  With the traffic in southern Florida, we did try to manage our time and destinations to maximize productivity.  Here are some more photos of some of these birds that we got to see.  Several were lifers and some were new birds for my ABA list and many were just birds that I had never been able to get decent photos.  Had a lot of photos to process once I returned to Arizona.  

 Piping Plover - Had only seen this bird once before. 

White Ibis - Juvenile - Got my lifer of this species in Arizona, believe it or not!  But this was great as I got to see many more in Florida.

White Ibis - Adult

Glossy Ibis

 Fish Crow - Very distinct call, recorded for my eBird report.  Very similar in appearance to the more common American Crow.

Limpkin

 Anhinga - Male in breeding plumage

 Anhinga - Nest with chicks

 White-crowned Pigeon

Yellow-crowned Heron

 Wood Stork - Pair

Wood Stork - With chick

Tricolored Heron

 Red-bellied Woodpecker

Swallow-tailed Kite

 Black and White Warbler

 Blackpoll Warbler

Blackpoll Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warbler - Had only seen this bird once before

This is a Saffron Finch that I discovered in a cemetery the morning that we departed Florida.  Most likely an escapee from someone in the neighborhood.  They are established in Hawaii, but not in Florida, so they are non ABA countable in Florida.  But it was fun to find something a bit different.  Not a lifer for me as I saw several of these colorful birds in Ecuador last summer.  

Par for the course, I did not get to see every species that I had on my original list, but I narrowed it down considerably.  Next trip will be fewer life species, but I will have more time to target the species that I am still missing from this key area of the United States.  

Texas: Bolivar Flats Bird Sanctuary

After spending most of the morning at Anahuac NWR, on April 29, my next destination was the Bolivar Flats Bird Sanctuary near the tip of the Bolivar Peninsula. Another great place for birding, but a notice to anyone planning a visit to this beach area; wear long sleeve shirts and pants, no shorts.  Or maybe make sure you have insect repellent applied as there are some large flies there that can really bite and leave a welt.  I learned the hard way, but the birds were worth it.  

This is a great place to see lots of shorebirds, along with gulls and terns.  One of my target birds was the Piping Plover, a bird that is listed by IUCN, (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) as 'near-threatened'.  Its breeding habitat is also popular with humans making its breeding efforts vulnerable.  Not only did I find this marvelous bird, but I found 6 of them!

  

Piping Plover

Piping Plover - there are 4 of them in this photo

Dunlin, Semipalmated Sandpipers and Wilson's Plovers were fairly common and could be seen running up and down the beaches.

Dunlin

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Wilson's Plover

Least Terns and Black Terns were also very common and the Least Terns were putting on a show with a male courting the female by offering her a small fish.

Black Tern and Least Tern

Least Tern

This spot is also a great spot for Reddish Egrets which is a species that I have seen in Arizona (rare) and also in Puerto Penasco, Mexico.  And I could see one far off in the distance, but upon closer inspection I found one a bit closer, but did not look quite like the normal bird that I have seen.  This one happened to be a much more uncommon color phase, the White-morph.  The distinctive bi-colored bill is the key field mark of all Reddish Egrets and helps to identify this bird and assure it is not a Snowy Egret or a juvenile Little Blue Heron.

White-morph Reddish Egret

One other bird of note was a fly-over by a Peregrine Falcon which looked a little out of place along a sandy shoreline.

Peregrine Falcon

After leaving this area I headed back and made a couple of stops along the way, including Roller Over Bridge.  This time and without extra people I was able to capture a couple extra photos of birds that I was not able to obtain with the group that I had the day before.

 Black-bellied Plover

 Black Skimmer

 Sanderling

Laughing Gull, Black Skimmer, Caspian, Royal and Forster's Terns

At another stop, a Willet was more than obliging for some photos.  This bird was very common just about any location where there was water.  The Willets in Texas have more of a brownish color than those in the west that tend to be gray.  They may appear to be a boring bird in the coloration department, but once they take flight, they are quite striking in appearance.  Just goes to show what is sometimes hidden in those wings.

 Willet

Willet

And the final bird?  Yes, another Common Nighthawk that landed in front of my car on a gravel road.  

Common Nighthawk

Day 3 comes to a close with an abundance of great birds and with one day left, I had to plan my time well to see what else I could add to my list of wonderful birds in Texas.