NORTH FLORIDA SHORES

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One of two Purple Sandpipers on the Lighthouse Point jetty, Daytona Beach Shores

PURPLE SANDPIPERS WINTER FAR TO THE SOUTH ON THE USA'S ATLANTIC COAST. Following a tip from Andy Wraithmell early morning saw me at Lighthouse Park at the southern end of Daytona Beach Shores. Even though it was also a new ABA area bird for me I need no excuse to look for Purple Sandpipers, another one of my favourites! Following heavy overnight rain the rocks of the jetty were suicidally treacherous so I had to wait until the sandpipers eventually worked their way towards the landward end of the jetty, in the company of Ruddy Turnstones. Happily they were incredibly tame and I was even able to approach them from the beach as they fed at the water's edge. Several bottle-nosed dolphins were feeding in the channel of the Halifax River, attracting numerous Brown Pelicans and Laughing Gulls to join their frenzy. A Palm Warbler hunted insects on the rocks of the jetty and the fishermen there trying in vain to catch something complained about the strength of the tidal race, which makes their task  very difficult. From here I headed north to the pretty Anastasia State Park at St Augustine. Very similar to Little Talbot Island it is an area of protected dunes and foreshore stretching for miles. Of note here were 13 Semi-palmated Plovers seven Black-bellied Plovers, a handful of willets and the scattered beach roosts of gulls and terns included around 300 herring gulls.

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A willet, presumably western, wades belly deep in the surf at Anastasia SP

Anastasia SP beach

Returning south I stopped at Daytona Beach Shores for the gull 'fly in',  parking at Frank Rendon Park. I had seen it before but this evening's spectacle was even more amazing at high tide the gulls were squeezing on the narrow stretch of beach and being flushed constantly by millions of beach walkers. Some would take care to give the gulls some room but others delighted in flushing them deliberately. Sifting through the thousands of Laughing and Ring-billed, a couple of hundred herring gulls and a few Royal Terns I did manage to find an Iceland Gull (roughly behind the Best Western Plus Hotel), five Lesser Black-backeds and two Great Black-backeds.

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Iceland Gull, Daytona Beach Shores

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Daytona Beach Shores

AMERICAN PURPLE GALLINULE

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American Purple Gallinule, Blue Heron Wetland, Titusville, FL

A FIVE MINUTE DRIVE FROM THE HOTEL finally put paid to my moaning that everyone and his dog seemed to have seen purple gallinule this week except for me. I have inexplicably missed this bird on previous visits to the USA and it was something of a relief to see one at last. A big thank you to Jeff Gordon and Robert Kirk for sharing the news of the bird in the northwest corner of the Blue Heron Wetland today, pacing around the floating vegetation in which also lurked at least three big Alligators. I decided against poking my lens through the shelter belt alongside the drive. They are fairly small in comparison to old world swamphens and the most striking feature when bent over feeding was the shining blue neck. A quick spin around the rest of Blue Heron added a Wilson's Snipe but nothing else new for this trip.

AMERICAN BITTERN 2

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American Bittern, Viera Wetland

I CAN'T STOP LOOKING FOR BITTERNS. No matter what I have in mind I always seem to end up scouring places like Viera Wetland in the hope of finding one. After one quite shy bird near the centre point, on a damp and grey morning, I caught up with what was presumably yesterday's bird again in roughly the same area as before and again it was being hassled by the gang of White Ibises and Snowy Egrets feeding actively (and noisily) in the vicinity. Most people enjoyed some nice views of it, albeit partially obscured in the rushes, including a bus load of folks on the organised birding festival field trip. Still no sign of Purple Gallinule though, nor Least Bittern, although the Dan Click Ponds were very birdy with hordes of shorebirds, including Black-bellied Plovers amongst the many yellowlegs and dowitchers. A small flock of at least 8 Buff-bellied Pipits were feeding on the insect-laden mud in the company of Killdeers and Palm Warblers and a pair of Mute Swans was causing some excitement.

AMERICAN BITTERN

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American Bittern, Viera Wetland

BITTERNS ARE SOME OF MY FAVOURITE BIRDS and another species that Florida is an excellent place to catch up with is American Bittern. Although there appear to be fewer around here than there were two years ago, I managed a very nice sighting this morning at Viera Wetland, of a bird that was slowly working its way through a bed of rushes. Viera, as usual, offered some great views of other waterbirds too. The birds here seem completely unconcerned by the presence of people and it is a fabulous site for photography. Unless you have a particular target in mind there is a bewildering choice of birds to point your camera lens at. Caspian and Forster's Terns fished around the lagoons and a Bald Eagle passed overhead several times. A Belted Kingfisher perched on submerged palm stumps and noisy Sandhill Cranes were prospecting potential nesting sites around the wetland. The lagoons themselves were full of waterbirds, including several Wood Storks. The surrounding beds of rushes were literally full of Yellow-rumped Warblers, along with a few Common Yellowthroats and Savannah Sparrows. Thanks to local birder and former High Wycombe resident Warren Jacobi for some great advice today!

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American Bittern, Viera Wetland