AMERICAN BITTERN 2

January 26, 2014

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.

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AMERICAN BITTERN

January 25, 2014

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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YOU'RE BARRED!

January 24, 2014

(NORTHERN) BARRED OWL IS A BIRD I HAVE NEGLECTED SO FAR but I finally got around to making some enquiries at Space Coast this year, as Florida is a good place to catch up with it. The southeastern subspecies georgica is the form concerned here so worth seeing in its own right. A series of happy coincidences led to a great encounter this morning with a pair in a recreation area in the middle of Titusville, starting with a rescued bird that I watch all day on one of the booths opposite mine. While 'Mr Leica USA' Jeff Bouton had kindly been making some enquiries on my behalf, a very nice lady called Susan was showing me a calendar of local wildlife photos she had taken, including a family of barred owls! 'Oh, they are often in the Live Oak hammock behind my house'. In the end it only took me about 10 minutes to find them! I knew their fearsome reputation, including gobbling up smaller owls on migration and they were both very bold in broad daylight allowing fairly close approach. Large individuals can weigh double that of our own Tawny Owl - they are big birds! 2014 is hopefully going to be a good owl year for me with plenty more nice ones lined up...so fingers crossed!

*Titusville sunrise - the view from my motel room*

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FLORIDA SCRUB JAY

January 24, 2014

A VISIT TO FLORIDA WOULD NOT BE COMPLETE WITHOUT SEEING ITS SCRUB JAY! An early morning walk at one of my favourite sites for it produced a very co-operative pair along one of the trails through the flatwoods. They can be very tame and inquisitive and at times came too close to focus with the 500. With a declining population of 6,000 – 9,000 individuals it is threatened by destruction of its habitat for housing developments and the degradation of it owing to fire supression. Merritt Island was very birdy as usual in the early morning and other highlights included: a Peregrine Falcon, which had caught a small wader (probably a Dunlin) and proceeded to eat it in a tree; a steady southward passage of American White Pelicans; a pair of Hooded Mergansers and three willets. A gaudy yellow Pine Warbler was amongst the many Yellow-rumpeds, that I am told could well have started to move north again. A quick spin around Black Point Drive resulted in around 20 outrageously pink Roseate Spoonbills amongst the many herons and egrets feeding by the dykes. A couple of Bald Eagles kept watch over the large lagoons here and Black-bellied Plover was also new for this particular trip.

Florida might well be the 'sunshine state' and although it lived up to its tag again today there was a frost on the car this morning and a bitterly cold wind was still blowing from the northwest. The present cold snap has come as a shock to the system for many people here. An interesting birding trivia quiz question is to name the USA's other single state endemic birds (with the exception of Hawaii - that would be cheating). How many others can you name?

*Florida Scrub Jay - Scrub Ridge Trail, Merritt Island*

*Peregrine Falcon, heading off after an early morning meal, with blood still on its thighs!*

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AMERICAN BITTERN 2

AMERICAN BITTERN

YOU'RE BARRED!

FLORIDA SCRUB JAY