Migration Day: Big Sit

This year for Green Cay's annual Migration Celebration, we decided to host our first festival Big Sit.  Starting at 7AM, faithful volunteers and visitors counted all the birds seen from our 17 foot circle on the back deck.  The winds that day were gusting up to 20mph due to nearby Hurricane Sandy but the skies turned blue and the birds were around, albeit blowing about a little more than normal. 

I suspect our Big Sit totals were a little low due to the small passerines hunkering down and not attempting flights over the open water near out spot.  We still squeaked out a nice list of 42 species seen from 7AM-2PM.

Above shows you a photo of the nature center and in the center is the back deck count circle.  If you zoom in you will even see our faithful volunteers: Emily and Kimmie.  Special thanks for the optics go to The Friends of Green Cay, and the volunteers that really put in the hours which include Emily, Kimmie, and Holly.  Thanks everyone else that stopped by or helped with the count! 

The next Green Cay Big Sit is scheduled for December 22, 2012, starting at 7AM.  No reservations required, just stop by the back deck.

Space Coasters

It's Space Coast Birding Festival time but unfortunately I am swamped at work and won't be able to make it this year. I love this festival and it's not because I HELD my lifer Florida Scrub-Jay there many years ago, it's just a great festival. If you're attending the Space Coast Festival this year make sure you stop by the Princeton University Press booth (#54) to sign up for the raffle. You could win a copy of the The Crossley ID Guide: Eastern Birds with a pair of Nikon ProStaff ATB 8x25 Waterproof Binoculars!

Day Two in Texas

Day two in Texas brought me to the great birding hotspot of King Ranch. Once again I had excellent guides that with much effort helped us see the Ferrigunous Pygmy-Owl. Much of the trip was spent luring out the owls but I saw a total of 47 species on the ranch. One of the highlights (other than the owls) was the killer looks of White-tailed Kite.

Since King Ranch is infested with sand spurs we were encouraged to tape up our shoelaces and pant legs. This proved to be a very colorful fashion show of duct tape colors. Here are a few of my favorites modeled by Sharon and Robert respectively.

As for myself, I went with the yellow tape. I decided that this was a look I would keep for the duration of the festival. Birders aren't known for having good fashion and I felt that I wanted to keep a little of the King Ranch spirit with me for the rest of my time in Texas.


Other than the birds and the duct tape fashion show one of my favorite encounters had to be Jeff's capture of a Texas Indigo Snake. This was a beast of a snake that must have been over 5 feet long. Jeff was quite a sport throwing his scope to the ground to help pin this snake so we could all have a closer look. Check out the pictures below. Notice how big the head is, that's one snake I wouldn't want to have bite me.

The King Ranch was a nice trip. Least Grebes stole the show at one pond with their young. I even saw another owl species on this trip, Great Horned Owl. And we even picked up a few birds on this trip that I wouldn't see elsewhere for my Texas list like Ruddy Duck, Sandhill Crane, and Northern Bobwhite.

After a half day at King Ranch I picked up my friend Kim for a side trip out to Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge but that post will to wait until tomorrow.

Day One In Texas

There are not enough words out there to sing the praises of the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival. This is hands down a great festival and a lovely place to visit. I've only been actively birding for about a year and half now and almost exclusively in Florida. Therefore, I was in store for many new lifers on this trip. On day one alone I picked up 20 new ones. But whether it was a new bird or not, all the birds in Texas were great. Plus, I had a chance to go birding with some really great people like fellow bloggers Mike, Jeff, Liz, Bill, and Hugh.

The first trip of the festival for me was to Zapata and San Ignacio. Mike was an excellent seat mate for this long journey. We made a brief stop in Zapata to find the White Collared Seedeater and then spent the rest of the trip in San Ignacio area. New birds on this trip included Greater-tailed Grackles, Harris's Hawk, Lesser Goldfinch, Green Jay, Inca Dove, White-collared Seedeater, Ringed Kingfisher, Greater White-fronted Goose, Olive Sparrow, Plain Chachalaca, Long-billed Thrasher, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Bewick's Wren, and Chihuahuan Raven.


Here's my first view of the Rio Grande (Spanish for "Big River") or the Río Bravo if you're from Mexico. This river is 1885 miles long and serves as a natural boundary between Texas and Mexico.

I thought San Ignacio was really beautiful. We spent some time hiking a small trail and roaming about the community. San Ignacio was originally a Mexican pueblo founded in 1830. Due to recent rainfall we couldn't hike all the normal trails since some of them were flooded. So we wandered around the old buildings in search of birds. Half of our group saw a Zone-tailed Hawk, which I missed but I did see a Black Phoebe which was a new ABA bird for me. After San Ignacio we headed out of town to a lovely picnic spot that overlooked the river.

Our picnic spot gave us great views of Mexico and we even saw the border patrol come roaring through on their big boats. In the marshy area seen below we found some waders and a few Northern Harriers were soaring low to the west.

After a full day of birding I still wasn't done. I had about an hour before the welcome reception to stop by a Harlingen local park for a few more lifers. In the butterfly garden I found my first Buff-bellied Hummingbird and a Golden-fronted Woodpecker. I didn't spend much time there but it was nice seeing the afternoon colors on the Prickly Pear Cactus.

The day came to an end at the Welcome Reception where I met the Birdchick and a few more familiar faces. Even after only one day at the RGV birding fest I knew that this trip would be more than just for the birding, it was going to be a great time with some new and old friends. One of the things I really love about the birding community is how sincere people can be and how great relationships can be formed from our shared interests. I won't just remember how great it was to see my life birds on this trip but I'll also remember the conversations with Jim about herps or the stories that Mike and I shared on the bus ride. Sometimes I think it's a little crazy to go chasing species all over the country (or world for that matter) but it's also about the people we meet and the times we share.

The RGVBF Treated Me Right

The Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival is over and I'm back in Florida. Later this week I'll cover the birds, the trips, and the new people I encountered. Until then, I need sleep in a bad way. Stay tuned!

Oh Texas

Texas, we haven't actually met in person but soon that is about to change. I must admit my opinion of you hasn't ever really been very high but I have a good feeling about this. From what I've heard you're going to treat me right come November when I attend the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival. I feel sorta like we're being set up a on a blind date. I've seen the pictures of what you have to offer and now it's a matter of counting down the days until we officially become acquainted. Of course I'm jumping right in and planning not just a short rendevous but a five day stay. I hope you don't mind but that's kinda how I roll. Until November I'm just going to remind myself that the air plane hassles and financial costs are going to be so outweighed by your gracious offerings such as the possibility of racking up some great life brids and visiting a totally new place with a trip to Mexico thrown in.

Here are a few birds that I have my eye on: White-collared Seedeater, Green Jay, Plain Chachalaca, and Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl and the list goes on and on and on. There's about 70 total birds that are seen at the festival that would be firsts for me. I don't think Texas is going to give all them up to me this first time but I'm sure it's going to be one hell of a long date. If you have some vacation days and want to do something fun this November join me for the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival. We can make it a double date and trust me, Texas has enough to offer all of us.

Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival

What do you get when you have a birding festival with bird names you don't even know how to pronounce? That's right, the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival! I am so excited to be attending this year's festival. The field trips look phenomenal with bird highlights such as Aplomado Falcon, White-collared Seedeater, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Great Kiskadees, and let's not forget the multiple species of doves, orioles, and phoebes. To keep us focused on the prize I even have a fun little widget over there on the sidebar to remind you of how many days until the festival starts. Registration is open if you're interested in attending and there's still time to save your money up for the trip. The festival runs from November 5th-9th. There are a lot of reasons I am going to attend this year's festival, here is a sampling: visiting a new state, seeing this area before a larger border wall, grabbing some lifers, and having fun with friends, old and new. Plus, who doesn't want to see a Pyrrhuloxia? I may not know how to say it correctly but I want to see one!

RCWs and Space Coast

I had high hopes for the Hal Scott Preserve Field Trip at the Space Coast Birding Festival. The day started off great with THREE Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers emerging at daybreak. If you haven't camped out under the pines in the early morning hours to watch these active birds, then you're missing out. I rank it right up there with watching massive sea turtles nest and alligators bellowing. It's just one of life's great moments. Once one bird emerged, two more quickly joined in for a little ruckus. Then the Brown-headed Nuthatches and Bluebirds joined in and off they flew through the pines. But they gave us killer looks before departing.


These were Florida birds for me. I had seen them previously at the Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge but the sighting was brief. Most places paint their active trees with white circles like the one above. It definitely makes it easy to find these great woodpeckers.

Hal Scott has quite a few active holes but they also have installed some man-made boxes. It's kind of weird to see these pre-fab nests placed in the pines. After the hurricanes that hit Florida a few years back, quite a few of these trees fell due to the boxes making them weak. I guess the same is true of bird made cavities. It certainly makes the pine more susceptible to high winds felling it. RCWs are wonderful birds but without protected pine forests they are quickly diminishing. I count myself lucky to have seen them.

I guess when the day starts on such a high note, the rest may be a bit of a disappointment but no one knew that it would be so eerily quiet. The preserve has some great swamp land scattered with pines and cypress trees alike. We saw Belted Kingfishers, Bluebirds, and heard a few wrens but once inside the forest, it was silent. Now, I've been birding where it seems like all the birds were hiding but this place was so quiet that it was a little spooky. I think that our guides were a little frustrated to say the least. We had some good birders with us but try as they might, we just couldn't find any birds to see. Below is a photo of Paul Lehman and Larry Manfredi discussing birds in South Florida. I guess on a day when the birding is slow you have to dream of better places.

Well this is the final conclusion of my birding festival...it only took me a little over a month and a half to actually finish it. I don't know how the other bloggers out there get so many entries in each week. I'm definitely not a blog ant or grasshopper; I'm more like a snail in the blogging world.

Back to the Space Coast - Marl Bed Flats

On the last day of the Space Coast Birding Festival I headed out to the Marl Bed Flats. My main goal in signing up for this trip was the chance to find sparrows. It was a fairly cold morning by Florida standards and I was happy that some fellow birders loaned me their Neos to tramp through the wet muck. To find sparrows and wrens we had a few people fan out and rustle up the birds for us.


We had great looks at Savannah Sparrows, Sedge Wrens, and Palm Warblers. We were on the hunt for a Henslow's Sparrow or a Le Conte's Sparrow but the birds just weren't around or were hiding really well. We did manage to get a great look at a Grasshopper Sparrow. While on the search for sparrows we re-located the male Vermillion Flycatcher that was sighted all week. Roy Halpin, one of our guides, posted this great photo (below) on his website.

Photo: Roy Halpin

After a chilly morning on the Marl Bed Flats we headed into the forest walk. We found Ruby-Crowned Kinglets, Pine Warblers, and a short look at an Orange-Crowned Warbler. We rounded out the day with 60 species including: Wilson's Snipe, Sandhill Cranes, Least Sandpiper, Limpkin, Northern Harrier, and Virginia Rail, to name a few. We also saw a troupe of feral pigs.

After a 60 species morning I decided that I would make it a full day of birding before heading back home. Out on Merritt Island I picked up a Bonaparte's Gull, Greater and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and a Black-Bellied Plover. After cruising down Blackpoint Drive I found most of the usual waterfowl and this little Loggerhead Shrike.

Since this was my first trip to the Merritt Island area I thought I would continue out to the Cape Canaveral National Seashore area. It was a beautiful day with large alligators basking and Royal Terns diving into the water. I reluctantly left the refuge around 4:00pm and my day was over with a total of 86 bird species.

This post should have been up weeks ago but life has been busy. And today in my inbox I found this email from Laurilee (the founder of the Space Coast Birding Festival) about proposed negative impacts to the MINWR. Below you will find ways to help spread the word about this decision and contact information:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi All,
We appreciate any help you all can give us in getting the information out to all birders in the U.S. Please forward it to any e-mail list serves that birders and environmentalists monitor. The fishing and hunting communities should also be concerned. Public comment is critical to preserving everything we love about Merritt Island NWR. This project is on a fast track since NASA is depending on a commercial entity to service the International Space Station after the Shuttle retires in 2010. Public comment on the proposed launch complex will close early this spring.

The U.S. Air Force has 40 launch pads. They are only using 8 of them. There is infrastructure (roads, electricity, water, etc) in place on the Cape in areas that have already been disturbed. Is it really necessary to impact pristine areas?

I know that this is short notice and it will be difficult for you to attend one of the public meetings next week. But please take the time to phone, fax or e-mail your comments to NASA.

I will try to send the public notice as an attachment in a following e-mail. Thanks and best wishes! Laurilee

Public Notice

Future Plans by NASA for New Launch Facility Could Close Portions of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
NASA is proposing a new Commercial Launch Facility on 200 acres of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge which could have significant environmental and visitor impacts. Merritt Island NWR is an overlay of the Kennedy Space Center and the Refuge manages NASA lands through an agreement. The agreement allows NASA to withdraw lands for space facilities. The new facility would result in loss of scrub habitat, loss of wetlands, impact sea turtle nesting due to lighting issues, result in loss of habitat for several endangered or threatened species, and eliminate use of most visitor facilities and programs.
NASA has selected two potential sites for the commercial launch facility. Site 1 is located within the existing restricted area of Kennedy Space Center, but Site 2 is located in an area currently open to the public. Either site will have significant environmental impacts; however, Site 2 has the potential to close all areas south of Haulover Canal to the public. Impacts to Refuge facilities are still unclear, but based on the proximity to Site 2 the following facilities will likely be affected (closed):
· Black Point Wildlife Drive
· The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center
· Cruickshank Trail, Scrub Ridge Trail, Oak Hammock Trail, Palm Hammock Trail
· Sendler Educational Outpost
· Bio Lab Road
· Boat Ramp at Haulover Canal, Bio Lab Boat Ramp
· Sports fishing south of Haulover Canal
· Waterfowl hunting south of Haulover Canal

The development of Site 2 would affect approximately 750,000 Refuge visitors annually.
Impacts associated with the development of Site 1 or 2 to Playalinda Beach are unclear, but could potentially affect another three quarters of a million visitors each year.
NASA is preparing an Environmental Assessment on the project and the public will be allowed to comment on the proposals. Several public meetings are planned:
February 25, 2008, Titusville City Hall - Council Chambers, 1 p.m. and 6 p.m.
February 28, 2008, New Smyrna Beach Public Library, 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.
To provide comments or obtain additional information the following options are available:
1. Go to the NASA website http://environmental.ksc.nasa.gov/projects/ksc-cvlc.htm
2. Send an email: KSC-CVLC@nasa.gov
3. Call, FAX or Mail Mario Busacca; Environmental Program Office
Phone (321) 867-8456, FAX (321) 867-8040, Mail Code TA-C3, Kennedy Space Center, FL. 32899

Florida Scrub Jay Holiday

On my first full day at the Space Coast Birding Festival I signed up for the free Scrub Jay field trip. This trip met at the Merritt Island Visitor Center. This would be my first time seeing Florida Scrub Jays and it was definitely a high point of the festival for me. Not only would I see these goregeous birds but I would also have the opportunity to feed a few of them.

Our leaders took us to a restricted area of the Kennedy Space Center complex, seen above. And after explaining that this was a Scrub Jay research site, that we would be giving the birds a holiday. A holiday for the Scrub Jays means we would be feeding them peanuts. The researchers use this method to lure the Scrub Jays out and read their bands. They have 4 bands total, 2 on each leg. This information can tell you what bird it is and what colony is comes from. Research on these threatened birds will help with future conservation projects of Scrub Jay territory.

Florida Scrub Jays are the only endemic bird to Florida. Their current territory is very fragmented and this could lead to the collapse of their population. FL Scrub Jays have large family groups and the young will stay with the group for 2 years before moving to another family group. Fl Scrub Jays aren't the best fliers and tend to move short distances, often to the next family group over. These jays will have territories that border each other and will defend and conserve their food supply in each area.

The decline of FL Scrub Jays is mostly due to this fragmented scrub habitat which the birds prefer to be within a certain height. They are a fire-dependent species. What this means is that without prescribed burns, the scrub habitat will become too tall. Likewise, a scrub that is too short isn't ideal either. They need a healthy scrub area that also has open spaces so that they can cache their food supplies (they bury nuts and acorns for the slower season). Without an adequate space of scrub habitat these birds simply will be less and less productive each year. Eventually, mortality will surpass success and the group will die out.

Not all of the Scrub Jays would feed from your hand. Actually, there were quite a few that were very wary. For those, we would throw peanuts on the ground. The unusual thing about this trip was that our leaders just let us roam about the area unsupervised. They told us to explore the scrub and see what we could find. As I was walking down a sandy road I saw my first of many feral hogs in Florida. This was an adult and it quickly disappeared. On my last day of the festival I would see a whole group of young hogs, all black but one little brown one.

This was a great trip and I would recommend it to anyone that hasn't seen a Florida Scrub Jay up close. Other than the jays, there were only a few other birds seen. Some Roseate Spoonbills flew over and we saw one Loggerhead Shrike, in addition to the regular vultures seen overhead. This may not be the birdiest of areas but the Scrub Jays steal the show. They are simply beautiful birds and hopefully, with continued education and conservation projects their species will be protected.

Exhaustion

The Space Coast Birding Festival is over and I am completely exhausted. The whole experience was not only fun but I met a lot of very nice people in the process. Now I will have to adjust back to regular life and not birding all day long...

There will be more pictures later but I'll leave you with this very beautiful Florida Scrub Jay.

Working at Green Cay

This is my desk at work. I always think it's nice and neat but after looking at this picture I may need to readjust my ideas on organized. The artwork is from my summer camp and the bird pictures are from some of the nice visitors that take bird photos for me.


On January 21st I will hit my one year mark at Green Cay Nature Center. Over the past year I have transformed from a turtle researcher to an avid birder. At first, learning the birds was just another part of my job but then I found myself birding on my days off. So after one month of working at Green Cay I began my official bird list. Now I have almost a full year's worth of bird counts for Green Cay found here. In addition, my wonderful job is also sending me to the 11th Annual Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival. My yearly tally for Florida birds is currently 180, not bad considering I have another month before my year count is over. I figure I will get at least 10 more FL lifers on my trip.

Prior to Green Cay, I would ID birds for fun but I wasn't really serious. I even taught an Ornithology class while I worked at Jekyll 4-H. Mostly, I knew the big wading birds and the common beach birds. I appreciated birds but I didn't love them like I do now. My favorite days at Green Cay are the ones where I have the time to go out and do one of my weekly bird counts. I take somewhere between a 1 hour and 1.5 hours to complete the 1 mile loop. I love watching the Moorhens fight and the Limpkins set the wetlands on alarm with their piercing cries. Today was like most of my counts, I saw the usual suspects. Sometimes we find rare birds, like last year's Eared Grebe that settled at Green Cay for the winter or our Shiny Cowbird that lived at our feeders out front for a few weeks. Most days we have a nice mix of raptors and warblers and waterfowl and waders.

This Limpkin was carefully searching for an apple snail. This bird was only about 5 feet away and didn't seem to mind my observation. The birds at Green Cay are very habituated to people. The Little Blue Heron seen below was feeding below the boardwalk and when I stopped to watch, it hopped up beside me. This bird is probably 2 feet away. If you don't make eye contact, sometimes you can even manage to walk right by without them flying away.

No matter what the birds are doing, my job here at Green Cay is always fun. I love counting the birds, talking to the visitors, working with my volunteers, and teaching the public about South Florida animals. There are the occasional slow days where I would rather be outside but for the most part, moving to Florida was one of the best decisions I could have made a year ago.

Birding Festivals

My work has agreed to send me to the Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival this year. I am really excited to visit the Merritt Island area and meet some new birders. I've signed up for 2 or 3 of the big field trips but I really want to go to some of the smaller sessions. If you're planning to attend, give me a heads up. I'd love to meet some new people and potentially make some new friends.