Freeport Accomodations

After a full day's worth of birding we headed back to our comfy little bed and breakfast. As a last minute decision we decided to stay with Anne and Mike Acosta in Freeport. They were lovely hosts and gave us a delightful breakfast each morning. After a quick dip in the pool Mike even brought out a surprise bird for us, a homing pigeon.

Mike is known on the island for raising homing pigeons though he currently doesn't have any. So of course when this bird (above) showed up on someone's hotel balcony, Mike was called over to access the situtaion. He picked up the bird and brought it home to only find that it was banded in Cuba. He's made a few calls in but no one has put a claim to it. I don't generally enjoy checking out Rock Pigeons but it was entertaining to see this bird up close and hear some of Mike's stories about racing.

As to our accomodations, the place was pretty perfect for our quick trip. We felt really safe leaving all of our gear and passports at their house and it was nice to take a quick swim during the late afternoon heat. Plus we had the luxury of having the place to ourself though the Acosta's are quite friendly and kept us company at times. I believe they found us somewhat peculiar with our early morning birding and fast paced style. We certainly weren't on island time but that doesn't mean it didn't slow us down a little.

After our full day's worth of driving around and investigating all the possible bird stops we decided to relax in the backyard and watch the Orchid Tree. We ended up getting two new weekend birds right in the backyard. A Baltimore Oriole took a bath in the bathing platform they have set up for birds and then a White-winged Dove flew in to the bath as well to investigate. We relaxed pool-side and enjoyed some yard birding before deciding to walk the golf course behind their house to pick up a few other weekend birds like Blue-winged Teal and Spotted Sandpiper. We also saw another Indigo Bunting in their yard before calling it a night.

In fine tourist fashion we headed to the port for drinks and dinner. I highly recommend the cocount drinks with the extra rum. It's certainly a great way to end a wonderful day's worth of birding in the Bahamas.

Top Ten Lifers of 2008: Number 10

As a little countdown to 2009 I present you with my Top Ten Lifers of 2008. To compile this list I looked back over my blog entries for the year and consulted my trusty little Rite in the Rain notebook. After a little debating I think I've come up with a suitable list. To really put this list in perspective I must remind you that I only started my life list February of 2007. Prior to that, birds were cool to me but I didn't consider myself a birder. So at the beginning of 2008 my life list had less than 200 birds. What this means is my top ten list may have some common birds to the average birder but for me they were exceptional finds.

Coming in at Number 10 is the American Woodcock, Scolopax minor.

On the morning of February 9th I woke up in the Everglades Hostel at 5AM. I stumbled in the dark so I wouldn't wake my bunk mate, a nice English girl attending a conference in Miami. Once dressed I drove out to the Everglades National Park welcome center and waited in a dark parking lot for my local birding guide Robin Diaz to meet me. Robin was leading the Tropical Audubon's ENP walk that day and agreed to meet me early to help locate my lifer American Woodcock. Robin is an excellent birder and if you ever have the pleasure of birding with her you will be amazed by not only her skills but also her gracious hospitality.

I had ran into Robin the week prior at work and she had enticed me into this early meet-up. I wasn't to be disappointed. We drove to the scouted spot and right in the highway was my first Whipporwill seen in Florida. It's not often that I get to see a nightjar right out in the open but I knew this was a good sign for how the day would play out. After that little surprise we rolled down the window and waited. The American Woodcock is known for producing a sharp twittering sound with its wings when it's displaying. The fog was deep in the Everglades that morning so I didn't actually see the woodcock in the air as it flew upwards but the sound confirms the ID 100 percent. Now many people would not add a bird to their life list without actually seeing the bird but this one is an exception to my list. I left that magical morning feeling like I had seen the bird even though I only saw the dark trees silholletted against the morning sky and the heavy fog. Of course I would love another chance to actually see an American Woodcock but for now, it's on my lifer tally and it even makes the Top Ten Birds of 2008 list!

For the next 10 days a new Top Ten Lifer Bird of 2008 will be posted on this blog. I would love to hear what new birds you saw this year that really sparked your interest.

My Top 10 Nature Moments of 2007

2007 was a year full of many changes for me. I finally settled down and lived in only one state (compared to 3 states in 2008). I also took another full-time job and actually made the majority of my trips this year in my new home state of Florida. Here is a breakdown of my top 10 nature moments of 2007 (meme from Earth, Wind & Water):


10. Wekiwa State Park Camping (December 7-9) - I love camping and all of my camping adventures of this year make it on my top 10. This is a sign that I need to go camping more and it will certainly be one of my resolutions for the New Year. This was my first time holding a scorpian.


9. West Coast Florida Trip (February) - This was only my 3rd time seeing the Gulf Coast and with the help of my friend Kim, I hit all the hotspots in the Fort Myers area. I really enjoyed seeing hundreds of bats leave their bridge roost at sunset near Pine Island. And of course visiting Sanibel Island was great, along with the Red Egret feeding at Ding Darling N.W.R. I picked up a few lifer birds including a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.



8. Seminole State Park Camping (May 4-7) - My Tallahassee friends took me to a great little park in Georgia where we enjoyed swimming in the lake and birding the trails. I even saw my first Blue Grosbeak. On the way, we stopped at Bird Song, the best viewing station for feeder birds I have ever seen. It was a great trip and I even slept outside on a wooden platform with just my sleeping bag, which was a first for me, platform in below picture.


7. Paynes Prairie State Park Camping (May 25-27) - Another camping adventure but this time it afforded me a chance to see bison grazing. Other than the ticks and deer flies, the hike in to our campsite was fun and we saw a few nice birds along the way.


6. Florida Trail: Ocean to Lake Trail (August 4th) - This was my first time hiking the Florida Trail. As promised the trail was flooded at times and the rest of the time my feet were covered in sand. I loved this all day hike that took me through Jonathon Dickinson State Park. I did the East Loop Trail that winds through the park. One day I would love to hike the whole Ocean to Lake Trail.



5. Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge Backcountry Camping (November 12-13) - There's no better way to experience the outdoors than by canoeing through a wildlife refuge. As always, the Okefenokee didn't let me down. We saw alligators, Sandhill Cranes, and lots of migrating American Robins. We also had a lot of fun singing songs and enjoying the peaceful swamp.


4. Keys Trip (July) - This was my first time to the Keys and I was more than happy. My mother and aunt accompanied me for a little snorkeling and a lot of driving. We took lots of silly pictures with large mermaids and road signs. From Key Largo to Key West it was quite an adventure.



3. Everglades National Park Trip (April 16-17) - My first time in the Everglades was a great experience. I loved the expansive river of grass and the breathtaking scenery of the bay at Flamingo. I saw quite a few life birds, Summer Tanager and Blue-headed Vireo, and even made a new friend at the Everglades Hostel.



2. Green Cay Nature Center (January 22) - After a whirlwind year of traveling and change I moved to Palm Beach County and started working at Green Cay. The bird life is amazing. I have had numerous experiences with our resident bobcats and of course, there is always something new to see in the marsh. We had a few unusual birds this year including: Eared Grebe, Shiny Cowbird, Bronzed Cowbird and Black-bellied Whistling Ducks. In the last month we have had visits from a Bufflehead, American Wigeon, and a Gadwall. Green Cay continues to amaze me.


1. Bolivia, South America (October 6-21) - The first time out of the country for me in almost 10 years proved to be the best experience of my life. Bolivia deserves its own Top 10 list. The highlights include hiking up mountains, swimming in waterfalls, soaking in natural springs, birding in the Chaco, and enjoying the city of Santa Cruz. I loved every minute of my time there and I had a great traveling companion to see me through the experience. I saw many life animals including a Spectacled Caiman and 53 new life birds.

The kindness of strangers

There's a certain freedom in traveling in the company of strangers. I think that in this culture of fear we are overly cautious about the people around us. And though I may give my mom some anxiety I keep opening my doors to those around me. I've been part of the Couchsurfing movement for quite some time. Maybe two years ago I had my first couchsurfer come crash at my place. She was a quiet girl trying to escape some job problems. She only spent one night and I barely noticed she was there but it felt good to open my home to her and provide a place to stay for free.

When Hewy and I went to Savannah we decided that even though we have connections for a free place we would give couchsurfing a try. Having only hosted people, I was a little unsure about my first experience staying with someone else. But we found our selves in a cozy little home on the southside that had plenty of charm and Cindy was the best host. It was a great experience and I encourage everyone to let their guard down on occasion and give it a try.

Of course, couchsurfing isn't the only way that you can interact with the people around you. When I stayed at the Everglades Hostel I met a nice woman from Austria. She had taken the greyhound from New York and wanted to see South Florida but she didn't have a car. She was at the mercy of the road and I found that quite intriguing. I am known to over plan my trips and sometimes be a little crazy about sticking to schedules but meeting people like Michele has taught me that I need to slow down and just go along for the ride. So the next day I invited her to join me at Everglades National Park. We spent the whole morning hiking the trails and I provided her with some natural history of the wildlife. After lunch we said goodbyes and though it was a brief encounter, it's something that will stay with me for quite some time.