Walking the Boardwalk

You may have to click on the photo above to see the unexpected guest we had walking the boardwalk this morning. Or you could look in the upper part of the photo to see one of it's cohorts flying around. That's right, a Least Tern decided that the boardwalk would be it's final resting spot. Actually I don't know if it decided or if some predator decided for it. There is a little bit of a mystery surrounding this bird.

From these photos you can see the blood on the feet. I knew that something had injured the tern but I didn't notice any wing damage. Oddly I did notice it had a black feather in its beak.

The tern stretched out its wings and jumped around a bit but mostly it just sat on the boards or occasionally it would walk around. Whatever was going on I knew that I had to move the bird.

I picked up some gloves and made my attack. I didn't want to injure the little fellow any more than I had to but moving him was essential. We just have way too many people and this poor bird was going to get trampled. During the short time I was out there I had more than a dozen people pass by and two people almost stepped on the bird even with me standing guard trying to get their attention.

So I scooped up the tern and moved it to the grassy ramp area into the wetlands. It was so calm once it realized I wasn't going to do any harm. The bird relaxed but I could still feel the thumping heart through my gloves. I sat it on the ground and it gave me a few more moments before flying off over the water. Of course while trying to land it hit the water, floated to a nearby island, and then climbed on shore. I doubt this bird will make it but our policy at Green Cay is that if it's not a man-caused incident we usually let nature take its course.

When I got my photos back to my office I did find the photo below that shows a puncture wound of some kind on the bird's belly. The blood on the foot was probably due to it dripping down. And that black feather in the mouth...well it may have come from the attacker.

Whatever the cause of this bird's injuries, it was still amazing to see such a stunning bird in the hand. It took me back to the days of bird banding in college. Maybe if I have my way I will get some banding action done here at Green Cay in the next year...time will tell.

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.

Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge

The Loxahatchee Widlife Refuge is part of the northernmost section of the Everglades. It has a wonderful cypress boardwalk that I normally hike but on my last visit I decided to do something a little different. I drove down to the boat launch area and watched a beautiful sunset over the marsh. A Red-shouldered Hawk greeted me on the hiking trail sign post.

During my short visit I had some great bird sightings. My FOTS Western Kingbird was on the wires as I drove in. A huge flock of Monk Parakeets were coming in to roost. And at least a dozen Black-bellied Whistling Ducks were flying over the dikes whistling their call. Mostly I've been focusing on looking for migrants this time of year but I'll be back to Loxahatchee to check out the resident Snail Kites and Pileated Woodpeckers once things settle down.

Banded White Ibis Story

The Juvenile White Ibis that we found in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge has been identified. It was tagged at the Loxahatchee NWR on 17April2007. It was too young to fly when banded by Dr. Mark Cook. Loxahatchee is only a matter of miles from my work here in Palm Beach County, Florida. Okefenokee NWR is over 300 miles away in Georgia. Like many young birds, this one lived a short life. We found it dead in the middle of the Suwannee Canal on 12November2007.

If you find a banded bird please report it to 1-800-327-BAND.

Banded White Ibis

Species: White Ibis - Juvenile

Date Found: 12Nov2007

Location: Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge on the Suwannee Canal

Nearest Town: Folkston, GA

Bands: Blue and Red on Left Leg & Silver and Yellow on Right

This is the dead Ibis we found while paddling the Swamp. It was right in the middle of the canal with no apparent damage to its body. Frankly, we were all surprised that it wasn't alligator food but I called in the bands and await the news of where and when this young one was banded.

Okefenokee Swamp Adventure

There's nothing better than spending a few days canoeing the Okefenokee Swamp. We packed up the car early Monday morning and headed to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. There we rented our canoes and headed out to our backcountry platform on the Suwannee Canal. You should have seen our canoes piled high with firewood, backpacks, and camping supplies. After last year's experience of not taking enough food, we definitely overcompensated this year. Our cooler was full of hobo packs, snacks, and adult beverages. Needless to say, we could have fed an army. Here's Mo and Hewy strapping our alligator mascot to the front of our canoe.

The first leg of our journey was spent lazily paddling down the Suwannee Canal. We enjoyed the beautiful weather (highs in the 70s) and listened for Sandhill Cranes. Last year's paddle concluded with over 300 alligator sightings but this year the water level was high and there wasn't enough room on the bank for them to bask. We only saw 5 alligators before we reached our campsite.

Half way to Canal Run Shelter there is a picnic area called Coffee Bay Shelter. This is a chance to stretch our legs, use the bathroom, and eat some lunch. Due to the wildfires last year, our bathroom was melted in a big lump (seen below). The trees were scorched but the prairie behind the shelter looked pretty healthy. Though fires can be dangerous to our personal homes, they really are beneficial to cleaning up the old growth of the swamp.

Preparing to leave Coffee Bay Shelter we were all smiles.

Before making it to Canal Run Shelter we took a side trip into one of the many prairies along the way. I love the water lilies and daisies that were blooming. You can almost hear the Sandhill Cranes in the picture below. On our way back home, we stopped at this location again and had a flyover by three Sandhill Cranes. They have a distinct rolling call that they use often while flying.

Once at our campsite we picked a spot for our tent, did a little cane pole fishing with Vienna Sausages, and relaxed to the sounds of owls calling and birds flying by. The swamp is so peaceful in the evening and the afternoon sun lights up the golden cypress trees.

We ate a delicious meal of sweet potatoes, squash, mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, and cheese heated over the embers of our campfire. There was beer and wine and of course, wonderful conversation. After a day of paddling, we retired to our sleeping bags and slept in anticipation of another day on the water.

We paddled 20.4 miles round trip, not counting our little side adventures into the prairie. Along the way we were mostly greeted with Belted Kingfishers and a plethora of woodpeckers. In all we saw over 20 species of bird, including a dead Juvenile White Ibis that was banded. Thanks to Hewy, Kelly and Mo, it was another wonderful experience canoeing and camping in the Swamp.

Update on Spoonbills

One of the Spoonbills in the below post had a bird band. We found out that it was tagged January 1, 2007 as a chick at NE Florida Bay near Tern Key. This confirms that these individuals are indeed juveniles with their very light pink coloring.