Maine (the forgotten post)

Wow, I found this post today and for some reason it was never uploaded.  I like the photos so much that I thought I would share it.  It's a glimpse of the conditions at the boat dock before Rupp and I headed out on our Puffin expedition a few years back in May.  This was a COLD afternoon and we probably had every stitch of clothing on that we packed.  I'm planning to go back to Maine next year for a wedding.  I hope that even better adventures are had and maybe, I'll see Puffins again.

Airboats at Night and Virginia Key

For my brother's birthday I bought us a nighttime airboat ride in the Everglades.  It was a fun experience and our guide was really great.  I am a bit critical when it comes to nature guides (since I am one myself) but this guy went way beyond my expectations and I even learned a thing or two.  Plus he was very accommodating with people on the boat.

We saw some nice gators on the ride, also cormorants and a Great Blue Heron.  The best part was when our guide turned the boat off and all the lights in the middle of the Glades.  As we sat there we could see distant fires burning (as forest fires spread across parts of the Everglades) and hear the cacophony of frogs.  It was very peaceful being out there, even with a boat full of people.

Actually the best part may have been going real fast on the airboat!  I did enjoy that as well and it was nice that my brother could join me for this little adventure.

My brother lives in South Carolina and doesn't have the chance to visit often so I always try to find new things for us to do.  On the following Sunday we woke up in Miami and headed out to Bill Baggs State Park.  After swimming and chilling on the beach we sought some refuge from the sun and heat by hitting up Jimbo's.  If you haven't been to Jimbo's then you haven't seen some real Florida.  It's a hodge podge of squatter camp, manatee viewing deck, cheap beer, bocce, artwork, photoshoots, run down vehicles and shacks, and all around great place to grab a few drinks.  Andy, Rosana, and Emily joined us for the day and we had some nice down time altogether.

From the dock you can see the Miami skyline, a huge contrast to the abandoned school bus and shacks scattered about the property.

It was the perfect way to end my mini weekend trip with my brother.  I hope he had as much fun as I did.  Certainly I'm looking forward to the next sibling reunion.

Working hard

The view from my office today.

Keys, Quite An Adventure

When friends arrive at your doorstep and say "Let's go to the Keys!" You don't argue, you merely pack your bags, call in sick, and hit the road. That's what happened when my favorite Orlando girls rolled into town. Due to my work schedule it would be just an overnighter but I knew it would certainly be worth it.

We arrived early afternnon at Bahia Honda State Park where we would be staying with one of the park rangers, Joey. As you can see in the photo above the man always has a smile on his face and per his reputation, he showed us a great time. While most of the group went with him into town for groceries, Amber and I hit the kayaks.

Joey has his own small kayak launch where we paddled out to Bare Beach. This was a great stretch of Mangrove habitat. Amber and I had some fun walking around picking up trash and exploring the shallow areas for wildlife. On the sand flats where a few dowitchers, one Reddish Egret, and some Willets.

By this time it was late afternoon and the water was like a hot bathtub. We decided to forego swimming and took a leisurely paddle back to the house.

As the sun starting sinking into the horizon Joey informed us of a surprise he had in store for our afternoon. Previously that morning he had dug up a sea turtle nest and found three stragglers alive. We were set to release them at sunset. So off we hopped into the car to release the turtles. First we took a detour to fold the flags and pick up the babies.

For those that know me, it comes as no surprise that this was a lifetime experience. I fell in love with sea turtles as a young girl and it possibily could be the main reason I went into the science field. So with great pleasure I held the baby Loggerhead Sea Turtle, let it crawl on the sand, and then scooped it up to release it out into the warm waters of the Gulf.

All photos in this post were taken by Amber Lovelace.

This certainly was one of the highlights of the trip but the party was no where near over. After a great meal we went swimming in the bioluminescence and stared up at the Milky Way. I love swimming in the ocean at night, especially on clear nights when the stars cease to end. We had a late night of celebrating and the next day we were slow to rise. But eventually we made it out to do some snorkeling before heading home. All in all, the trip was one of the highlights of summer. I wish I could have stayed longer but there's always next time.

Just remember folks, if they ask you to go to the Keys, don't turn down the offer. You will find no better place to relax. It really is like a tropical paradise, especially if you have the right friends and a cold beer to drink.

Bahamas Day Three

It's taken me almost all month to finish up this three day journey to Grand Bahama but with life being busy and my laptop being stolen, things haven't been that easy around here. Nonetheless here is the last installation of our trip. For those of you still stopping by, thank you for your patience and I'm buying a new laptop next week so we should have more weekly posts in the future!

On our last day in the Bahamas we decided to drive out to the Owl Hole. The drive in is a little haphazard and you should check your car for clearance before making the trek. We didn't see any new birds but it was nice to watch Cuban Emeralds flying from top to top of the pines. I've never seen so many hummingbirds as we saw on Grand Bahama.

After Owl Hole we made our way to Rand Nature Center. We made the mistake of waiting to hit this spot until our last day. By far it was one of the most productive parts of our trip. Plus we got to correctly identify Poisonwood, which we were ALWAYS looking for at each trail. If you're not famaliar with the tree then just be warned that it can really damage your skin by touching any part of the plant.

Once on the Rand trail we immediately found our lifer Cuban Pewee. It was only a few feet away and luckily for us, we all saw it because it was the only one we would see on our trip. It's always nice when you get to really soak in a bird at close distance. We made our way to the old Flamingo compound which houses a nice little pond. A loop around the pond would offer us more Cuban Emeralds, Palm Warblers, catbirds, and another lifer, two female Black-faced Grassquits.

The trails of Rand Nature Center are also supposed to be good for seeing Red-tailed Hawk though we didn't spy one. This education Red-tailed gave us an eye and amazingly enough a LOT of birds were found surrounding its cage. We quickly located a Western Spindalis nearby and found a few more warblers for our day list.

We headed back towards the nature center where a beautiful singing male Black-faced Grassquit awaited us. And after we almost gave up the trails a Bahama Mockingbird came out in full view. It was really easy to distinguish from the multitude of Northern Mockingbirds we saw on this trip due to the lack of white wing patches and the presence of streaking on the flanks.

With just a couple of hours left we rushed back to Garden of Groves to try and pick up a Greater Antillean Bullfinch. We paid our fee and entered the park at the hottest part of the day with a pretty steady wind picking up. It seemed like a hopeless search. Not only could we not find the bullfinch but we couldn't find ANY birds. We finally came across a little bit of activity. Another Red-legged Thrush gave us great looks and then finally we saw an interesting bird fly across one of the ornamental ponds. It was our bullfinch and it was at eye level. We all released our frustrations out and soaked in the little male bird. It was the perfect ending to our trip. Of course we didn't know it but we had another adventure in store for us once back to our lodging.

What you may notice from the photos above and below is that we aren't on a cruise ship and we aren't doing any real birding. We were really looking forward to celebrating our birding trip on the way back, sitting on the cruise ship, drinking a few spirits, and casually looking for birds. But our ship gave us another fate. The engine decided to die and our plans were adverted to a flight option.

So we sat in the airport from 2PM until almost 7PM. Unfortunately the airport ran out of food so after our many rounds of beer we merely laid there exhuasted and hungry. Our last meal being early that morning before heading out. It wasn't quite the ending we hoped for but all in all, the birding was great, the company was amazing, and the travel was fun.

Bahamas Birding Day One

Saturday April 4th was our sail date from Ft. Lauderdale. We arrived at the port early in the dark hours and boarded our little cruise boat. This boat runs daily from Ft. Lauderdale to Grand Bahama. As we watched the sunrise we started IDing birds. Before leaving port our list hit 17 species with the highlights being Tree Swallows and Black-necked Stilts. I missed the stilits due to a small nap on the ship's deck but I don't regret it because I would need some rest for this crazy whirlwind of a trip.

The boat ride over was fairly slow but we did have a pair of Royal Terns feeding the whole way over. At times they would perch on the airhorn to rest. Also a Semipalmated Sandpiper was spotted about half way over and cruised along aside us for most of the trip in. Our hope was to see some pelagics but we had to settle for the above mentioned birds and some really cool flying fish.

Upon arriving we found a taxi and were promptly dropped off at the wrong airport where our rental car awaited us. After walking down the road to the right airport we spied many Smooth-billed Anis and a our first American Kestral of the trip. Once we had our car we made a quick trip to our bed and breakfast to check in and then we hit the road east.

Our birding spots were provided for us by the very essential Tony White book A Birder's Guide to the Bahama Islands. Our first bird stop of the trip was Lucayan National Park where a series of caves are located. These caves or caverns as they are called are some of the most extensive surveyed systems in the world. We hiked toward Ben's Cave with very little bird activity other than the anis that called from the pine trees.

Once down in the cave we found a Northern Waterthrush and some bats. These Buffy Flower Bats (Erophylla sezekorni syops) are endemic to the Caribbean. There's a photo below taken by Kim while we were at the cave. The caves are a host to many interesting animals including a species of crustacean (Spelionectes lucayensis) that has never been documented elsewhere in the world. We also found that the birding was almost always good where a cave was located so we visited quite a few during our stay on Grand Bahama.

Two photos above taken by Kim Cressman. The top photo shows you the stairs into Ben's Cave and the last shot is of the fruit bats that live there.

The next cave, Burial Mound Cave, was even more productive for birding. Once again upon walking down into the cave we located another warbler. This time a stunning Hooded Warabler gave us great looks. Outside the cave entrance we picked up our first Bahama targets. A Western Spindalis and a LaSagra's Flycatcher were found in the same tree over the cave entrance area. And further down the path we found a few Thick-billed Vireos in a mixed flock that included one Black-whiskered Vireo, a Black-and-white Warbler, and a few Pine Warblers.

Once we sufficiently birded the cave areas to the north we headed south to Gold Rock. Along the way we weaved through the mangroves but the only new birds we picked up for the trip were Red-winged Blackbird and Ruddy Turnstones on the beach. Apparently they filmed parts of Pirates of the Carribean near Gold Rock beach.

Photo by Kim Cressman of myself and Andy checking out Gold Rock.

Since the birding was slim on the ocean side we decided to bird the cave areas one more time before departing back to our lodgings. On the second loop we found a Prairie Warbler, a female American Redstart, a gorgeous male Cape May Warbler and a Black-throated Blue Warbler. We ended the day with two vireo species and eight warblers. Migration seemed to be just right for our trip and we fell asleep that night listening to a Chuck-wills-widow calling outside.

Tomorrow's post will detail our trip out to West End, our rental car woes, and a few new lifers.

Skywatch Friday: Jekyll Island Boat Marina, GA

Since college I've lived in four different states, had six different jobs, and despite all my travels I still feel like the only place I can call home, other than my family's farm, is Jekyll Island. When I lived there I didn't spend much time in the historic district where this boat marina is but I went there on occasion. This February sunset took my breath away and made me long to live on the island again. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Remember to check out all the other Skywatch Friday posts. Have a great weekend!