Gosh so many birds today it was a sweet birding day. We had smiles on our faces today.
It was 80 degrees today with sunny skies.
Colleen and Paul and their friend, Mark arrived from Lakeland around 8:30 am. After saying goodbye to the guys who were golfing in the area for the day, we drove to Viera, where it is always sunny and pleasant and there are always lots of birds. It did not disappoint us. We had a wonderful raft of White Pelikans at that first cell along with a Loggerhead Shrike, Green Heron and Savannah Sparrow. Reddish Egret, Tricoloured Heron, Little Blue Heron and a swimming Anhinga were around the corner. Barbr was thrilled to see one of her favourite birds a Crested Caracara fly in and pose on a palm snag for us. It stayed long enough for photos.
There were Blue-winged Ducks, a Ring-necked Duck, and flotillas of American Coots. Every cell had water in it this year and there was activity. We were told that there were baby Limpkins last week but they must have grown enough to fly away because they were not seen.
Here are some of the Viera birds seen
The Caracara was the highlight of the day for Barbr and for me my highlight was the flotilla of Pelikans up close and they were such a gaggle. Colleen was thrilled with the birds also.
We had our lunch our picnic lunch at Viera and off we drove down I95 North to Merritt Island. We first stopped at the Visitor Center to get our pass and try for the Painted Bunting. Only the female was at the feeder but we were informed that there had been both sexes showing up in the morning.
We went to try for the Florida Scrub Jay at the Beach kiosk and we tried again at dusk also but no luck with the Florida Scrub Jay today. We did stop at the Great Horned Owl nest and viewed the ever vigilant parent sitting on the nest. We then did Black Point Wildlife Drive which usually takes us a couple of hours to drive. It was busy on the road but it a beautiful day and the waders were there along with Pintail Ducks, Short-billed Dowitchers, Roseate Spoonbills, Black Skimmers, and Northern Shovelers. Colleen's bird of the day was the very pretty Northern Pintail sailing around the water so gracefully. We finally left just before sunset. We caught the sunset while on Gator Lane. A really nice birding day in Merritt Island.
We met these Sandhill Cranes just strolling along the road. Of course we found time for the selfie of the day at Merritt.
By chance we found a diner where the locals eat. We had driven by Dixie Crossroads and passed on it this evening, lots of cars and people. We kept driving east. We had a delicious supper on US1 at Steve's Diner. I had the Keywest Fish, Colleen had another type of fish and Barbr had liver. We got caught up on news and family and grandkids and US politics. We had a great time today and we are looking forward to the next 10 days of birding together. We only wish we could have spent a couple of days here in Titusville. But there are plenty of new places to explore. We must giddy-up tomorrow.
It was 80 degrees today with sunny skies.
Colleen and Paul and their friend, Mark arrived from Lakeland around 8:30 am. After saying goodbye to the guys who were golfing in the area for the day, we drove to Viera, where it is always sunny and pleasant and there are always lots of birds. It did not disappoint us. We had a wonderful raft of White Pelikans at that first cell along with a Loggerhead Shrike, Green Heron and Savannah Sparrow. Reddish Egret, Tricoloured Heron, Little Blue Heron and a swimming Anhinga were around the corner. Barbr was thrilled to see one of her favourite birds a Crested Caracara fly in and pose on a palm snag for us. It stayed long enough for photos.
There were Blue-winged Ducks, a Ring-necked Duck, and flotillas of American Coots. Every cell had water in it this year and there was activity. We were told that there were baby Limpkins last week but they must have grown enough to fly away because they were not seen.
Here are some of the Viera birds seen
The Caracara was the highlight of the day for Barbr and for me my highlight was the flotilla of Pelikans up close and they were such a gaggle. Colleen was thrilled with the birds also.
We had our lunch our picnic lunch at Viera and off we drove down I95 North to Merritt Island. We first stopped at the Visitor Center to get our pass and try for the Painted Bunting. Only the female was at the feeder but we were informed that there had been both sexes showing up in the morning.
We went to try for the Florida Scrub Jay at the Beach kiosk and we tried again at dusk also but no luck with the Florida Scrub Jay today. We did stop at the Great Horned Owl nest and viewed the ever vigilant parent sitting on the nest. We then did Black Point Wildlife Drive which usually takes us a couple of hours to drive. It was busy on the road but it a beautiful day and the waders were there along with Pintail Ducks, Short-billed Dowitchers, Roseate Spoonbills, Black Skimmers, and Northern Shovelers. Colleen's bird of the day was the very pretty Northern Pintail sailing around the water so gracefully. We finally left just before sunset. We caught the sunset while on Gator Lane. A really nice birding day in Merritt Island.
By chance we found a diner where the locals eat. We had driven by Dixie Crossroads and passed on it this evening, lots of cars and people. We kept driving east. We had a delicious supper on US1 at Steve's Diner. I had the Keywest Fish, Colleen had another type of fish and Barbr had liver. We got caught up on news and family and grandkids and US politics. We had a great time today and we are looking forward to the next 10 days of birding together. We only wish we could have spent a couple of days here in Titusville. But there are plenty of new places to explore. We must giddy-up tomorrow.
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