FLORIDA ~ The Final Instalment!!!

So, it was a very sad farewell to Medira Beach & we moved inland to spend our final few days in Orlando... Bird's certainly weren't scarce en route with loads of Red-tailed Hawks & Black Vultures gliding by the freeway....

Arrival in Orlando was after a 2hr journey & slightly weary & hungry we set off for some food before retiring (we had a 16hr + day the following day at Disney World!!!)

Only more Northern Mockingbird were seen, with little else of interest except a very low flying Black Vulture!!!

The following day was very tiring with a full 14hrs spent in Disney, only notable bird was a warbler sp. that dived out of a bush at the entrance to Disney, which had me veer off through the crowds to try & get a better look, sadly, it vanished back into the bush before I got a good view!!...

Just some of a large flock of Black Vulture circling over the western park at Disney!!!...

It was very ironic that in the western themed area of Disney a flock of 30+ Black Vulture were circling above this area!!! (I did wonder if anyone there may have thought these were part of the Disney effect?.... Maybe a bit of Disney magic, eh?...)

There were stacks of Boat-tailed & Common Grackle's around the park, along with the ever present (& very, very tame) GW Egrets & White Ibis!!!

A Common Grackle eyeing up my shredded pork BBQ burger.... cheeky bugger!!!

Our final full day was spent at Universal, an amazing place which I loved & sorry to say, I was waaay too busy going on every ride & enjoying every second to really do any birding at all....

So, there we are. An end to the most magical 2 weeks of my life!! I loved every second there & I shall be returning as soon as I can.

The purpose of this lengthy 'Florida' write up is so that you can see what is readily available in Florida & can be seen &/or found easily as part of a family holiday... If you've never been I highly recommend you go!!!

(Incidently, I was reading the itinery of a bird tour to Florida in April next year where they practically garauntee you 200+ species!!!!!).

Not bad, eh?

A final farewell to Florida.... The only place I have ever missed more than I miss home!!!

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Knot Another!!...

So, it's my one day off... a cold morning & Mand was up at 06:30am for work.... As she leaves the house I roll over & snuggle up in my nice warm bed for a nice long lie-in, when... My mobile text alert goes off!! My initial thought was Mand had forgot something... so I staggered downstairs & see it's from ze Guru ~ a Knot at Mire Lake!!! I've only seen Knot in Shropshire once before, plus it's one closer to 160 for the county year list (a target I'd given up on previously, after taking several weeks 'out' from birding & losing so many ticks during the summer months, now unobtainable ~ ie: Spotfly, Whinchat, Cuckoo, Turtle Dove... to name just a few...). But with the recent onslaught of county ace's the game is back on!!!
So, of to Mire I went, sleep still clinging to my eyelids, my body in mild shock as to why it isn't back lying on a warm comfy matress!!! I arrived at Mire & the low water levels are certainly drawing them in... at least 7 Green Sandpiper & 2 Redshank were easily picked up, loads of Pied Wags & Mipits!! (Gotta be good for a Water Pipit here.... Please!!!)
But no Knot!!...
Then I saw a grey bird feeding with several BH Gull... whacked the owd scope on it & sure enough there was a very splendid Knot!!! My 2nd for Shropshire & my 156th species for Shropshire this year!!! (a full TEN species behind Jim, who must be chasing that mythical 170 mark now!!!)...
You'll all be pleased to know that my brand spanker new N96 will NOT work with my scope re: digiscoping.... so no more w***y pictures!!! ;~)

So, just 4 more for 160... (or 2 to beat my previous best county year list).... I still need Little Owl, LesserPecker, Woodcock, Hen Harrier.... Any advice where to get the first 3 would be very appreciated!! (I know best spot for HH would be the Long Mynd or Whixall....).

Thanks all....

The County Birds still keep on comin'!!....

What a mad year!!! Again. I'm totally gobsmacked at what bird's keep relentlessly turning up!!!
As with the Great White Egret @ the Mere, I had Erin today, I'd called ze Guru for advice on birding in the Bhutan (I'm off birding there in 2010!!!), and he tole me there was a Grey Phalarope at VP!!!!!
Now... I've dipped this lil' Grey bugger twice in Shropshire before now (had 2 in Staffs!!)....
So, with the light failing, my daughter was picked up & I raced off to VP for this amazing county tick (plus the buggers on me patch!!!)....
I arrived around 18:15pm, & was instantly on the Grey Phalarope!!! In with 10 or so Lapwing, on the muddy island outside the main hide!!!...

My 10th county tick for the year...... & what a year!!! Ze Guru predicts a Rock Pipit next.... Me?... I reckon we're due a Richard's Pipit or maybe a Glossy Ibis.... what d'ya reckon?.... ;~)....Bring 'em on I say!!!!

88 ~ Grey Phalarope!

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The Vigil Continues!!!....

Arrived back at VP around 17:00hrs to again look for the Bittern (which was reported sometime today...), I joined Yvonne & a couple of other birders!! (Yvonne had been there since 2pm with 'no sign'!!)....
Again, nearby shooting put up every bird on VP & made me think the chance of the Bittern now showing were even more remote!!!...
But, an hour after I arrived & thanks to an eagle-eyed Yvonne spotting something flapping on top of the opposite reedbed, there it was, the Bittern!!! It perched... well, more like flopped, onto the top of the reeds, before slipping down & out of sight!!! Myself & Yvonne were the only one's who got anything like a good view of the bird!!.. Sadly the bird showed too brief for the others to get onto it...
My first Bittern at VP for at least 2 years & a great tick!! Well done Yvonne for getting me straight onto it!!! :~)

86 ~ Mistle Thrush.
87 ~ Bittern.

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Early Morning Vigil!!....

Back to a bit of county stuff again..... I must admit I was surprised to discover the Bittern at VP was seen yesterday (I was fairly convinced it had 'done one'!!).... So, straight after work this morning I stopped off at VP in the hope of scoring this excellent bird (I've had a few Bittern's at VP now ~ plus I found my 1st ever one there in 2003!! ~ so was pretty hopefull I'd see it!!).

Sadly the Bittern had other idea's & decided to remain hidden until at least 08:30am, which is when I gave up & went home for some kip!!
However, I did get a few good birds, a Barn Owl perched directly outside the main hide, 2 Tawny Owl calling over on the east side of the reserve (only got a brief view of a largeish bird dropping out of a tree, so I'm counting it as a tick for my VP 100, but not as a patch tick ~ I still need this bird for a patch tick!! ~ as it was a very poor view.... more a tick 'on call'!!)... 2 Water Rail were very vocal & a flock of around 30+ Fieldfare with a few Redwing in with them, which flew over the south end of the pool (had the odd Siskin over too!!)...

So, it's back to VP later for me then.... & if I dont see it?.... Back again tomorrow morning!!!... & so on & so on until I do see the sodding thing!!.... or it buggers off!!!...
Anyway...

81 ~ Barn Owl.
82 ~ Tawny Owl.
83 ~ Water Rail.
84~ Fieldfare.
85~ Redwing.

.....Just 15 more for 100 species in (the latter) 6 months at VP!!!.....

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FLORIDA ~ Pt.7.

7th October ~ Farewell to Mediera Beach!!

It was a slightly solem day, our last day in this beautiful & tranquil part of Florida. In 12 odd day's I managed to rack up around 60 odd species, with 43 of them new birds for me!!! And all this done whilst on a family, not a birding holiday!! (ie: I didn't spend my entire time birding)

Good ol' Mediera Beach still had a small treat in store for me.... The previous day I had been watching a 3rd yr. Ring-billed Gull at extreme close quaters on the beach when I looked up and stood enthralled as a flock of 50+ Magnificent Frigatebird flew over!!! There was a small, but constant stream of them for the next couple of hours ~ I guessed they were moving away from something & later, when a brilliant tropical storm moved over I was proven correct ~ the strom by the way was an awesome spectacle, we watched from the shelter of our condo ~ it blew itself out in a couple of hours!!!...

Presumed 3rd yr. Ring-billed Gull on Mediera Beach ~ only saw 2 all hols!!.... Didn't seem to like the heat at all....


1st pic of a low flying Magnificent Frigatebird ~ then just some of the flock of 50+ birds that flew over the ebach on our penultimate day at Mediera Beach...






A tropical storm moves in slowly towards our condo, before settling overhead & then unleashing a severe downpour!!!...

Back to the day in hand, I was as usual, sat on my balcony scanning around when I noticed 2 distant parakeet sp. Even at a distance I could clearly see they were different from the Black-hooded's I was now used to seeing. The usual green colour on the back, long tailed, but very notably yellow on the breast with a greyish/pale head ~ 2 Dusky-headed Parakeet!!!
(Sadly no pic ~ too far off!!)
We went to one of the restaurants on the boardwalk at John's Pass for our final meal here when I noticed an unusal heron sp. perched on a nearby boat. After a struggle to adjust my eye's to the dark I could see it was an imm. Yellow-crowned Night Heron!!! Then, not far away, was sat a full adult!!!.... & then I saw a Black-crowned Night Heron (new bird for me!!)... then another... and another...!!! There were probably around 7 or 8 Night Heron's perched along the boardwalk!!! I'd seen non here previously.... I could only assume the previous nights storm had moved them here from somewhere? Anyway, great looking birds....



An ad. Black-crowned Night Heron ~ had a job getting the camera to focus fully at full zoom!!...


...& an ad. Yellow-crowned Night Heron... one of several on our last evening at Mediera Beach.

Not a huge amount more to write now from Florida.... below in a list of the notable birds I saw in 2 weeks at Mediera Beach...


Anhinga.
Double-crested Cormorant.
Wood Stork.
White Ibis.
Great White Egret.
Snowy Egret.
Reddish Egret.
Great Blue Heron.
Tri-coloured Heron.
Little Blue Heron.
Black-crowned Night Heron.
Yellow-crowned Night Heron.
Brown Pelican.
Black Vulture.
Bald Eagle.
Osprey.
Red-tailed Hawk.
Ferruginous Hawk.
Cooper's Hawk.
American Kestrel.
Magnificent Frigatebird.
Black Skimmer.
Forster's Tern.
Royal Tern.
Sandwich Tern.
Laughing Gull.
Ring-billed Gull.
Willet.
Semi-palmated Plover.
American Golden Plover.
Killdeer.
Sanderling.
Knot.
Least Sandpiper.
White-rumped Sandpiper.
Short-billed Dowitcher.
Black-hooded Parakeet.
Dusky-headed Parakeet.
Downy Woodpecker.
Red-bellied Woodpecker.
Mourning Dove.
Western Sandpiper.
Northern Rough-winged Swallow.
Boat-tailed Grackle.
Common Grackle.
Northern Mockingbird.
Loggerhead Shrike.
Blue Jay.
Fish Crow.
American Crow.
Northern Cardinal.
Palm Warbler.
Eastern Towhee.


Just possibly one more post from Florida ~ which I shall post very soon ~ thanks for reading all my waffle!!!....

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FLORIDA ~ Pt.6.

3rd October ~ Fort De Soto Park.

A couple of day's spent relaxing on the beach soaking up the lovely Florida sun, walks around John's Pass fabulous boardwalk (where I saw a Manitee swim into the harbour ~ sadly Mand had the camera & I was unable to get a photo of this amazing sea cow) & nights out having wonderous food, sadly no new birds, but totally brilliant all the same, it was today we drove to the man-made Fort De Soto park!!...

Roughly 6 miles long but only a mile wide, this long T' shaped piece of land is glorious beach on the southern side & marsh & woodland on the north.

This day was a very calm day with little or no wind, but it was also very bright & baking hot!! Armed with only my shades, cigars & bins (didn't take my camera basically ~ so I apologise for no bird photo's!!), I set off along the western arm, with beach & scrubland to my left & a large freshwater pool surrounded by woodland to my right...

This was 'my day birding', whilst the other's relaxed on the beach I set off alone to see what I could find.

There were plenty of Osprey over the fresh water pool, also loads of Double-crested Cormorants on the sea... Then, slowly I began to uncover new & exciting birds!!! First was not one but two adult Bald Eagles, flying in low before soaring high up (& were joined by a Red-tailed Hawk!!)... Then another hawk sp. flew in low... quite a large hawk, with a very striking wing pattern, jet black secondaries & primaries with a reddish coloured back & wing coverts ~ an ad. Ferruginous Hawk!! According to the literature, a passage bird at this time of year to Florida, therefore an amzingly fortunate tick ~ plus a very nice looking bird too!!!

A bird call I (obviously) couldn't ID had me scrabbling around bushes before the culprit gave up & it was an excellent little bird too, as a bright red bird perched in a gap in the bush, an adult male Northern Cardinal!!! My 2nd new bird of the day!!!...

Around the huge cannon (pic below), I had several hirrundines flying around which turned out to be Northern Rough-winged Swallow's!!

I, luckily, stopped to check 9 Cormorant-like birds which were flying over & I was chuffed to bits to see that they were Anhinga's!!! These were a bird I really wanted to see & were now my 4th new species at the fort!!...

Another & very showy Loggerhead Shrike gave stunning views perched on a wire by the roadside, several Northern Mockingbird and a Blue Jay were all picked up when I disturbed a couple of small warblers which I flushed out of some scrub! Luckily they seemed quite happy to either perch on long grass & even feed on the sandy track.... I soon realised that there were several of these birds.... Clearly a warbler, but very pipit-like, standing upright & noticably waging their tail almost constantly... A very obvious supercillium, faint speckling on the breast but most obvious was a bright yellow undertail coverts!!! These were Palm Warblers!!! In the end I estimated there were around 20-30 of them in this area!!!...

An American Kestrel was to be 6th new species here.... After 2hrs of 'proper' birding the searing heat was beginging to get to me & I now really needed a cold drink & some shade!!!!...

A brilliant place and no doubt there were more birds to be had here.... However, the remaining part of the day I cooled off in the sea & watched Stingray's leaping out of the water nearby me...

The pier at Fort De Soto....

The 'never used' cannon (with Mand & her Dad posing for a size comparision), at Fort De Soto park... And the above pic a view of the glorious beach area....

Not too much more left to go now.... but more from Florida soon.....

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FLORIDA ~ Pt.5.

30th September.

With so many new birds coming in thick & fast I was quite surprised that such a hot day on the beach at the condo would be as rewarding as it was!!

It started with, as ever, the pair of Osprey busy feeding at sea and perching up on any high object nearby!... As I watched from the balcony a bird hopped up onto a telegraph wire not too far off... very bunting/finch like in shape, quite a fattish bird with a very long tail & short bill. The head was a greyish colour with a clear chestnut colour running along the flanks. Then it spread it's tail which revealed white sides to the outter tail feathers.... a female Eastern Towhee!!! (too far for a pic. sadly)

An Osprey takes a quick breather from fishing....


Whilst this one drifts over Mediera Beach on another hunting trip!!....


Then a small woodpecker perched on the tree just a short distance from my balcony, much smaller than the Red-bellied, with a black cross pattern on the back of its head & a noticably short bill for a woodpecker - a female Downy Woodpecker!!! (which was joined later by a male!!)... My 2nd new bird in just a few minutes... This was gettin' good!!! A Wood Stork was perched on a tree in the distance which I did photograph, but it was simply too far away...


Female Downy Woodpecker ~ the male was too quick for his piccie!!....

A raptor had been busy hunting doves over the town the previous day & I hadn't been 100% of the ID, but today it perched on a nearby flat roof allowing a pic ~ my 3rd tick ~ a Cooper's Hawk!!! (very similar to Shap-shinned Hawk)

A Cooper's Hawk lift's off from a nearby roof, off to give all the Mourning & Collared Doves a load more grief!!....


Later on the beach Mand's Dad found an odd looking wader which you could approach with ease, it was a very obvious Short-billed Dowitcher!! (soon there were 6 of them, as Long-billed is a scarce passage bird here & dont visit coastal areas (more inland water), SBD was the far more obvious bird!!)


One of six Short-billed Dowitchers.... vey approachable birds!!!


Then I had an awesome spectacle as a bird with a huge wing span flew along the beach, very prehistoric looking, with a long thin bill, long tail & red throat ~ a Magnificent Frigatebird!!!! Without a doubt my bird of the holiday... You couldn't choose a better word to describe this bird than 'Magnificent'!! During the holiday, it was to become a daily sighting, as many as 3 together... until my 2nd to last day at Mediera Beach, but I'll save that for later!!! ;~)

The awesome Magnificent Frigatebird as it flew along the beach!!....

Still much more still to come.... (you gettin' fed up yet?)... ;~)

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A Target Achieved!! ~ 190 & Rising!!....

A short venture away from Florida briefly & back to the good 'ol county birding!!....

A text & message from both Rob & Will had my pulse racing today ~ a drake Common Scoter at VP no less!!... This is a major county bogey bird for me & to have one on patch is awesome!!!

I arrived at VP early afternoon and the short walk to the trout pool seemed a very, very long way, but there sat beautifully in the middle of the very calm pool water was a very smart drake Common Scoter!!! My 9th county tick for the year & takes me up to 190 species on my Shropshire Life List ~ a target I set myself for this year!!! Plus it goes some way to making up for dipping the Yellow-browed Warbler at Tee Lake on Sunday!!!...

A vigil over VP failed to produce the Bittern seen yesterday ~ may go back later this evening for another look as I aint had a Bittern at VP for over 2 years now so it'd be nice to see one again...

I'm afraid my pics of the scoter are back to their usual utter naffness (sorry Jim, it was never gonna last, was it?...)

A return to form in my picture quality here.... but still, a fab bird with another county tick for me, a drake Common Scoter on the trout pool at VP today!!!... Thx to Rob & Will for the info!...

More from Florida very soon & much better pics too!!! ;~)

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FLORIDA ~ Pt.4.

29th September.

I was up fairly early on my second morning to grab some early morning birding before my fellow holiday makers we up & about (I was in Florida with Mand & her parents, all of them non-birders!!).... Despite being quiet I woke Mand's parents up when I walked straight into the balcony doors (big, french sliding window/doors!!), almost knocking myself out in the process!!

The beach was devoid of tern's, although a few Sandwich Terns were flying around... I soon picked up on a plover on the beach, which was clearly an adult American Golden Plover, by the time I raced down to the beach the bird had gone, but I did find a second bird, not quite as pristine as the first bird, but still not too bad...

One of two full summer pl. American Golden Plover's.... the other was a smarter bird & probably not as hard to approach as this individual.... It had me racing up & down the beach before I got this shot ~ little sod!!

It was later in the day I finally managed to pin down a woodpecker sp. that I'd seen briefly the previous day, it was a very striking Red-bellied Woodpecker, during my 12 day's at Mediera Beach I saw the bird quite often, especially feeding for grubs on the palm tree's outside our condo.

Two picture's of a Red-bellied Woodpecker.... roughly the same size as our GSWP, it took quite some effort before I managed these shots as the bird was always very flighty!! Still, these aint too bad....

During my second day I picked up my first Bald Eagle (a juv. bird, although I did see several adult birds later in the holiday....). Also, a very noisy group of 40+ parrots turned out to be Black-hooded Parakeet's ~ always easily found due to the noise they made, but they were always brief & on the move...

An afternoon out turned up a few more ticks when we pulled over at a nearby park area (sorry, but the name escapes me at the moment), Pilated Woodpecker & Northern Flicker were resident birds here, although I failed to see either. However, a Little Blue Heron showed brilliantly near the car park & another small, juv. heron sp. turned out to be a Yellow-crowned Night Heron. After watching several Least Sandpiper's & a White-rumped Sandpiper on themuddy shoreline (literally just 10ft. from where I was stood!!), another heron appeared, this one was an ad. Tricoloured Heron!!...

(Mand's Mum has photo's of these birds, so when I recieve them I shall post them here somewhere...). So sorry, but no pics of these for now...

As we were leaving, in a tree right by the car I had my first Blue Jay!!...

On our return home a White Ibis was yet another new bird for me, taking me beyond 30 lifers in just 3 days!!!... Brilliant birds & brilliant birding!!!

One of several White Ibis... quite numerous in Florida & normally quite approachable (esp. in Disney World!!!)....

Still much more to come soon......

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FLORIDA ~ Pt.3.

28th September (cont.).


A juv. Mourning Dove outside our condo.....

An evening walk to Treasure Island beach & a faboulous meal added yet more bird's to my first ever 'world list'!!... A fantastic adult Reddish Egret feeding on the shoreline & in amongst the enormous tern colony were around 20 odd Black Skimmer's!!! Awesome bird, although they do look a little odd, with the lower bill much longer than the upper (the only bird in the world to have a bill like this!!)....

The sun sets over Mediera Beach on our second day....

After my first full day my tally was only 30 odd species but around 22 of these were lifers!!! A brilliant first day I couldn't wait for morning and what Florida would deliver next....

A Great Blue Heron on Medeira Beach.... 'You lookin' at me?'.....



Couple of pic's of the Black Skimmer's roosting on Treasure Island beach!!....

Just some of the huge tern colony roosting on Treasure Island.



An adult Reddish Egret feeds on the shoreline as the sun sets on Treasure Island beach.... not a bad pic eh?... ;~)

More to come later.....

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FLORIDA ~ Pt.2.

28th September.

Early morning on what was really day 1 on Florida, I ventured down the beach for a wander.... and was totally gobsmacked at the bird's I added instantly!!!... Osprey was a daily bird with 2 bird's seen every morning. Added to this, on the beach I started slamming on the life ticks - Royal Tern's (a big fave of mine!!), Forster's Tern's joined the throng of Sandwich Tern's... Several Snowy Egret's were in the harbour mouth, Great Blue Heron's were awesome, as, along with most of the bird's to be honest, were so easily approachable!!... Load's of Laughing Gull's were along beach, equally plentable were Willet's!! In amongst the Sanderling's I picked up on a couple of Semi-palmated Plover's!!!... Fish Crow was another new tick (ID'd by their call from the Yanky Crow!)... Double-crested Cormorants were few, but easily picked up also...

More Boat-tailed Grackle's, stunning Mourning Doves, several Purple Martin & of course, Brown Pelican!!!... What an awesome place!!! I was loving every single second!!!...

Just a few of the abundant Willet's on Medeira Beach on my first morning in Florida!!...

To be seen everywhere - Brown Pelican, a graceful, but still comical bird!!... I'll tell you later about the 'fishing incident'!!...

How bloody hard did I try to see ONE of these bugger's at The Mere... In Florida they're everywhere!!! And I do mean EVERYWHERE!!! Even easily picked up in the middle of Disney World!!!.... Great White Egret!!..

Love this pic... how many species can you see?... Answer below!!!...

An ad. male Boat-tailed Grackle - pic doesn't do it justice!!! Beautiful blue-green sheen to it's plumage... like oil on water...

Answer to above pic question - 5 species!!! Royal Tern (pretty obvious one really!!)... Laughing Gull's, Willet, Sandwich Tern's & a Forster's Tern!!!...

Did you get all 5?.... Yeah, well done to ya then!! ;~)

More to come soon!!.... Oh yeah, I hope you all notice the vast improvement in my photo quality!!?.... Jim'll be sooo proud of me!!! ;~)

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FLORIDA ~ Pt.1.

This is really just an introduction to what may be quite a thread to read (& for me, to write!!!)....I arrived back from an amazing two weeks in Florida at 07:30am this morning, having been up since 09:00am yesterday morning!!...

My first time to America & also my first taste of birding abroad!! (although, let me state clearly now, that this wasn't a birding holiday!!! I was with my gal Mandy & her parents, all non-birders, so this is really just to, not only show you, what is easily available in Florida, but also what you can see with ya fam in tow!!).... (& not be 'off birding the whole time'!! ~ save those endless moans & bollockings that always come from those weird people that don't bird)... Geddit?... ;~)

Okay here we go....

27th September - Arrival in Florida.

We arrived around 3pm-ish Florida time, from the airport at Sanford I immediately started adding ticks... American Crow & Boat-tailed Grackle were numerous & very, very easy to get on in the car lot. As we exited Sanford airport I added 3 Wood Stork & several (of what be literally hundreds) of Great White Egret!!!...

The 2hr drive to Medeira Beach added my first of many Black Vulture & Red-tailed Hawk!!!....

By now, already, I was seriously excited by my first venture abroad birding!!!

The sun sets over Medeira Beach on our arrival!!.... Pretty or what eh?... Just you wait n' see what else I managed folks!!!...