Beach Birding... in Florida

     Tim and I headed south, just like birds, but we were migrating with purpose - a huge, exciting, and celebratory event, Nannie turned 100 years old!
     Before we get to birds, I want to celebrate this amazing, progressive, badass woman. Nannie, Mabel Kepler, was a Brooklyn gal- grew up in what we now know as Ozone Park. She was a nurse, she reads the New York Times daily, and she has some baking secrets that we all got access to each Christmas, and she had direct lineage to a descendant who traveled to this country on the Mayflower (yeah, an actual pilgrim!).
    We adopted her a matriarch elephant from an orphan herd in Africa and I am so glad she was so tickled by this. She is the matriarch of a huge, amazing family and I couldn't be more grateful for that! So before I get to birds, here is Mabel, getting her birthday wish-- a ride on a Harley:

     After much needed catching up with family, and still, after over 10 years of being with Tim, even meeting some folks for the first time-- and after countless beverages, swimming in the ocean, then the pool....and the ocean, I did get some birding in while in New Smyrna Beach. And even more after Tim and I departed the area for Miami and the Southern parts of the state.
     In New Smyrna Beach I found that just 2 miles from where we were staying is Smyrna Dunes Park, equipped with Ocean and Bay side access, beach and dune access, via a very easy to walk boardwalk, and if you wanted to swim, I'm sure you could- although the currents look precarious where the waters meet.
     One thing I learned about many Florida parks- which I suppose I take for granted here in New York City- in a car, you have to pay to go to most parks. But I suppose that's because many of them have beach access and that can get out of control without a fee.
     Smyrna Dunes is not just good for birds- but if you are a reptile enthusiast, there are things there too that will leave you smitten...

The boardwalk trail is just a touch over a mile, and from it are meny access point to the beach. Where I began my walk, was a lot of, I suppose you would call it a thicket? With vines, brush, and palm-y type plants. Thick so that you know there are birds in there- you can't see 'em, but boy can you hear!
Birding by ear would be a good way to go in Florida, and it is something I suck at-- although I was stoked to recognize a vireo-like call and was able to ID a white-eyed vireo by ear.
Beach birding was a bit more clear and straight forward, like this juvenile reddish egret. Who is very elegant, it's hunting style has a lot of poise and looking very calm while trying to obtain your meal.

Also, note the odd abscess on its leg...

Unlike the reddish egret- the snowy egret don't care how it looks- it just wants to get the job done!
Often running, zig zagging through the surf, wings spread as it runs for balance, to pick up or reduce it's speed, who knows and then diving in like this is going to be the damn tastiest fish ever.

I love shorebirds and residents of the beach- they are so forgiving and bold.
In a world where there are no hiding places, often if startled they run or fly, but then saunter on back when they see you don't pose a threat. These royal terns they didn't even budge as I passed them by.

We left New York in long sleeves, we got to Florida and each day was 90+ with humidity. Despite the fact the temperatures were high, autumn was setting in, sunrise was just after 7am, giving everything a golden morning glow.

Royal terns in the winter plumage, especially when sitting so squat, remind me of Friar Tuck.

This was very exciting for me-- a Gopher Tortoise!
These are some amazing, long-lived reptiles. They are a keystone species, their burrows providing shelter and homes for countless others from other reptiles, to insects, mammals, to even birds!!
Their long burrows shelter animals from floods and fire, it's an amazing important refuge in a place where the natural patterns in climate can be whacky!

So as this species is so important, they are protected by law in Florida- and also listed as a threatened species.

I noticed that prime burrow locations were in the dunes, above where water would puddle and flood. The entry ways were just perfectly sized to the tortoise that occupies it.

And of course, those burrows need upkeep!
Burrows can reach amazing lengths, some nearly 50 ft long. Most are in the 15 ft range- they provide a cool refuge during the heat and generally maintain a constant climate that is beneficial to the tortoise and the other critters it may share it with.
Learn more about gopher tortoises here via Florida's Fish and Wildlife Commission.

On the beach I found 2 burly looking guys- Florida Stone Crabs- who, if you give a google, you know what they are really good for...

Lots of sanderlings here, but learned the dunes are favored by Piping and Wilson's Plovers for nesting.

A willet take a dip to cross  a tidal pool to get over to the other side to forage.

While appearing "plain," I think there is so much beauty in the soft sandy tones of this leggy bird.

In case you were wondering why the reddish egret is so named--- because when it's grown up it's red...ish.

Lucky good shots of an osprey surveying the water for a fish.

Lucky shot. Cool bird. Almost went extinct in the DDT days.

Hard to get any brown pelican shots. While plentiful, they were often out, crusing over the waves.

Pelicans with a picturesque scene: Ponce De Leon Lighthouse, and Florida's tallest lighthouse, at that!

Lots of anoles everywhere- this one gave me a display-- bobbing and dipping the front portion of its body while extending its dewlap. I spent more time than I should have just watching this one lizard.
By his behavior, I can feel confident in saying this is a male.

Some of the more subdued individuals- perhaps younger males or females.

A bad feather day... also known as molting.

Often associated with snowy winter scenes, this bird really only recently has established itself in the north, as recently as the 1950's for New York! And the reason? Us! Due to the way we re-configured habitats (they LOVE yards!) and put out little birdie buffets (feeders may have a lot to do with their successful range spread) so is a Florida cardinal weird? Nah.
Learn more about cardinals and us here via the Nature Conservancy.

Everyone is molting. A flick of the leg to the neck and feathers fly for this Eastern Towhee.

I like towhees, they are bold in color, have a funny little call, and when you catch them off-guard, they look like they just drank the strongest cup of coffee ever.

Speaking of coffee...

I really craved my morning coffee- but in this climate it must be iced. So I drove onto the main drag of New Smyrna Beach, parked there car and was greeted by the valet.

This Cattle egret was just walking the streets- didn't give a care for me, or the street. Just sauntered along-- and stayed for a while. Came out with my iced latte, still there. Drove by 3 hours later, and it was in someones hedges probably feasting on anoles.

As we said goodbye to the egret, we made our way south toward Boynton Beach... and, more birds. 

And Fall.

     Most people feel Labor Day marks the end of summer, but for birders, fall begins in August. Many of our beloved birds are done with their summer residence and are moving south and this is a hot time for shorebirds. Normally at this time, one can walk quite comfortably around the south end of the East Pond at Jamaica Bay WR, but we had an exceptionally rainy summer- higher totals than normal. So the pond is a bit more submerged and one needed at least calf-height boots to traverse. It was a little scary, after my last ordeal with quick sand/peat, I didn't want my day to end with me submerged thigh high in muck. If you go, hug the phragmites and then do a good tick check - thankfully I only had another arachnid all over me, some really cool, streaky looking jumping spiders (I like spiders, so this is no problem for me- but be warned).

So many lesser yellowlegs, as mentioned in the post before the one, they are the bester yellowlegs.

Short-billed dowitcher- a few of these in the mix among the peeps.

A greater yellowlegs with a tasty treat- looks like a small fish?

Yum!

A lesser yellowlegs acting like a phalarope.
Note how much shorter and finer a bill it has from the greater yellowlegs above.

Feel pretty good calling these white-rumped sandpipers- wings extend beyond the tail- they are longer than the semipalms and base of bill is lighter.

Here is the white-rump with a semipalmated (in front) - you can see the base bill color difference and you can see in the semipalm, the tail and wing tips are equal in length. The back bird is also longer and larger than the semipalmated.

oh and there is one more way to ID the white rump...

...their namesake.

I took a lot of pictures in the field, so I can better study them with a field guide in hand- because man, there is so much variation from bird to bird it can cause you to second guess yourself.
So, white-rumped compared to...

Semipalmated sandpiper--- right off the bat, the wing lengths are different between the two birds.

Even with their heads underwater- you can tell when you don't have a semipalmated sandpiper.

Not a semipalmated sandpiper.
(this is the other end of the same bird above - a white-rumped sandpiper)

When you hear this loud wooshing and splashing- you just want to make sure it's not heading in your direction. For this mute swan, part of a family of 6, it just needed to move a distance fast, so it did some water "walking" that comes with loud flapping.

Without waterproof feathers- I would assume drying was quite easy today for these double-crested cormorants, as temperatures soared.

It's so hot, even the osprey are panting!

At least this bird scored a bunker for lunch.

This bird seemed different- I admit, I could not ID this bird in the field, so I snapped some photos and grabbed my Crossley Shore Bird Guide.

Upon studying and thumbing through pages, this is a Western Sandpiper.
The long legs, the uniformly dark bill, the overall size compared to a semipalmated that was in the foreground tipped me off in the field that this one was not like the other ones.

A crappy photo, but I promise, in real life, blue winged teals are damn stunning! And why did they all take flight?

This trouble maker. I think this juvenile peregrine falcon was just having fun stirring up the locals. It flew low and swooped over groups of birds, just being its fast, powerful, flying self.

I just imagine this bird is flying to "Enter Sandman," on repeat, as it wreaks havoc and hunts unsuspecting prey.

bad ass.

This monarch must have been hungry- because it barely as much as flinched as I walked by.

One of many great egrets on the pond- I love egret flybys.

And the lesser (bester) yellowlegs snags a yummy wormy snack! 

Puddle Birding

     Who knew puddles could be such great places to bird. For two days at the end of August I birded the puddles at Floyd Bennett Field, hoping to find a Baird's Sandpiper (I didn't) but found an array of other birds. While disappointed that I did not see the Baird's, the ones that I did see were still pretty great. In living now so close to FBF, I will need to start doing this more and learning that area better. While I attempted to walk the North 40, the mosquitoes kept me out. So for now, it's fields and puddles.

One morning all I found was a solo lesser yellowlegs, or better known as the bester yellowlegs. Against the great yellowlegs, this one wins, for the cuteness factor alone. 

D'awww!

This is a puddle in front of Aviator Sports. Busses towered over this puddle from dropping of football teams taking practice on the fields. While I cannot imagine these puddles have the cleanest of water (from the car oil, debris, and who knows what). I bet they are full of larvae because a standing pool of water is high value for insects. And larvae are high value to wading birds.

A check of the same puddle after work, on the same day brought a different crowd, mainly a group of killdeer- who were clearly having a crazy kegger.

Killdeer always have a look of worry in their eyes- mostly due to that white eyebrow-- but it serves them well, because if you do so much as make eye contact with a killdeer it takes flight making it loud call, screaming to let the world know how it narrowly escaped its death.

But on this 90+ degree day, I watched from my car, which oddly makes for a good blind-- and oddly, is more likely to kill a killdeer than me standing with binoculars around my neck.

I visited a second (shrinking) puddle across from the community gardens where I could not use a car for a blind and made eye contact with a killdeer.

This puddle had mostly semipalmated sandpipers that I wanted to so badly to be something else.

A least sandpiper, also scampered through the grasses and along the puddle edge, with the semipalms.

And a savannah sparrow even joined the crew.

Two days later, the puddles were empty and nearly gone, but I had a great time watching this house wren fledgling.

How cute is this little nugget?! Still growing in those feathers! 

This little one made a heck of a racket, which makes for a stereotypical nosey Brooklyn Neighbor scene- the whole wren family came out to take a look but so did the common yellowthroats, which this bird proceeded to chase out of "its shrub."

And scream.

I love wrens, they have bravery as big as their voice, packaged up in that little birdie body.