Fox Lake Park, Titusville, FL

Sandhill Crane

After dinner this evening we decided to stop at a local park to see what birds if any were around. Coming into the park were 2 Sandhill Cranes near the lake.  Then we saw a bird flying in front and around the car.  It landed on the roadway behind us and I took a picture of it as I had no idea what type of bird it was.  Turned out that it's a life bird for both of us ~ Common Nighthawk!  Then we saw a Killdeer with 6 of her chicks who are really cute.

Common Nighthawk

Killdeer Chicks

Viera Wetlands Park & Click Ponds, Viera, FL

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks ~ Viera Wetlands

Another highly recommended birding site is the Viera Wetlands so it was our first stop today. It is water treatment plant and it allows birders to ride, bike or walk along the berms looking at all of the species of birds that call it home.  We had heard that it was a great site to see Least Bitterns which would be a life bird for both of us.  It was great even in the off season so I can imagine how wonderful it must be in winter and spring.  We were excited to see 2 Least Bittern at Viera Wetlands and then another one at the Click Ponds.  Seeing the ducks up on the dead palms was cool especially when a second duck came out of the top. There were lots of butterflies over at the Click Ponds in addition to the birds.

Cattle Egret ~ Viera Wetlands

Least Bittern ~ Viera Wetlands

Queen Butterfly

Gulf Fritillary Butterfly

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, FL

Black-necked Stilt

Driving the 7 mile auto tour along Black Point Wildlife Drive on Merritt Island is a favorite spot for birdersin Florida. Even though it is not the "best" season to see the birds we had a great time.  There were Common Gallinule with chicks, Black-necked Stilts and Roseate Spoonbills among the highlights. We went back for a second drive around late afternoon. Then we took a dirt road drive around where we saw Willets with chicks, more Black-necked Stilts and Yellow Legs before turning around to come back as night was falling.

Common Gallinule Chicks

Common Gallinule Chicks

Common Gallinule

Orlando Wetlands Park, FL

Anhinga

Our ADA seminar was over at noon which meant that we were now on vacation.  Doing research before coming to FL, I found that the Orlando Wetlands ranked high in the list of places that birders should visit.  When we arrived I happened to see someone to ask questions about the wetlands. Brad, a volunteer had just finished doing some bird counts for the state.  He said he had no plans the rest of the day and would be happy to give us a private tram tour. He didn't need to make the offer twice.  Orlando Wetlands is a man-made wetland designed to treat reclaimed water. It has over 20 miles of trails that you can walk and see a great variety of wildlife.  It sure seemed like Brad showed us most of them.  After the tram tour we walked back along on the paths to get some closer looks at the birds.  Highlights included lots of American Alligators, Anhinga, 2 Purple Gallinule, Whistling Ducks, Common Gallinule, egrets, and so much more including life bird ~ Mottled Duck.  It is an amazing place and worth a second visit.

Purple Gallinule

Tricolored Heron

American Alligator

Shingle Creek, FL ~ Head of the Everglades

At lunchtime I was able to steal some time away from the conference to walk along the nature trail.  I actually walked about a mile to the area that's the head of the Everglades which runs from Orlando, down to lower Florida.

I saw some butterflies ~ Monarch, White Peacock, Gulf Fritillary, Southern Dogface among them. Birds seen were Common Gallinule, more Limpkin, White Ibis, Red-tailed Hawk, Mottled Duck, Anhinga, Sandhill Cranes, Great Blue Herons, Great Egret and more.

Head of the Everglades

White Peacock

White Ibis

Shingle Creek, FL ~ Nature Trail

Our conference is being held at the Rosen Shingle Creek which is actually where the head of the Everglades starts. Driving in this AM Bernie spotted some White Ibis feeding along the greens. There is a nature trail that is about a mile long that starts by the 8th Tee of the golf course.  During break this morning I went out to the beginning of the trail where to my delight I saw 4 Limpkins feeding. There were 2 adults and 2 chicks.  Nearby was a Common Gallinule who was taking nest building materials to the nest.

Limpkin

Common Gallinule with nesting materials

Shadow Bay Park, Florida

Today's adventure included birding at Shadow Bay Park where we were greeted by a Limpkin which is a life bird for both of us.  Since it didn't hang around for any decent pictures we decided to try and search it out without any success.  This Eastern Towhee (left) we found was a life bird for Bernie.  We also found this Brown Thrasher and a Horace's Dustywing Butterfly.  We also saw our first alligator.

Brown Thrasher

Dustywing Butterfly