Ocean City Welcome Center Rookery

I have heard about the rookery along the new Ocean City bridge but have never been there so decided since it's nesting time I'd take a field trip.  I found good numbers of both Black-crowned and Yellow-crowned Night Herons and in their breeding colors.

Black-crowned Night Heron

Black-crowned Night Herons

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Yellow-crowned Night Herons

Merritt Island, FL ~ Kayaking the Indian River Lagoon

Brown Pelican

Our adventure last evening was having a private kayak tour using A Day Away Kayak Company.  We met at 6PM and our guide, Brian introduced himself.  Our plans were to kayak up the Overhaul Canal to see the Manatees before kayaking over to Mullethead Island, which is in Indian River Lagoon.  There is a large rookery there so we would be able to watch the birds coming into roost at nightfall plus we would watch the sunset before the kayak trip back. It was great to see some close looks at Roseate Spoonbills, Reddish Egrets, juvenile Black-crowned Night Herons plus other species. The tricky part of the kayaking was the trip back to shore as we were fighting headwinds.  By that time my back was really bothering me so paddling  was a little difficult but I did make it under my own steam.

Black-crowned Night-Heron (front) & Roseate Spoonbill (back)

Roseate Spoonbill

Merritt Island, FL ~ Pine Flatwoods Trail

One of our target birds was a Florida Scrub Jay which would be another lifer for both of us.  There are several trails on Merritt Island where you can see Scrub Jays.  We decided we would walk the Pine Flatwoods Trail where we were happy to see a pair of the Florida Scrub Jays.

Florida Scrub Jay