Florida: Day #2, More Resort Birding and the Apopka Wildlife Drive

In the morning I woke up early again, to see if I could hit some of my last Passerine targets; White-eyed Vireo and Yellow-throated Warbler. Both were a bit of a nemesis back home, after missing Yellow-throated Warbler in my own county, and White-eyed Vireo countless times at Pelee. It sounded extra birdy this morning, so I had high hopes. Likely the same juvenile Cooper's Hawk I had seen yesterday made another appearance, allowing me to get quite close.

The way you can tell this bird is through the breast streaking. An adult would have horizontal solid barring, as opposed to this fine, vertical streaking.

A Little Blue Heron was having success fishing, and I watched it catch a pretty big frog. It didn't seem to know exactly what to do with it, and awkwardly maneuvered it around until- gulp! Right down it's gullet! I'm sure it has lots of experience doing this, as frogs seemed to be everywhere!

You can just see the legs disapearing...

I walked over to the next pond, and to a spot that had seemed quite birdy the day before. I noticed a small bird heading vertically up a tree. Black-and-white Warbler? Yellow-throated Warbler? Yes! I was very happy to see the latter of the two quickly making its way up a dense tree. It proved very hard to photograph, and I only managed a few IDable shots:

Might not be the best shot, but hey! I'm definitely not complaining!

Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers made up the majority of the rest of the flocks, as well as the ubiquitous Blue-grey Gnatcatchers, Carolina and House Wrens, and even a few Grey Catbirds. I found a tree that seemed to be filled with birds, and I saw many warblers flitting around. I pished (yes, that's a verb) a bit, and a ton more birds flew in! I kept doing it, and while getting some weird looks from early morning walkers, I noticed something different flitting about. A Ruby-crowned Kinglet! And then right next to it, a White-eyed Vireo!! I couldn't believe my luck! It was fairly cooperative, but the sheer amount of movement, and large amount of foliage made it hard to track, especially with the camera. 

Beautiful bird! I love the little accents, like the yellow lores, bold wingbars and the olive to bluish back. My favourite Vireo now!

A male Prairie Warbler also came up in the flock, along with a few Pine Warblers, and a single Black-and-white Warbler. I was ecstatic! And now for Apopka!

The drive there was pretty uneventful, although I did pick up a trip bird Sharp-shinned Hawk. We soon were on the shore of Lake Apopka, and the habitat change was instant. Big trees, dripping with spanish moss everywhere, big water with small reed stands, and tons of little sloughs by the road. Once we got to the gate, the habitat had sort of reverted to more marshy habitat, but there was still a few open spots of water. One of the main birding areas of the wildlife drive, is actually the entry gate. In the week leading up to the trip, Long-tailed Duck, Yellow-breasted Chat, Ash-throated Flycatcher and a few other really good birds had been seen right at the gate. When we got there, we were told that the Long-tailed Duck was tucked into a culvert under the road, that was unviewable! I literally must have been within 2 meters of the duck, but I couldn't see it! After a bit of waiting, and poking around for the other birds, we decided to move on, but not before getting a couple Common Ground Doves, and a handful of Swamp Sparrows, a trip bird. We slowly drove to the next checkpoint, keeping a close eye out the window. Most of the same stuff as before was present, but with a much larger presence of Gallinules, and also a good number of Coots. All of the same herons as before were present, but I noticed that Limpkin was lacking, as well as Wood Stork. Blue-winged Teals were also quite numerous amongst the winter vegetation.

It was really nice to see these guys in breeding plumage again!

The habitat I found was noticeably different than Circle B Bar. Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive used to be a massive expanse of farmland, but the government purchased it back, let it return to it's wetter state, and than introduced some native plants, so the habitat was pretty linear. The next checkpoint supposedly contained the legendary female Vermilion Flycatcher, which had been frequenting the road for some time now. There was several signs around asking people to keep their distance, as the bird had apparently become very used to people. We walked up the little side road, pretty much just a lump of gravel and dirt piled in a line, surrounded by water, with powerlines running up the side. There was lots of confiding Yellow-rumped Warblers, and someone noticed a Wilson's Snipe all tucked in out in the marsh.

Pretty well camouflaged, and nearly impossible to notice from far away!

Someone farther up the road called us over, and said that they 'had the bird' (kind of a weird saying I think). We hurried up, and sure enough, she was flitting around at the back of the section of marsh, catching insects!

 

The strawberry red is really nice, and sticks out quite a bit in the middle of browns and grays!

She really didn't seem to be having that hard of a time, at least compared to what Ontario's Vermilion Flycatcher had to go through... And speaking of that bird (and my missing it by a day), this one was a much appreciated consolation. And this I think would have been a lot nicer to watch, no matter how rare something is, I still don't like the feeling of getting enjoyment out of something that I know is ultimately going to die... Like pretty much all of Ontario's winter rarities. 

A little taste of the habitat, multiply this by a million, and you got Apopka!

Just up ahead from there was the historic pump house, which was directly next to the actual Lake Apopka. Here there was a trip bird Forster's Tern cruising around the more open marshes. There was also a few gators in the area, including a young one right next to the road with a tail injury- it must've gotten too close to a car at some point. Here's a closeup of it's head:

This was as zoomed out as I could get it- that's how close it was to the car! Also how big my lens is I suppose...

The rest of the drive was relatively empty, as we (fairly) quickly sped to our next location. On the way we saw quite a few more Fish Crows, and also some Cattle Egrets.

Maybe it's just me, but Fish Crows seem so much slimmer and glossier than their American counterparts. I'm going to have to keep my eyes more peeled in Ontario...

Another species I need to watch for more in Ontario, Cattle Egrets also seem to be expanding North, so in a few years we may be getting them even more regularly!

And before I knew it, we were to the end! All in all I was a little... not exactly unimpressed, just a little bit surprised, of course I would have gone even if it was just for Vermilion, but still, between Circle B Bar and Apopka, I'd choose Apopka without a second thought! After going there, I think that Apopka is a little overrated, and Circle B Bar is definitely underrated. So if you're ever given those two choices, I'd definitely recommend Circle B Bar. So in total, Apopka added 8 species to my state list, bringing it up to a cumulative 86 species. Not bad for two days! And with another trip that day, and one day left, I thought I had a good shot at the rest of my targets (except Snail Kite)!

More to follow soon (hopefully), before I leave to Mexico, in four days! 

Florida: Day #1, Circle B Bar

After my very successful morning birding, I was eager to head South to Circle B Bar, a large marsh complex, with also some prairie, lake, and semi-open deciduous forest habitat. The drive there was quite productive, seeing many thousands Turkey and Black Vultures kettling, with the odd Bald Eagle, Red-shouldered Hawk, and even some decent sized flocks of American White-Pelicans and Anhingas mixed in! One kettle contained all of these species, and is by far the most diverse kettle I've seen. The Anhingas really threw me off... 

I could never get them all in one picture, but this frame has mostly Turkey Vultures and Pelicans in it. Can you spot the Black Vulture?

We eventually arrived, but not before seeing my lifer Limpkin while driving, as well as some Cattle Egrets. I stepped out of the car, and was immediately blasted by near-midday Florida heat. And they call this cold! We walked over, and spotted a large group of photographers, photographing a calling Barred Owl! I took a few decent shots, saw a second bird, and headed out onto "Heron Hideout" the main marsh trail.

Barred Owl preening - This is one of the only species of owl that I have heard calling in the day

Immediately upon walking out onto the trail, I was amazed by the amount of noise coming from the marsh. Wails, grunts and screams came from nearly every direction, the sound of hundreds of marsh birds. I found that the majority of sound was coming from Common Gallinules, but some was also coming from several Limpkins! They have extremely bizarre, scream like calls, much different from what I expected from a shy marsh bird! There was also some Wood Storks roosting in leafless trees, another lifer!

Very interesting birds! And even more distinct!

Common Gallinule - A very pretty bird, and the ones here were very tame!

After walking up the trail a little bit more, I had already seen almost all of the herons and egrets found in North America! Tricoloured was probably the most abundant, but Great Blue Herons, Little Blue Herons, Green Herons, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, White Ibis and Glossy Ibis were all also present in good numbers. I spotted a very large pink wading bird up ahead- A Roseate Spoonbill! A real gem amongst birders, but really to the world in general. Although not particularly rare, it's a banner species for birds in general, everyone's heard of a spoonbill! 

After looking through photos, I really couldn't find any good Spoonbill ones, but that's fine. The bird speaks for itself!

Shortly after seeing the Spoonbills, my Grandparents caught up on their bikes, and talked to my mom, so I got ahead a little bit. But not for long, as my mom walked up and told that she had seen a rail! She wasn't sure what kind, all she knew that it was semi streaky and had a yellow bill. I rushed back, but it was nowhere to be found. She looked through the guide, but couldn't come up with anything that quite fit! Just as we were about to keep going, she spotted some movement deep within the aquatic vegetation... A Purple Gallinule!!!! One of my bigger targets, and after hearing from a friend several times, they are quite hard! It stayed very hidden for a few minutes, but the shy bird slowly came out into the open, balancing carefully on a thick reed. 

As you can see, an incredibly distinct bird, very different from the Common Gallinule!

I was shocked by the vividness of the natural colours, this photo looks like I went crazy with the saturation, but it's 100% unedited! Combination of bright lighting and an even brighter bird!

While the bird was up, a group of kids on a nature walk came up behind us, and one of the asked "Is that a Cockatoo?" No joke! I got the whole thing on video, and I will forever remember this moment. Cockatoos might be pretty, but in my opinion, nothing compared to this!! As the Gallinule went about its business, a Rail flew across the open water and landed only a few feet away from me! Although it was only a few feet away, it was completely obscured by grass. I inched closer, and a little Sora popped up! 

I got my mom on it, and she said that this was the same bird she had seen earlier. Phew!

On my walk up to the next intersection, I saw a good sized flock of Black-bellied Whistling-ducks, my first ever whistling duck! I also got some respectable head shots of a Limpkin with an Apple Snail in it's beak.

There was some other wildlife besides birds as well, a family of feral pigs were foraging at the intersection. Although they can be detrimental to an ecosystem, they were pretty darn cute:

And I hate to say it, more food for the Gators! Of which there was many along this section of the trail, including this lil' one:

I finally got some ok shots of Black-bellied Whistling-ducks, which really do sound like they're whistling, it's the cutest duck call I've ever heard I think! There was also some undetermined turtle species, but I'm pretty sure they were River Cooters.

A big 'un

The trail eventually opened up a little more, and a lake appeared. There was lots of Pelicans on the lake, along withs some new trip species like Double-crested Cormorant, Cattle Egret, a tame Snowy Egret and a lone Royal Tern! 

Lots of Fish Crows were calling as we walked back, and several Red-shouldered Hawks did flyovers. We slowly (but surely) made our way back to the Visitor Center for lunch, content with our walk. The grounds around the Visitor Center were actually really nice fore birding, and there was several Carolina Wrens, Northern Mockingbirds, American Robins, and both subspecies of Palm Warbler around. I got decent shots of both subspecies, so you can really see the difference!

Yellow subspecies on top, Western on bottom

My mom seemed to be having lots of luck finding birds, and on her way back from the washroom, she came upon a male Painted Bunting! One of the most highly sought after birds by photographers, birders, and unfortunately even by pet traders, who capture this bird in Central America to be sold on the pet trade. As a result, the species has been listed as sensitive on eBird, so no one is allowed to access exact locations of these birds, or many details at all about it. Because of this I didn't really expect to see one, or even know if it was possible. I rushed over and got some very poor shots, of what turned out to be a pair of birds!

Male on left, female on right

I called a couple other birders/photographers over, but I couldn't relocate them again. I still had a few more targets that I wanted to see if I could hit in the prairie habitat (mainly Bobwhite). After a quick bike around, I came up mostly empty, the only new additions being an American Kestrel that flushed up 8 Wilson's Snipe, and a Bald Eagle on a nest. The Sandhill Cranes I saw before appeared even more photogenic than before, so I took some extra headshots:

A single Black-bellied Whistling-duck also decided to perch up on a stump for me, and later, I came across my first ever (alive) Armadillo snuffling around in the weeds! 

So... cute? I looked away for a second while taking this guys picture and it stepped on my foot!

I booked it back, realizing that I was supposed to meet up with my Grandparents to go back to the resort fairly soon. Unfortunately, there was lots of distractions along the way!

Black Vulture Pair and White Ibis

Black-bellied Whistling-ducks and Turtles sps.

Anhinga and Glossy Ibis

Grey Squirrel and Limpkin

And it turns I was ahead of schedule getting back! I wandered around the parking area for a few minutes, and spotted a blur of green, blue and red whizz by, then land right in front of me! The Painted Bunting! It was soon joined by it's female companion, and they fed quite close to me with barely any sign of nervousness. 

Beautiful male! Too bad my Grandma missed it again!

Although nowhere near its mate, still a very pretty lemon coloured bird!

Right after I found a different female, and then a Common Ground Dove! What a day!

Common Ground Dove- I always think they look like baby morning doves

And then to top it all off, a very obliging Northern Mockingbird!

You probably don't even need me to say this, but I would 100% recommend Circle B Bar to anyone going to Florida, it's great for photography, and it has an amazing selection of species! I had my best list by far here, with 61 species! 

Click Here for my eBird List!

Florida: Day #1, Productive Resort Birding!

So since our flight had gotten into Orlando after dark, I still had to wait another few anxious hours to bird around my grandparents resort before we headed off to our first family (birding) stop of the trip; Circle B Bar. My Grandma had suggested it, and I was happy to go, because after a quick bit of eBird research, it appeared to be a very good spot, that I'd somehow missed in my pre-trip research.
          I'd like to say that the beautiful songs of Carolina Chickadees and other specialty species woke me up, but they didn't. A combination of my alarm and surprisingly loud Boat-tailed Grackles did however! My first lifer of the trip! Although I knew they were going to be easy, I was still excited to bump my list up one. I stepped outside, and was immediately surrounded by birds. Turns out that Florida's Chickadees and House Sparrows are actually Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers! They were everywhere and flitted all around the man made pond at the resort. I heard a White-winged Dove briefly call, a bit unexpected for me, and a bird I din't think I was going to get for the year! Some suspiciously fat looking ducks greeted me as well, my first comfortably countable Muscovy Ducks!

They seemed to gravitate towards unnatural perches

Muscovy Ducks are probably as domesticated an animal can get, but they've been introduced and have escaped from captivity all over Florida, and now have become quite established in many ponds like this. No less countable than Ring-necked Pheasants in my opinion! I kept walking, and came up to a slightly more naturalized pond, where I found my last North American heron, a Tricoloured Heron roosting with a bunch of Anhingas, another lifer!

The morning light gave it a very purplish sheen, truly a beautiful heron!

I believe this bird is a young female, a truly interesting bird, half cormorant, half snake!

There was also a pair of dabbling ducks; a female Mallard and a male Mottled Duck. After a little bit of research, I found that a large percentage of 'Mottled Ducks' in Florida are actually hybrids, between Mottled Duck and Mallard. I did later see a pair of definitive Mottled Ducks, but I would be interested what this bird really is:

Any thoughts welcome. The fact that it's paired with a Mallard makes me lean hybrid right off the bat, but I have pretty much no experience, so I would like to see what anyone has to say.

I found myself in a little swarm of passerines, mostly the two warblers species, but also mixed in was a few Blue-grey Gnatcatchers, Carolina Wrens and Tufted Titmice. I saw a Vireo flit off from the mix, and I got excited, White-eyed Vireo!!??? Nope! But it turns out that Blue-headed Vireos are fairly uncommon down here, at any rate they're not dirt common. Although my morning had been quite productive, I knew that we needed to get to Circle B Bar fairly soon, so I headed back. I ate a quick bowl of oatmeal (courtesy of my Grandpa), and decided to do one last little jog around. Good thing I did, because as I headed back to the car, a yellow flash caught my eye. At first I thought it was the slightly more uncommon Yellow subspecies of Palm Warbler, but as I lifted my bins up, I noticed a very distinct, lemon yellow, finely streaked warbler. A Prairie Warbler! It wasn't in anything that really resembled a prairie, just a somewhat dry section of bushes right up against the resort buildings. 

A beautiful Warbler! Good to get after I'd repeatedly missed it in Ontario!

I quickly hopped into the car, and we were off to Circle B Bar!

Florida: Intro

Part 1 (February 1 2018) - Productive Resort Birding
Part 2 (February 1 2018) - Circle B Bar
Part 3 (February 2 2018) - More Resort Birding and the Apopka Wildlife Drive
Part 4 (February 2 & 3 2018) - Rock Springs Run State Reserve and Hal Scott Regional Forrest
Part 5 (February 3 2018) - Canaveral National Seashore


In between exams, I was lucky enough to have some time off, and it coincided with my Grandparents condo rental near Celebration, Florida. So my parents took work off for a few days, and the trip was set into motion. It would last three days, the shortest international trip I've ever been on. Although it was going to be (very) short, I had high hopes. My targets are as follows, in order of want:

Florida Scrub Jay (endemic)
Limpkin
Red-cockaded Woodpecker
Purple Gallinule
Yellow-throated Warbler
White-eyed Vireo
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Bachman's Sparrow
Snail Kite
Carolina Chickadee

I would have placed Snail Kite higher, but I didn't think that I'd really have a shot at them anyways. I obviously had a few other wants, but they were lower because I expected them. Then there was a few other species that were only possible under very unlikely circumstances, so I discounted them. As you can see, Florida Scrub Jay was my number one target, being Florida's only endemic, and I was in a pretty good spot for range.

Day one way pretty much all travel, or so my parents thought... A Ross's Goose had been found to be reliable at Spencer Smith Park, only a few hundred meters off of our route to Buffalo International Airport (flights were cheaper there than Toronto). We were pretty tight on time, so I quickly speed walked across the park. I got a few duck year birds like a juvenile White-winged Scoter, and Ruddy Duck.

Juvenile White-winged Scoter, not to be confused with the quite similar juvenile Surf Scoter!

Ruddy Ducks, and a tag-along Greater Scaup

I saw some other birders (they were actually photographers), and they said they hadn't seen it. I kept walking East up the park, and a medium sized white bird drifted only a few meters above my head. I was a little befuddled, and momentarily forgot what I was looking for. White bird, black wingtips, Gannet? My brain thought, just having gone through an hour and a half of solid math, then I remembered, The Ross's Goose! I ran up, and watched it land on a little man made beach, where it rested for a while, and I got some good photos.

Obviously a much, much smaller and daintier bird than a Snow Goose. Phew, not a hybrid at all!

Not even cropped!!!!

Needless to say (although I'll say it anyways), I was feeling pretty good about my Florida trip, hadn't even left the province, and I'd already gotten a lifer! This felt like an overdue bird for me, because it's my last expected Ontario Goose! I just (just, ha) need Pink-footed, Barnacle and Emperor and I'll have all of the Ontario geese!

More to come, only actually Florida this time, I swear...