I ventured to Viera and Orlando Wetlands today in search of Bobolinks and Least Bitterns.  Unfortunately, I came up empty.   However, nesting time provides plenty of opportunities for close looks at birds busily building nests and tending to chicks.  

Roseate Spoonbills - Yes, even the chicks have spoon bills.

Sandhill Cranes - Could have petted these if I had wanted to.

Black-crowned Night Herons - One stick at a time.

I'm not sure what these Black-bellied Whistling Ducks were doing.  They didn't move from this spot the entire hour and a half I was there.

One final note for my buddy Judson.  This is not a bird.  I have learned that unless you're the Alabama Crimson Tide, you leave the gators alone.

Tomorrow... to Key West.

The swing from Port Orange to Central Texas yielded 192 total species observed with 81 new for this year and 12 life birds.  The 2024 YTD species count now stands at 301.

The Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge yielded this rare, unobstructed view of an American Bittern.

The place was swarming with mosquitos.  I came upon two women sitting in lawn chairs by their vehicle.  So, I stopped and asked, "How much bug repellent do you have on to be able to sit outside like this?" One replied, "It's not that bad outside the vehicle," as she swatted several mosquitos away from her face.  I replied that I would have to take their word for it.

The Bolivar Peninsula near Galveston was loaded with thousands of shorebirds.  I couldn't begin to take a photo that would do justice to 10,000 American Avocets.   So, this small group will have to do.

Out of the thousands of shorebirds at Bolivar, I found one Piping Plover.  This species is near threatened primarily because of habitat loss.  After all, who needs these little guys when we can construct a perfectly good Wal-Mart right on the beach.

Lafitte's Cove in Galveston yielded great looks at Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and Baltimore Orioles feasting on mulberries under gray-washed skies.  Blue Grosbeaks, Orchard Orioles, Indigo Buntings and Western Kingbirds were also crushing the berries in the same tree.

It's tough to beat a nice look at a Roseate Spoonbill.

On a side note, if my good buddy Judson is following along, I wanted to point out that this cottonmouth is not a bird.  It's the first cottonmouth I have ever encountered and hopefully the last.

I'll be posting some more species on Flickr in the coming days.  Meanwhile, Wednesday will find us back in Key West as we start the final move with the cat and the aquarium.

 After a couple of surprisingly poor birding days at Dauphin Island, Alabama and High Island, Texas, the Lone Star State has been delivering as expected.  The birds simply weren't stopping at the coast.  The local experts figured the birds were riding the strong south winds straight to Arkansas, Tennessee and other points north of the gulf coast.

The Lost Maples area west of San Antonio is an ecological oddity where east meets west from a flora and fauna perspective.  In addition to picking up species from both the east and west, the area also boasts unique species including the Black-capped Vireo.  This was a lifer for me.

Another lifer came on the drive from Uvalde to Corpus Christi.   The speed limit on the backroads in Texas is typically 70 MPH.  Spotting this bird, a Bullock's Oriole, on a fence post and then finding it in a tree after a very quick U-turn was nothing less than fortuitous.   This was another lifer for me.

One of my favorite birds to photograph is the Long-billed Curlew.  I spotted this one in downtown Corpus Christi.

Other than helping a fellow push his F-150 pick-up backwards about 20 feet in a gravel parking lot so he could leave the parking area, a major highlight of the trip so far was finding the Cattle Tyrant in downtown Corpus Christi.  This bird is a long way from its normal range in South America.  It has taken up residence at a seafood restaurant, feasting on whatever is left in the oyster shells.  This was the 9th lifer in the past 2 days putting my lifetime total at 485 species.  (BTW, the F-150 guy said he didn't have his reverse gear.  I hope it all works out well for him.)

I'll be working the hot spots around Galveston during the next couple of days. The YTD species total has grown to 283.  

Things being what they are, I started an abbreviated, solo big trip today with a 5:25am departure from Port Orange, FL. I was on Dauphin Island, Alabama by early afternoon checking out some new birding territory.   High winds made shore birds a no-go and everything else was iffy at best.  But, managed to get things started with good looks at Summer Tanagers, Hooded Warblers and both Red- and White-eyed Vireos.

Several tanagers arrived during the late afternoon completely 'gassed' having completed their trip across the Gulf of Mexico.   Barn Swallows were sitting on the road exhausted from the heavy winds.

Having completed my birding activity for the day, I checked out nearby Bayou La Batre, the fabled home of Bubba Gump Shrimp.  As I snapped a quick cell phone shot of the shrimpin' boats, a fellow asked my name.  I said, "My name is Dan Jolley.  People call me Dan Jolley."  He seemed satisfied with my response.

Not much happening at Ponce Inlet this morning.  We couldn't flush any of several Clapper Rails that were calling from the mangroves adjacent to the boardwalk.   One Prairie Warbler offered several nice looks as it worked the leaves for bugs.

The real action was at the Eastern Bluebird house where a brood of chicks has hatched.  Lucky is the bluebird that is provided with meal worms eight inches below its nesting box.  Tomorrow, we may have to test how many meal worms a bluebird can carry at one time.

It has been a productive week of birding in the Key West area with son Matthew and grandson Henry.

The highlight of my week was spotting the Fork-tailed Flycatcher shown below.  This species is rarely scene in the U.S.  As of April 4, there has been 1 other sighting of this species in the continental U.S. this year per ebird.  It's range is typically from South America north to the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico.

This eased my jealousy just a bit over my son's photographing the Pearly-eyed Thrasher just a few a days before.  That species had never been observed in the U.S.   Never, ever.

https://keysweekly.com/42/wild-things-a-category-5-mega-rarity/

The spring migration and start of the 'big trip' is a couple of weeks away but, we have already observed several early-arriving warblers including Swainson's, Hooded, Worm-eating (pictured below) and Prairie.   

The 2024 species total stands at 218 as of April 3.  In addition to the birding activity, I have been doing some early prep work with new grandson Owen to get him ready to join the birding crew.