California 6th February 2015

We had a last look at Salton Sea for a recent Roseate Spoonbill but didn't manage to see it however we had yet more excellent views of the many wintering ducks and waders of the area.

Before we left the Brawley area we had another look for Sprague's Pipit  and thankfully we had some great views of a single bird, no photos unfortunately.

While travelling to Arizona James spotted a Crested Caracara by the roadside. This was one we had counted on seeing in California.

Further down along the road we made a short detour near Yuma where there had been recent reports of high counts of Ferruginous Hawks. To date we had only seen a single distant bird so it was great to get closer views of several light and dark birds.


We finally entered Arizona by the end of the day and stayed in the rather unimpressive Casa Grande for a single night.

American Avocet

American Avocets & Black-necked Stilts

American Avocet

American Avocet

American Avocet

American Avocet

American Avocet

American Avocet

Least Sandpiper

Marbled Godwits, American Avocet & Black-necked Stilt

Snowy Egret

White-faced Ibis

Crested Caracara & Turkey Vultures

Crested Caracara

Crested Caracara & Turkey Vultures

Crested Caracara & Turkey Vultures

Crested Caracara & Turkey Vultures

 

Second calendar Osprey

Turkey Vulture

 

Light second calendar Western Red-tailed Hawk

Light Ferruginous Hawk

 

Dark Ferruginous Hawk

Light adult Ferruginous Hawk

Light adult Ferruginous Hawk

 

Florida 8th November 2012

Spend the whole day at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. This 140,000 acres refuge is located just off Titusville on the East/Atlantic coastline and lies right beside the NASA John F. Kennedy Space Centre.
I tried the Oak and Hammock Trail first thing in the morning but it proved to be very quiet with just a Hermit Thrush and a family party of wild Hogs being the only things of note. Dropped into the visitor centre where I had Pileated Woodpecker, a pair of Painted Buntings at the feeders and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker behind the centre. Next was the Peacocks Pocket Road and impoundments around the Gator Road, great selection of wildfowl all viewable at close quarters right beside the road - American Bittern, Roseate Spoonbills, Reddish Egrets, "Great White" Heron, American White Pelicans, Redheads, American Avocets, etc..
After this I tried the Black Point Drive which I had heard alot about in researching the trip. It's $5 to go on this self-guided drive and it's apparently the best area of the refuge for wildlife. I'd save your $5 if I were you, it was a major disappointment. I saw a max of 200 duck and maybe 100 waders on the whole 7 mile long drive, pretty useless in fairness. The free Gator ponds and Peacocks Pocket road were better by several magnitudes.
Easily picked up at least two Florida Scrub Jays on the Scrub Trail later with one particular bird sitting up on the top of scrub on the lookout while the rest of the family feed unseen in the undergrowth.
Biolab Road was deadly quiet while the lagoons out to Playalinda Beach proved to be also very quiet. Not a huge amount of the beach itself. Did have a huge flock of scoter way off in the distance but they never came in close enough. Two scoters did do a close fly-by but these turned out to be Surf Scoters.
Most of the shots below are from the Peacocks Pocket and Gator Road.



Pied-billed Grebe

White form of Great Blue Heron

Glossy Ibis

Tricolored Heron

Redhead

Shoveler

Blue-winged Teal

Mottled Duck

American Kestrel

Turkey Vulture

Osprey

Bald Eagle

American Mourning Dove

Forster's Tern

Caspian Terns, Dunlin & Grey Plover

Northern Flicker

Florida Scrub Jay

Florida Scrub Jay

Wild Hogs

Florida 7th November 2012

I took myself off to Florida for the lat two weeks. First time to the States so plenty of lifers for me along with some good Florida specialities e.g. Florida Scrub Jay, Short-tailed Hawk, Tropical Kingbird, Vermillon & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Wood Storks and Roseate Spoonbills a plenty. Took far too many pictures. I'll add them here in time.
Flew from Dublin into Orlando direct on the Tuesday 6th November. It was dark by the time I cleared baggage collection and sorting out a hire car. Stayed in Titusville for the next three nights.
First site the following morning was Orlando Wetland Park. It closed from mid November until the end of January to accommodate shooting on site so I was lucky to get in just in time. Great introduction to US birding. First new bird of the trip was a Northern Cardinal with a call nearly identical to European Robin. There were hundreds of Yellow-rumped Warblers knocking around the entrance of the site but the huge majority of were either flying over or dug deep into inaccessible vegetation. I managed to pick up one American Redstart however which proved to be the only one of the trip. The wetland park consisted of overgrown pools with earth berms between them. Good numbers of herons, egrets, storks and ibis in particular.
Also visited Tosohatchee Wildlife Management Area later in the day. Mostly woodland with a good flock of warblers picked up which consisted mostly of Yellow-rumpeds but also Black-and-white, Yellow-throated, Pine Warblers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets. Tufted Titmice, Downy Woodpeckers, etc.

Glossy and White Ibis

Great Blue Heron

Tricolored Heron

Tricolored Heron

Tricolored Heron

Wood Stork

Feeding flock containing Glossy Ibis, White Ibis, Snowy Egret, Wood Stork, Roseate Spoonbill, Little Blue Heron, Great Blue Heron and Boat-tailed Grackle.

Little Blue Heron

White Ibis

Great Blue Heron

Pair of Bald Eagles

Juvenile and adult Bald Eagle at artificial nest. Juvenile already on the wing.

American Black Vulture with a face only a mother could love.

Female Northern Harrier

Peregrine

Turkey Vulture

Northern Harrier

Swamp Sparrow

Grey Catbird

American Coot

Common Gallinule

Caspian Tern

Red-winged Blackbird

Belted/Bloody Kingfisher

House Wren

Black-bellied Whistling Duck

Fish Crow

Wild Turkey