Wednesday, March 23, 2011

March 11-20, 2011 Road Trip Florida

After returning from Cuba I had a 10 hour layover in Carp then we were off to Florida for the March break. The drive was great, no snow or rain, so the 2500km drive (that's one-way) was uneventful. We arrived on March 13th at 1:00pm and spent our time on the gulf coast near Indian Shores and did a couple of day trips to some of the local birding areas including Honeymoon Island and Oscar Scherer State Park. The weather over the March Break was the best I've had in almost 10 years, everyday sunny and warm. The return trip was agian uneventful, great driving conditions and only took 2 days (26 hours of driving). Lots of migrants on the move north including Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Tree Swallow, and a variety of waterfowl. Below are a few images from our day trips.



Reddish Egret feeding along the shoreline at Honeymoon Island.


A "Yellow" Palm Warbler on the beach at Honeymoon Island.


The shorebird watching was very good at Honey Island with a nice variety of waders including a Short-billed Dowitcher and Ruddy Turnstone. .


A Willet feeding along the shoreline.


A winter plumaged Red Knot were was a nice find.


Forster's Tern


Osprey


Black-bellied Plover in winter plumage.


Black-bellied Plover in flight.


A pair of American Oystercatchers.


The Ruddy Turnstone is a regular sight along the coast line during the winter months.


Boat-tailed Grackle are very common resident along the gulf coast.


A flock of 50+ Willet .


The Florida Scrub-Jay is Florida's only endemic species.

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