If my last blog was a bore, don’t worry—this one is shorter and sweeter.
This summer, I joined my family in Florida for an unexpected trip to say goodbye to my grandmother. Although I wasn’t planning to write a blog about the trip, there were a lot of beautiful nature moments that I might as well document (and share). My past visits to Florida have all involved a mix of family time and nature exploration, and I’ve developed a strong association between Florida, family, and nature. So, reconnecting with the Florida wildlife was also my way of reconnecting with memories of Grandma. Although my main focus during the trip was family time, I’ll keep this blog focused on birds and sunsets.
Wednesday
Nature highlights on Wednesday included seeing several juvenile Horseshoe Crabs with my cousins at the public pier next to my uncle’s house. I’d seen plenty of shells washed up on the beach, but this was my first time seeing live horseshoes.
The sunset was a nice way to wind down. It transitioned from a better-than-normal sunset to an unforgettable one. After the sun dipped below the horizon, the sky divided along a crisp vertical line: warm sunset glow to the south, cool blue colors to the north. I’m not sure what causes this phenomenon, or what it’s called, but I felt fortunate to see it and share it with my family (and even a few strangers).
Thursday
I walked around Dunedin Hammock Park early Thursday morning, soaking in hundreds of acres of native habitats that are protected from coastal Florida’s rampant development. This is what the land used to look like when my family settled what is now Pinellas County back in the 1800s, and what much of the land probably still looked like when Grandma grew up and raised the family on the old orange groves.
My next stop was Honeymoon Island State Park. The mosquitos were unbearable, so I didn’t stay long. I was treated to a few Gray Kingbirds—new to my US list—as well as other cool birds like Common Ground Doves, Magnificent Frigatebirds, a Loggerhead Shrike, and an assortment of shorebirds. It was also nice to see more of my cousins: Marsh Rabbits and Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins (these were admittedly somewhat distant relatives).
After some work and some family time, I decided to spend the afternoon kayaking around the north end of Caladesi Island. It was a beautiful day: partly cloudy, 90F, with a light breeze and a falling tide. I saw and photographed a bunch of my favorite birds. Not photographed—l but still notable—was a huge kettle of 27 Magnificent Frigatebirds.
Here are some photos of the 15 species of shorebirds present.
And… here are some photos of the 9 species of gulls and terns present (including some handsome Black Terns).
And here are some photos of the 8 species of wading birds present. As you can see, they pretty much surrounded me. Classic Florida.
The Roseate Spoonbill held a special place for me, as a painting of these birds hung above my Grandma’s final bed that night.
Beyond birds, I saw a nice collection of other animals. The most spectacular was a spread of at least 100,000 snails that I think are West Indian False Ceriths. A barnacle-covered Longnose Spider Crab was also pretty cool.
Later in the evening, I shared another nice sunset with family.
Friday
On Friday, I decided to head out on a birding trip to SW Florida. I left before dawn and broke up my drive at Babcock Webb WMA, a massive gameland near Punta Gorda. It’s a longleaf pine savannah—but a wet one, unlike the dry ones I’m used to in the NC sandhills. It was a beautiful, interesting place to drive through.
I stopped periodically to check out the wildlife. Highlights included a friendly Common Snapping Turtle, a Monk Skipper (lifer butterfly), a nice assortment of dragonflies, several heard-only Northern Bobwhites, and a heard-only Black-bellied Whistling-Duck.
I spent essentially the rest of the day hanging out at a park near Naples—the last big stretch of gulf coast civilization before the everglades. The park is called Eagle Lakes Community Park (coincidentally, there’s a park with almost the same name across the street from where my Grandma and Mom grew up). So, what brought me to a random community park? Well, for several weeks, folks had reported a Large-billed Tern at the park and adjacent areas. This South American species is incredibly rare in North America, with only a handful of US records ever (in 1949, 1954, 1988, and 2023, I think). This lost bird was almost certainly the same individual that showed up here last summer. After over 5 hours of waiting—3 of which involved a drenching thunderstorm—the tern finally made a brief appearance for about 5 minutes. Worth it? I guess so, but it was more effort than I’m normally crazy enough to expend on a bird.
I wasn’t the only crazy one, at least. I was joined by a birder from Miami, and another from New Jersey. As we waited, we were treated to a variety of other interesting birds, including Mottled Ducks, a photogenic Loggerhead Shrike, a Black-crowned Night-Heron, many other wading birds, and some Yellow Warblers. Herps at the park included a Tropical House Gecko (lifer, but not native), a couple Brown Basilisks (new to my US list, and also not native), and an American Alligator. Among swarms of more common dragonflies, I saw two lifers: Band-winged Dragonlet and Great Pondhawk.
As evening approached, I made a quick stop near the Naples Zoo, hoping to see some wild Rose-ringed Parakeets that have apparently colonized the area. I might have heard some, but I’m not sure. It was nice to see a Raccoon exploring a mangrove forest.
On my way to a hotel a bit closer to home, I saw a funny sight on a roadside ditch: an adult Limpkin with two chicks, next to an apparent nest. Classic Florida!
Saturday
I made one birding stop early Saturday morning: Harns Marsh. I’d been here twice before (in 2017 and 2019), so I knew this would be a nice place to visit. Just before sunrise, thousands of birds streamed out of the marsh, flying right over me. Most were Common Grackles (I estimated 7,500), followed by European Starlings (1,500) and Boat-tailed Grackles (250). Rare experiences with common birds are always a treat.
I heard a few Least Bitterns calling around sunrise, and I saw a variety of expected—but exciting—marsh birds, including Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Mottled Duck, Common Gallinule (with young chicks), Purple Gallinule, Gray-headed Swamphen, Limpkin, Sandhill Crane, Anhinga, and an assortment of waders. I also can’t resist photographing gators.
After leaving the marsh and making my way back towards Dunedin, I made a quick stop at a random flooded field across the street from a dirtbike park (which was noisy, but looked really fun). There were a bunch of shorebirds, including Black-necked Stilts, Pectoral Sandpipers, and other species, plus good numbers of Western Cattle Egrets and Glossy Ibises. The surprise treat was a Crested Caracara.
Later in the evening, Mom and I took a sunset cruise out of Pass-a-Grille on my uncle’s tour boat (on our last tour, we were joined by my wife, Grandma, and lots of other family). Before boarding, I saw an Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin. A protected mangrove island held an assortment of nesting/post-nesting waterbirds—mostly Double-crested Cormorants and Brown Pelicans. As we navigated the channels, Ospreys and Nanday Parakeets made regular, noisy appearances. The sunset across the Gulf was as beautiful as expected; it was a nice way to spend my last evening in Florida.
This isn’t really a “summary by the numbers” type of trip, so I’ll save that for the next blog (or maybe the one after that). But I might as well mention that I picked up one lifer, one new bird for my US list, and 12 new birds to my Florida list (bringing me to 222 species). I don’t usually visit Florida in the summer, so that explains the last statistic.
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