Tag Archives: Merlin

MINWR Again – 2/16/24

Haulover Canal, Merritt Island NWR, , , , , , , , , , ,

I realize I’ve been posting a lot lately about Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, but I have a good excuse: there’s a lot of activity there right now. This post is just a bit more encouragement in case I haven’t already convinced you to check it out!

Kevin M. was in town and wanted to go there, so we went on the 16th after lunch. I usually go in the mornings and wasn’t sure how much we’d see in the afternoon, but it turned out we saw plenty. Most of these images are from that trip, but I’ve included a few from my February 2nd trip that haven’t been in the blog.

Hidden wonders in a beatuful placeHidden wonders in a beatuful place: It doesn’t look like it in this photo, but Black Point Wildlife Drive in MINWR is full of birds and wildlife – especially at this time of year. (2/2/24)

Flamingos are found in Florida, but usually only in the Everglades. In late August / early September of 2023, Hurricane Idalia displaced Flamingos from the Yucatan to all over the eastern US. These four are still hanging out off the west end of Haulover Canal in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. They were about 1/2 mile from the kayak launch where we were standing – so it was a pretty tough shot with quite a bit of atmospheric distortion. I’m glad it turned out even this well. I might have gotten a better pic if we still had our kayaks.

If you click on the image, you’ll open a higher res version on Flickr. Then click again once or twice to zoom in to see the flamingos a little bertter.

For the record...For the record…

There were mostly Great and Snowy Egrets in this gathering, with some Spoonbills, Woodstorks, and a few Grackles mixed in. They weren’t going after the fish very hard so most of the fish were gone or the birds were full.

A great gatheringA great gathering

I wasn’t looking closely enough and didn’t notice this Great Egret until Kevin pointed out its bright green lores and breeding feathers (aigrettes). Thanks Kevin!

Fancy FeathersFancy Feathers

Terns were busy fishing along the west side of Black Point. We watched them swooping, hovering, and diving for several minutes.

Forster's Tern after fishForster’s Tern after fish

Kevin also found this Merlin near the Black Point exit. Zoom into the Flickr version and you’ll be able to see the dragonfly in the Merlin’s left talon.

Merlin with preyMerlin with prey

A lady Painted Buntings was enjoying the seeds at the visitor center feeder. There was a male there too, but I wasn’t able to get a photo.

Lady BuntingLady Bunting

We spotted other birds: Kestrels, Hawks, Ospreys, Skimmers, Hooded Mergansers, and several species of duck. Keven also saw Florida Scrub Jays. A very good trip!

Here’s two final photos to close out.

Lesser YellowlegsLesser Yellowlegs

Wading near the shoreWading near the shore (2/2/24)

The header image is an early morning (2/2/24) iPhone photo near the entrance to Black Point Wildlife Drive. That was a good trip too!

Thanks so much for stopping by and reading my blog . Stay positive, be kind, take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, check out a NWR close to you. And make some photos!

©2024, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

Cocoa and Merritt Island – 20 Oct 2018

Cocoa, Merritt Island NWR, , , ,

I went over to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge last weekend with Kevin K. and Kevin M.  On the way, we stopped by the Cocoa Beach Pier for sunrise.

Anticipation Anticipation – two surfers waiting for waves at dawn

This year, Florida red tide’s been found in many spots along both the gulf and Atlantic coasts.   Normally, it’s a Gulf coast phenomenon and I don’t remember a year when it spread so far up our east coast.  We’d heard reports of red tide and fish kills reaching Brevard County and Cocoa, so we were concerned about conditions at the pier.  But when we were there the red tide wasn’t noticeable.

Neath the pierNeath the pier

Next, we grabbed some breakfast and then headed up to MINWR for a quick pass through Black Point Wildlife Drive.  Conditions in the refuge have been pretty quiet this summer and we wanted to see how the bird population is doing.  There still aren’t a lot of birds around, but the variety is improving.  We saw the usual wading birds, Redish Egrets, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, a few Blue Wing Teals, Osprey, Belted Kingfishers, a Sora, and a Merlin.

Merlin in flightMerlin in flight

While I was getting out of the car so I could get (it turns out) a not so good image of the Sora, a water snake swam right in front of it.  I didn’t even get to see the snake, much less photograph it by the bird.  Luckily, Kevin K. did – you can view his photo here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/34024553@N08/45404193252/in/dateposted/

Jim Boland is also seeing quite a bit of bird activity in MINWR.  He’s photographed a Peregrine Falcon, Merlins, Ospreys, Northern Harriers, Bald Eagles, and even Snail Kites along Playalinda Beach Road in recent weeks.

The cooler weather that’s finally arrived in Central Florida makes being outside and photographing more pleasant.  And it should bring even more bird species to our area to enjoy.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

©2018, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

Fort De Soto Bird Migration

Fort De Soto, INSIDE FLORIDA, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s April and birds are heading north again through our area.  Fort De Soto south of St. Petersburg, Florida is a “migrant trap” because they stop there on the way.  If you’re a photographer or birder and you’d like to see many types of birds – now is the time to visit this wonderful place.

I went over last Saturday with Kevin M. and Lutfi E.  There were a lot of other birders there as well as a few photographers.  It was fun talking with the birders.  They’re all helpful and I learned a lot from them.  If you’re just starting out in birding, go with a knowledgeable friend (thanks, Kevin!), or check with your local Audubon group.  They often organize field trips with an experienced leader.  The Orange County Audubon Society has a trip planned for next weekend.

Migration at Fort DeSoto
Migration at Fort De Soto – As a beginning birder, I was excited to photograph these 11 life birds on Saturday: Chimney Swift, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Merlin, Black-throated Green Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Baltimore Oriole, and Orchard Oriole.

In addition to the 11 life birds I managed to photograph, we saw many others including:  Worm Eating Warbler, Summer Tanager, Scarlet Tanager, Prothonotary Warbler, Yellow Throated Vireo, Northern Parula, European Starling, Black and White Warbler, Common Ground Dove, American Crow, Magnificent Frigate bird, Ruby Throated Hummingbird, Laughing Gull, Sandwich Tern, Caspian Tern, Brown Pelicans, Eastern Kingbird, Ospreys, Cormorants, Anhingas, Vultures, Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, and Snowy Egrets.

If you go, plan to get there early and stay all day.  Fort De Soto is a big place and we couldn’t get to all of it on Saturday, so I’m sure there were many other species we missed.

You must be patient and quick to photograph these smaller birds.  They move fast and flit in and out of trees and bushes so catching them out in the open is tough.  A  long, fast lens helps too!

This is also a beautiful place for landscape photography because there are both sunrise and sunset views. Here’s a photo I made last year:

The end of the day at Fort De Soto
The end of the day at Fort De Soto – Looking southwest toward Egmont Key from the base of the bay pier. The ferry to the Key is on the left.

You can see larger versions of these images on Flickr by clicking on them. And I have a few more photos from Fort De Soto in this set.  You can also see Kevin’s Fort De Soto photos in this set.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

©2013, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.