The spring migration has made the last few weeks an intense time for birding in Central Florida. There was a fall out in Fort Desoto in late April where my friend Kevin M. sighted 110 different bird species in one day! As those migrants moved on, other locations have also seen quite a few visitors, especially smaller birds.
The activity at Blackpoint Wildlife Drive in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Orlando Wetlands Park, and Viera Wetlands is slowing down from the peak nesting and breeding season. Most of the young ones are hatched, grown, and fledged, although you can still find some amazing sights such as a White Eyed Vireo nest next to the boardwalk at the MINWR visitors center.
Water is very low and much of the bird population seems to have gone elsewhere. But we did see the regulars, including Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, Tricolored Herons, Great Blue Herons, Mourning Doves, Kingfishers, Black Vultures, Blue Wing Teals, and Red Wing Blackbirds.
We’d heard about a sighting of a Redhead duck and wanted to see if we could find it and sure enough, we came across it after just a little while. I think it’s amazing how a few bits of information over the internet can lead to sighting a semi-rare (for Florida) bird. It’s a great time to enjoy this kind of thing.
Four of us from the Photography Interest Group visited the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge yesterday for the first time this year. It was a beautiful morning and this place is rockin’!!
I’ve selected 11 images to include in a gallery of my favorite 2011 photos. I have 3 mammals, 3 birds, 2 landscapes, and 3 miscellaneous subjects …
Unlike some previouse trips to BPWD, there are huge numbers of birds there now. It’s a great time to visit – The water levels are high and the winter visitors have started to arrive!
While there we also saw another bird that I didn’t recognize. It turns out this is a White Crested Sparrow and they’re supposed to be rare in Florida. My second life bird of the day!
The more I learn about Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, the bigger and better it seems. I’ve been visiting Blackpoint Wildlife Drive for several years, but only recently started exploring other locations in the Refuge . If you only have a short time to visit, Blackpoint’s a great place to see – but there’s so much more. If you have time, visit East Gator Creek Road, Shiloh Marsh Road, Bio-Lab Road, Scrub Ridge Trail and other areas.
A few of us visited Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge yesterday for the first time in a while. We wanted to see what’s going on at Blackpoint Wildlife Drive and Scrub Ridge Trail.
Introduction Welcome to Central Florida Photo Ops – a great place to find out about photography in our area! I’m a photographer living in Central Florida. My main photography interests are nature / wildlife. I enjoy writing about places around here that I’ve visited and photographed. In addition to sharing my experiences, I try to make … Continue reading Contents →