The Peace River Audubon Society sponsored a field trip to the Ding Darling NWR on Tuesday, November 2^nd.  Sixteen people, including about a half dozen new persons, met at the corner of US 41 and Burnt Store Road and car-pooled to Sanibel.  Unfortunately, Lee County just raised the rates to $6 per vehicle to cross the Causeway. 

At Ding Darling, we found that the Visitor's Center and the Wildlife Drive is open to the public.  One could see the obvious damage to the vegetation caused by Hurricane Charley as we traveled along the Drive.  Helped by the low tide, we saw hundreds of wading birds, such as Anhingas, Cormorants, Egrets, Herons, and Spoonbills.  Some shorebirds, such as Dunlins, Least and Western Sandpipers, Willets, and Lesser Yellowlegs were also noted.  Other than a few Cardinals and Catbirds, very few tree birds were observed.  A Frigatebird, Bald Eagle, several Ospreys, and a Red-shouldered Hawk were observed in flight.  Altogether, about 30 different species were noted, a fairly low number for this area.

The Photo Adventures Camera Club of Port Charlotte sponsored a field trip to the Pinewood Cultural Park, which is located in Largo, north of St. Petersburg.  The Park is composed of three separate entities: Florida Botanical Gardens, Heritage Village, and the Gulf Coast Museum of Art.  There is no entry fee to the Gardens or the Village; however, there is a $5 admission to the Arts Museum.  Parking is free.  There are plenty of restrooms scattered throughout the Park, but there are no eating facilities.  However, if one brings a picnic lunch, there are tables scattered throughout the area.

I attended the Birding & Wildlife Festival held in Titusville, FL from November 17-21.  If you’re into birding and never attended this festival, you should plan to do so next year.  This was one of the best organized festivals I’ve attended.  You will find everything from field trips, seminars, workshops, photography, paddling, an art and photo contest, vendor exhibits and other special events, including great keynote speakers every evening.

On Wednesday, November 17^th, I went on the pelagic birding trip.  About 75 people signed up for this trip, which was on the Miss Canaveral out of Port Canaveral.  As we left the harbor, a juvenile Sabine’s Gull, rare for this area, was spotted.  We also observed more common seabirds, such as Greater and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls, Royal and Sandwich Terns.  Most of the pelagic species were observed about 30 miles offshore, along the west edge of the Gulf Stream, while following weedlines in about 200 feet of water.  Although only small numbers of birds were observed, we did see several different species, including Northern Gannets, a Masked Booby, Pomarine Jaeger, Red Phalarope, and three species of Shearwaters (Audubon’s, Manx, and Greater).  In addition, we all had good looks at two Cory’s Shearwaters that were released by wildlife rehabilitators from the boat.  This was an exciting trip with many people adding anywhere from six to eight species to their life list.  Unfortunately, the water was a little rough with 5-7 foot swells, which caused about 10-15 people to spend most of the trip seated near the railings with little interest in looking for birds.

My second Birding Festival field trip was on Friday, a bus trip to Tosohatchee State Reserve and the Orlando Wetlands.  Both of these areas are reached by traveling west on SR 50 from Titusville.  Tosohatchee is south of SR 50 and the Orlando Wetlands is north of SR 50.  It should be noted that the Orlando Wetlands is closed from October 1 – January 20.  The Birding Festival had special permission to visit the Wetlands.

Tosohatchee is a great area for observing marsh and tree birds.  Species observed there included the Blue-headed and White-eyed Vireos, Indigo Bunting, Swamp Sparrow, Tufted Titmouse, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Sedge Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Phoebe, Bald Eagle, and Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers.  Altogether, 39 species were observed in the Reserve.

The Orlando Wetlands is composed of wetland cells, marsh, swamp, and a small lake.  A large number of water birds can usually be found here.  Some of the more interesting species observed at the Wetlands included Roseate Spoonbills, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Greater Yellowlegs, Wilson’s Snipe, Belted Kingfisher, Loggerhead Shrike, Swamp Sparrows, and a Chipping Sparrow.  Altogether, 36 species were observed.  The combined total for both areas was 57 species.

On Saturday, I tried something new, a butterfly trip.  The day started with a seminar on butterfly identification and specialty butterflies of Brevard County.  This seminar lasted from 9:00 to 10:30.  We then gathered at the bus stop for a 11:00-5:00 butterfly trip to different areas of north Brevard County.  Our first stop was a private residence.  The couple living there had a huge butterfly garden with quite a number of different species, including Sleepy Orange, Long-tailed Skippers, Clouded Skippers, Ceraunus Blues, Monarchs and Queens.   

We then continued to spots previously scouted by the leaders, Buck and Linda Cooper and Marc Minno.  These leaders were not only well versed in identifying butterflies, but also the plants on which they were found.  Marc is also one of the co-authors of the Butterflies through Binoculars – Florida book, an excellent reference guide.  Our final stop was along some marshy areas on Merritt Island.  Additional species observed included the Mangrove Buckeye, Salt Marsh Skipper, and Eastern Pygmy-blue. The group observed a total of 36 species of butterflies during the trip.

On Sunday, the fifth and final day of the Festival, I chose to go on another birding trip, this time to the Viera Wetlands.  As usual, we gathered at the bus stop at 6:00 in the morning.  The Viera Wetlands consists of a series of connected ponds created to treat wastewater from the central Brevard area.  One usually finds a large diversity of birds in the area.  Upon our arrival, the first birds observed were a pair of Crested Caracara, a good way to start the morning.  Not long afterwards, several Sandhill Cranes flew directly overhead.  An active Bald Eagle nest was also observed, along with a pair of Eagles.

Several species of ducks were seen, including a family of Black-bellied Whistling ducks, Mottled, Ring-necked, Ruddy, Hooded Mergansers, Lesser Scaup and Blue-winged Teal.  The usual wading birds (Egrets, Herons, and Ibises) were present. Some more unusual birds observed included Wilson's Snipe, American Kestrel, Belted Kingfishers, Savannah Sparrows, and Marsh Wrens.  About 55 different species of birds were observed.