Quick Update: 2 miles at Goodwin

So, David is doing a challenge called "Bird of the Day" wherein you attempt to see one new bird species every day of the year. He has been home not feeling too well for a few days, but still managed to get his birds. Tonight he felt up for going out to Goodwin. I was sure I was going to get eaten alive by bugs, but wanted to get some miles in so I joined him. As always when I decide to go to Goodwin, I had a great time and saw some neat stuff. I only went 2 miles, but I found David's BOTD for him, a barred owl. I didn't get a picture, in fact, it's one of the few birds who I can identify based on it's call. The only picture I took was the sunset:

We also saw a little ring-neck snake that was adorable, but it was getting too dark to shoot.  But overall, surprisingly few bugs, good company, and great weather made for yet another great walk out in the wilderness. 

Come out and join us for a walk soon. We have some week night river walks coming up, be sure to join us!

SOS (Almost!) At Goodwin

Last year, Heather and I were really getting into doing bike rides out at Goodwin, right up until the day the deer flies came back. I blocked that memory out of my head until this week. We only got 5 miles in today, mostly because Heather was sick of hearing me whine about the danged deer flies. Strange thing was, I was getting bit over and over, and she did not get bit once. I guess I am just tastier or sweeter or maybe the deer flies just don't have very good taste. At any rate, up until I got attacked, we had a fantastic walk with a brand new life critter this week! If you didn't GOYB and join us, read on for the insanely cool things that you missed!

We found this skull. We were not entirely sure what it was, I think we narrowed it down to a rodent of some ilk. There were still some ants doing their job still, so it must have met its demise fairly recently.

 A green heron sitting in  a tree. He was quite the little poser, I love it when the birds indulge my inner wanna be photographer.

A black-crown night heron. This is another bird that seems to be having a banner year. Not sure if it's cause we have been walking later at night or if there really are more of them, but I have seen them almost every time we have been out to Goodwin this year. Strange but neat looking bird.

Deer, dear!

This was a new critter for both of us. It is a green rough snake, and one of the prettiest snakes I've ever seen. The color just doesn't do it justice.

 Have you ever been somewhere, a party maybe, where you walk in and feel so out of place, like you don't belong? This snake looked like he belonged at Goodwin. He looked like his mom and dad painted him to match his surroundings at dusk.  

Notice the greens and yellows, remind you of anyone we know?

This was something I don't think I've ever seen before, or if I did I didn't realize it. It's an immature roseate spoonbill. I know you are, but what am I?

I generally don't take a lot of landscape shots, but it was just so pretty out there tonight. The colors were just breathtaking. It was totally worth all of the deer fly bites!

The last thing we saw were a few limpkin hanging out looking quite picturesque.

It was yet another awesome night out in the wild with Heather. As always, so much to see and do, and so close to home. And, as always, you can see pictures on the internet, but you will never ever experience anything like this for real unless you GOYB and join us out there!

3 Miles Along the River

Took a week night walk along the river tonight with David. It always amazes me how many cool things there are just on any old day I get out there. If you didn't GOYB today, here is what you missed:

A Black Racer

The giant land crabs were out in full force this evening.

It's been a banner year for red-bellied
woodpeckers, we have seen tons of them
in the Sebastian/Vero area lately.

I believe these are Assassin bugs. Very pretty little critters!

Even when it's just a quick 3 miles, it is always great to get out, you just never know what kind of cool things you are going to see. Come out and walk with us soon!

SOS at Kissimmee Prairie

Had an awesome (almost) SOS at Kissimmee Prairie. They had recently done a prescribed fire, which made for an interesting and VERY dirty SOS. If you didn't GOYB and go with us, here's what you missed:

David, me, and Heather on the porch of the Kissimmee Prairie visitor's center. It wouldn't be a trip to Kissimmee Prairie without a rock on the porch rocking chairs.

Our first critter of the day was a very young alligator, David guessed about 2-3 years old. Really cute and tiny.

A really freaking HUGE but gorgeous snake. David thinks it was a pine snake.

A poor little frog who appears to have been run over by one of the fire trucks.

David said this was a "small" burn, but I sure wouldn't have wanted to deal with it.

We saw more tracks that I ever remember seeing before, and then I realized that it was critters running away from the burn. If you click to enlarge this photo, you can see at least 3-4 species tracks here.

This was kinda cool, a hawk carrying dinner. Carrion carry out!

Nighthawks like to hang out here. They are cute when they sleep.

The Shrike, or the butcher bird, likes to impress girls by impaling his prey on barbed wire. We did't see the shrike, but we saw a few of his victims. I think if i was a girl shrike I'd be impressed with his skills.

 Another Shrike victim.

A southern toad.

Heather was wearing long pants and sneakers, yet was still filthy when we were done with our 5.5 miles.

As it was my birthday, Heather made incredible noms for after the walk. Shown here is a nice, healthy steak salad. Mmmmm.

Me and Heather.

David, Heather and me.

This was weird. I was wearing sneakers and heavy sox, and still my poor little toes were BLACK when I got home from the dirt and ash!

All in all, another awesome day out in wild. Remember, you can see stuff like this on TV or the internet, but you will never get this dirty unless you GOYB! Join us next week, when I will probably do an SOS in Brevard County. Let me know if you have any suggested locations!

Dry Tortugas - Day 2

Day two of the trip started out a little iffy. The winds were very strong, so we were not able to visit the smaller islands. Instead, we spent the day back at Fort Jefferson. The weather went between rainy and sunny, but it was all good birding. I forgot to charge my camera and was waiting for it to charge, so David went on the first boat to the island, and I stayed back for a bit to wait for my camera. It was worth it though cause I got a really cool shot of David on shore from the boat. If you didn't GOYB, here's what you missed on the second day of the trip:

There is a little speck on the end of the island near the rainbow. That is HFC David, looking at a sandwich tern, which I did not get a picture of.

There were a ton of redstarts all over the island. This is a male.

This is a female redstart. They both do this little fan dance with their tail feathers to stir up bugs to eat.

Me and David, during one of the rain delays, inside the fort.

Some of the arches in the fort.

David, taking a break.

David, Larry, and some other birders we ran into on the island.

We spent some time going through the museum in the fort. This was their coral display.

Male black-throated blue warbler. This was a lifer.

I don't remember who this was.

Ovenbird, another lifer for me.

A grasshopper sparrow being eaten by a cattle egret. Ironically, the dead grasshopper sparrow was a life bird for me.

Outside the fort.

Me and David outside the fort. We took this same picture on our honeymoon, 7 years ago.

Another antilean night hawk, also napping.

Yellow-billed cuckoo.

A conch shell on the beach.

A merlin.

A cattle egret, getting a drink. We saw a cattle egret drop dead right in front of us, from exhaustion. It was pretty sad, but a fact of life on the island.

Can't remember who this is.

Worm-eating warbler. Another lifer for me.

Can't remember who this is.

This was weird - a leukistic hooded warbler. Hooded warbler is a lifer for me. I doubt I'll ever see a partly albino one ever again.

Male cape may warbler, another one of my favorites of the weekend, and also a lifer.

Merlin. Not a lifer, but the first decent shot I've taken of one.

Back on the boat. Our cabin.

David, looking out at the island.

Of course the skies cleared as we neared home. But actually, the weather is one of the reasons we had so many birds, so it was a trade off.

All in all it was a great trip, and one that I was very glad I GOMB for! Hope you join us on a future (more local) walk soon. Remember you can see stuff like this on the internet, but you can only experience it if you GOYB!