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A Florida Birding Sojourn [1]
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Date: 2022-10-01
Little Blue Heron, Lake Alice, Alachua County, Florida.
A few months ago my older daughter and I decided to plan a trip to Florida. The first idea centered on April, but that fell through and we finally decided on a Labor Day sojourn. She bought the tickets and so on the 31st of August, we boarded an Alaska Airlines flight to Orlando, but our real destination was Gainesville. The flight was, as I suspected, a pain in the ass (airplanes these days are basically flying buses,) but since Orlando has a bad reputation for flight cancellations, I was happy that both flights (there and back) went off on time without a hitch. I am also glad that we did not schedule the trip at any other time as we fitted between heavy rains in the week before we arrived and a later Hurricane Ian. The latter has been devastating to South Florida, but could have gone anywhere. Our thoughts are with the people of Ft. Myers, Naples, Sanibel and Captiva Islands, and other parts of south and central Florida
During our trip we stayed with my former graduate professor, who is one of the nicest people that I have ever known. He delighted in our visit, which we started with a trip to Cedar Key, one of my old stomping grounds for jumping spiders. On the way we stopped at a fishing pier and there was a Brown Pelican sort of fly hopping from one place to another and a Double-crested cormorant diving in the mangrove intertidal. We ate at a local seafood restaurant bedecked with pro T***p and DeSantis signs and a picture of Hillary Clinton behind bars. Such is life in that part of the world, the home county of Rosewood and the atrocities committed there. Keep in mind that my former major professor is involved with the Alachua Democratic Party. He found the signs darkly amusing.
On our way back to Gainesville I yelled “stop,”stop” after I saw a couple of flashes of pink in a mangrove swamp just east of Cedar Key. As I though there were two Roseate Spoonbills amidst a flock of Snowy Egrets. They are becoming more common this far north.
Brown Pelican fly-hopping in mangroves near Cedar Key.
Double-crested Cormorant in mangrove intertidal near Cedar Key, Florida.
Fiddler Crabs, male on left, female on right, Cedar Key, Florida.
A Roseate Spoonbill with Snowy Egrets, Cedar Key area, Florida.
That afternoon my daughter and I visited Lake Alice on the University of Florida. As we drove by the area where “Gator Man” (a local character, who used to swim with the alligators before the campus police put a stop to it) did his thing, I spotted several White Ibis along the shore. We found a parking space and went back to find them, but they had flown away. I did spot one in the bushes across the lake, but first found a Little Blue Heron (pictured above). Near the White Ibis was a female Anhinga and not far from them were two Snowy Egrets. However, we soon noticed that a Great Blue Heron was also present in a large dead tree on our side of the lake.
Great Blue Heron, Lake Alice, University of Florida.
The next day my daughter and I drove to St. Augustine and visited the old Spanish fort. Unfortunately we found only a huge flock of Rock Pigeons — at least 50! We toured the fort, but then went on to Anastasia Park to look for birds. I found three species. Laughing Gulls (2), a Ruddy Turnstone and a Western Sandpiper.
Cannon at Castillo San Marco, St. Augustine, Florida.
Western Sandpiper, Anastasia State Park, Florida.
My daughter and I spent the next day in Gainesville, going to the University Natural History Museum. They had moved it since I was at the University and expanded it greatly. They had a magnificent butterfly display. My bird for the day was a female Northern Cardinal at my major professor’s yard, which he has let go natural.
My former major professor drove us the next day and we visited two Parks on the edge of Payne’s Prairie (named after King Payne of the Seminole,) Sweetwater Branch and Alachua Sink. Sweetwater was the first we visited and we were greeted by the cries of two Red-shouldered Hawks, high in the trees. On reaching the boardwalk we found a Snowy Egret and three Common Gallinules wading in the duckweed. We walked back down the boardwalk and as I (being slower than the rest) reached the spot with the Snowy Egret was, an Anhinga male flew up and landed on the railing of the boardwalk in front of me. This gave me to opportunity for some very nice photographs. Just then, as if jealous of the Anhinga, the Snowy Egret flew up in front of it and gave me some nice shots before returning to its earlier location in the water.
Male Anhinga posing for me, Sweetwater Branch, Florida.
Snowy Egret, “pay attention to me!” Sweetwater Branch, Florida.
The prairie, or at least Alachua Sink, is thought to be at least one of the inspiration for Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem Kubla Khan from several descriptions in William Bartram’s journal. It was hard to see how the Alachua Sink was any kind of inspiration as it is a sinkhole surrounded by water hyacinths now and is not draining Paynes Prairie down “caverns measureless to man,” which Coleridge apparently lifted from Bartram. In any case I was immediately surprised by the appearance of several Limpkins, busily eating Apple Snails around the Sink! When I lived in Florida before I only heard their wild calls, but never saw one, but here they were everywhere. Also there were hoards of female Boat-tailed Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds, as well as a juvenile Tricolored Heron, a Great Egret, and, as we left three Northern Harriers showed up near the forested area near the boardwalk. All-in-all I was much impressed with these Florida Parks. Although I did not see them, there are now populations of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and Everglades Kites there.
I have to add that the place was vibrant with life! Dragonflies, birds, and plants galore. It did my heart good to see so many creatures going about their business without any involvement in human affairs! A biologist’s paradise!
A Limpkin hunting Apple Snails, Alachua Sink, Florida. I could have gotten better photos, but my battery died. I did get several with my cellphone, however.
Tricolored Heron juvenile, Alachua Sink, Florida.
The next day my daughter and I visited several locals around Gainesville. At Morningside Park, (where my wife and I were married) we added two common Florida birds which are rare or non-existent in Washington State — the Mourning Dove and the Northern Mockingbird. We went on to the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens. My wife and I were living nearby when it was founded, but now it is quite expanded. The exhibit of Victoria pond lillies was astonishing and we saw several Florida Softshell Turtles swimming and one on a lily pad.
Muy older daughter discovers mosquitoes, Morningside Nature Center, Gainesville, Florida.
Butterfly Pea flower. Morningside Nature Center, Gainesville, Florida.
Florida Softshell Turtle on Victoria Water Lily pad, Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, Gainesville, Florida.
Finally we drove back to Orlando, on the way seeing two Sandhill Cranes flying and a male Boat-tailed Grackle on a electric line. We caught our plane back to Seatac Airport in Seattle and my daughter dropped me off at my apartment. All and all it was a very short, but fruitful trip. I added 15 bird species for the year and three life-listers. And I did not catch COVID-19! I was tested three times over the next few weeks- all negative!
As usual all photos are by me.
GO GATORS!
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