Father's Day 2012
What a great day. I planned on going birding in the south end of the county, but after the Chupacabra visit in the middle of the night, I said I was going to sleep in and nobody woke me up. My Father’s Day wish was granted. I checked my bird reports and saw that some pelagic birds were near shore, so we geared up and made a run to the beach.
We arrived to see that 100’s of cars were at Jetty Park and thankfully the beach is where the people were and not the fishing pier. As we walked to the end of the pier, an immature Brown Pelican was sitting on the railing appearing to be begging from the fishermen. Nobody was feeding him, so he was going from person to person, but no handouts. I walked up to the pelican to tell him how naughty he was being when my daughter shouts out, PELICAN!!! My smile was from ear to ear. My little girl is a birder.
The end of the pier did have some activity other than the human kind. We had several dozen Brown Pelicans, Royal Terns, Laughing Gulls, Ruddy Turnstones, a pod of a dozen dolphins, and then there was a lone bird that stood out from everything else. The bird had a dark head, brown neck and back, white face and neck, and dark bill. It was a Greater Shearwater!! It was not a life bird, but it was a year bird and a June Challenge bird, so I was happy to see this lone bird.
With it still being “my” day, I suggested we hit the Allan and Helen Cruickshank Sanctuary. I am still looking for a Common Nighthawk and there have been reports of them being seen there lately, so off we go. It was just after 5:00 when we arrived and it was still hot. We have a three wheeled stroller for Heather, so we loaded it up with our gear and her and headed out. One hundred yards in we were greeted by a Florida Scrub Jay, then another, and another. It was a foreshadowing of what was to come.
The trails are made up of sugar sand and they were mostly packed hard until we arrived in the north-west corner. There the sand is less dense and there are also hills. It wasn’t so bad going down the hills, coming back up, on the other hand, was a work out. Hamstrings and thigh muscles were burning and sweat was dripping everywhere. Heather was playing in the sand the whole way out and her face was covered in dirt giving her a gothic clown face appearance.
Overall we saw 15 Florida Scrub Jays, a pair of Red-tailed Hawks, Eastern Towhees, Northern Bobwhite, Northern Mockingbird, Mourning and Common Ground Doves, Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers, and Common and Boat-tailed Grackles. No Nighthawks were seen or heard, but it was great being out and hiking a hard trail again.
Heather passed out on the way home and was not too happy when I tried to wake her for a bath. She had marched over a mile out and then I pushed her back in the stroller. Kathy, Heather, and I had a great day of adventuring. Best Father’s Day so far.
What a great day. I planned on going birding in the south end of the county, but after the Chupacabra visit in the middle of the night, I said I was going to sleep in and nobody woke me up. My Father’s Day wish was granted. I checked my bird reports and saw that some pelagic birds were near shore, so we geared up and made a run to the beach.
We arrived to see that 100’s of cars were at Jetty Park and thankfully the beach is where the people were and not the fishing pier. As we walked to the end of the pier, an immature Brown Pelican was sitting on the railing appearing to be begging from the fishermen. Nobody was feeding him, so he was going from person to person, but no handouts. I walked up to the pelican to tell him how naughty he was being when my daughter shouts out, PELICAN!!! My smile was from ear to ear. My little girl is a birder.
The end of the pier did have some activity other than the human kind. We had several dozen Brown Pelicans, Royal Terns, Laughing Gulls, Ruddy Turnstones, a pod of a dozen dolphins, and then there was a lone bird that stood out from everything else. The bird had a dark head, brown neck and back, white face and neck, and dark bill. It was a Greater Shearwater!! It was not a life bird, but it was a year bird and a June Challenge bird, so I was happy to see this lone bird.
With it still being “my” day, I suggested we hit the Allan and Helen Cruickshank Sanctuary. I am still looking for a Common Nighthawk and there have been reports of them being seen there lately, so off we go. It was just after 5:00 when we arrived and it was still hot. We have a three wheeled stroller for Heather, so we loaded it up with our gear and her and headed out. One hundred yards in we were greeted by a Florida Scrub Jay, then another, and another. It was a foreshadowing of what was to come.
The trails are made up of sugar sand and they were mostly packed hard until we arrived in the north-west corner. There the sand is less dense and there are also hills. It wasn’t so bad going down the hills, coming back up, on the other hand, was a work out. Hamstrings and thigh muscles were burning and sweat was dripping everywhere. Heather was playing in the sand the whole way out and her face was covered in dirt giving her a gothic clown face appearance.
Overall we saw 15 Florida Scrub Jays, a pair of Red-tailed Hawks, Eastern Towhees, Northern Bobwhite, Northern Mockingbird, Mourning and Common Ground Doves, Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers, and Common and Boat-tailed Grackles. No Nighthawks were seen or heard, but it was great being out and hiking a hard trail again.
Heather passed out on the way home and was not too happy when I tried to wake her for a bath. She had marched over a mile out and then I pushed her back in the stroller. Kathy, Heather, and I had a great day of adventuring. Best Father’s Day so far.
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