Way back in May, a Bahama Mockingbird was found at Jetty Park in Port Canaveral, Florida. Since almost all of the Bahama Mockingbirds found in Florida are only seen a day or two and then disappear, it was surprising that this one stayed and was periodically seen all the way through the beginning of August. Normally, I would have flown down to try and see it, but with the air travel being so unpredictable lately, plus not knowing if you're bag would get there with you, I was hesitant to do that. So instead, I decided to make the 16-hour drive down there. I asked a few local birders if they'd be interested in joining me, and Mike Schall was the only one willing and able to go along. So, after Mike got out of work on Friday, we started the over 1,000-mile journey. We slowly checked off the states: Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and finally Florida.
Saturday, August 6, 2022
After a half-hour 'power nap' just inside the Florida border, we arrived in Port Canaveral just before 10 AM. As we were approaching the Jetty Park campground, I glanced up at a bird on a wire as we were driving underneath it and told Mike, "What's that up there? I pulled back the moonroof shade, looked up, and said, "That's it! I pulled off to the side and we quickly jumped out and took photos. The Bahama Mockingbird was my 850th species for the United States!
The bird then flew a short distance to a tree just inside the campground where I was able to get many more photos of our 'target bird'.
After about five minutes, it flew deeper into the fenced-in campground and out of sight. We spent another two hours hoping to get more looks at it, but they only produced one brief 'fly-by'. While waiting for another look, we saw Eurasian Collared-Dove, Royal Tern, a Magnificent Frigatebird, Brown Pelican, White Ibis, Osprey, and Boat-tailed Grackle.
We happily left there and stopped at a nearby spot called Avocet Lagoon. There, we saw Wood Stork, Brown Pelican, Great and Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, White Ibis, and a group of twelve Roseate Spoonbills.
Along the short road back out to the highway, Mike spotted a Gray Kingbird on a wire.
While checking out the kingbird, a Loggerhead Shrike perched on another wire across the road.
From there, we made a one-hour drive to Lake Apopka near Orlando and took the 11-mile-long Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive through numerous marshes and ponds. The place was loaded with birds. There were well over a thousand Common Gallinules comprised of adults and immatures. Notables there included Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Fulvous Whistling-Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, Purple Gallinule, Black-necked Stilt, Anhinga, Double-crested Cormorant, Least Bittern, Great, Snowy, and Cattle Egret, Great Blue, Little Blue, Tricolored, and Green Heron, White and Glossy Ibis, and Osprey.
Near the very end of the wildlife refuge, we looked for a Ruff that had been seen earlier in a field. We didn't find it, but we did see Killdeer, Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated, Least, and Pectoral Sandpiper, Red-shouldered Hawk, and a 'fly-by' adult Swallow-tailed Kite, which I got a poor photo of as it soared off.
Just before the exit, we saw a small group of Common Ground-Doves.
We left there and drove northeast to the Arlington Hills suburb of Jacksonville where we spent the night at a motel, getting some much-needed sleep.
Sunday, August 7, 2022
We spent the early morning at Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park, just south of the Mayport Naval Base. Our goal here was to see the Heermann's Gull, a West Coast gull that had been seen earlier at points along the East Coast and had recently settled in here. We walked out to the shore and quickly saw the gull on the beach and also on its favorite piling, allowing us to get decent photos of it.
Other birds noted there were Brown Pelican, Sanderling, Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, and terns that included Royal, Common, Sandwich, Black, and Least Tern.
Around 11 AM, we started the long drive back home. While driving the Georgia stretch of I-95, I noticed a black mass of birds circling fairly high beside the highway. It turned out to be the largest group of Anhingas I've ever seen, a conservatively-estimated 80 birds! Later, we stopped at a Wendy's in Santee, South Carolina for a late lunch. While sitting at a table by the window, I noticed a Mississippi Kite soaring over the parking lot. I went out to the car, grabbed my camera, and took some photos of it, but the lighting was pretty poor.
Monday, August 8, 2022
We got home at 2 AM on Monday. The trip covered 2,193 miles over a span of 57 hours. We only spotted 68 species, mostly because it was in the 90's and very humid, making landbirds pretty difficult to find. More photos can be found in my Florida Photo Album.
Florida Trip ~ August 6-7, 2022
1) Canada Goose (FL)
2) Fulvous Whistling-Duck (FL)
3) Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (FL)
4) Pied-billed Grebe (FL)
5) Magnificent Frigatebird (FL)
6) Brown Pelican (FL)
7) Anhinga (FL,GA)
8) Double-crested Cormorant (FL,SC)
9) Least Bittern (FL)
10) Green Heron (FL)
11) Tricolored Heron (FL)
12) Little Blue Heron (FL,GA)
13) Cattle Egret (FL,GA)
14) Snowy Egret (FL,GA)
15) Great Egret (FL,GA)
16) Great Blue Heron (FL)
17) Wood Stork (FL,GA,NC)
18) Glossy Ibis (FL)
19) White Ibis (FL)
20) Roseate Spoonbill (FL,GA)
21) Turkey Vulture (FL,GA,SC,NC,VA)
22) Black Vulture (FL,GA,SC)
23) Osprey (FL,GA)
24) Mississippi Kite (SC)
25) Swallow-tailed Kite (FL)
26) Cooper's Hawk (VA)
27) Red-shouldered Hawk (FL,GA)
28) Red-tailed Hawk (FL)
29) Purple Gallinule (FL)
30) Common Gallinule (FL)
31) Sandhill Crane (FL)
32) Killdeer (FL)
33) Black-necked Stilt (FL)
34) Willet (FL)
35) Lesser Yellowlegs (FL)
36) Ruddy Turnstone (FL)
37) Sanderling (FL)
38) Semipalmated Sandpiper (FL)
39) Least Sandpiper (FL)
40) Pectoral Sandpiper (FL)
41) Heermann's Gull (FL)
42) Laughing Gull (FL)
43) Sandwich Tern (FL)
44) Royal Tern (FL)
45) Common Tern (FL)
46) Least Tern (FL)
47) Black Tern (FL)
48) Rock Pigeon (FL,GA,SC,NC,VA)
49) Mourning Dove (FL,GA)
50) Eurasian Collared-Dove (FL)
51) Common Ground Dove (FL)
52) Chimney Swift (FL)
53) Red-bellied Woodpecker (FL)
54) Eastern Kingbird (SC)
55) Gray Kingbird (FL)
56) Loggerhead Shrike (FL)
57) American Crow (GA)
58) Fish Crow (FL)
59) Barn Swallow (FL)
60) Carolina Wren (FL)
61) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (FL)
62) Northern Mockingbird (FL)
63) Bahama Mockingbird *** (FL)
64) European Starling (FL,GA)
65) Northern Cardinal (FL)
66) Red-winged Blackbird (FL)
67) Boat-tailed Grackle (FL)
68) House Sparrow (SC)
*** denotes life bird.
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