A Gray Gull, a South American bird, was being seen in the Florida panhandle during September, but I was unable to try for it at that time. It was still being seen in October and I had the opportunity to go for it, so I called Jason Horn and then he called Rick Wiltraut about making the trip. They were both "in", so the three of us decided to leave on Tuesday afternoon.
Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Around 4:00 PM on the 24th, we rented a car at the airport and started the 18-hour drive to the Dune Allen Regional Beach Access in Florida.
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
We arrived there before 11:00 AM and walked over to the beach across the road from Stinky's Fish Camp, which is where the majority of the sightings had come from. The bird wasn't there, so we scoped up and down the beach. Looking way down the beach to the east, there was what looked like an all-dark gull there, but there were signs on the beach in that direction about it being private, so we started walking down the road instead. When we finally reached the next beach access area and walked back in to the beach, there was no sign of the bird. We looked back west and, again, saw what looked like the bird at the original spot we had just left. So, we walked all the way back to where we had parked and, this time, the
Gray Gull was there! It got chased by a kid on the beach but, thankfully, it circled around and landed nearby. I got some photos of it in flight, but the bird was backlit by a strong sun, so the coloration is a little washed out.
It was walking around near two guys sitting on beach chairs, apparently looking for a handout. We walked over there and easily got very close to it. In fact, I had to back up almost into the surf in order to keep the bird in the camera frame. These are some of the better photos I got of it.
It would occasionally take off and fly around to chase the nearby Laughing Gulls that were also in the area.
We spent over an hour-and-a-half enjoying the bird. Several Sanderlings and a few Willets were also present.
Since the bird was quickly found and so cooperative, we decided to head east towards Tallahassee so we could visit nearby St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in the morning before heading back home. We reached the "Country Inn & Suites - Midway" just before sunset. A wooded, swampy area next to the motel produced an Eastern Phoebe, a Carolina Wren, 2 Gray Catbirds, a Hermit Thrush, a Common Yellowthroat, a Magnolia Warbler, a Northern Cardinal, and 'fly-by's of Double-crested Cormorant, Great Egret, and White Ibis.
Thursday, October 26, 2023
We had a pretty good continental breakfast at the hotel and then drove down to St. Marks. We got there at first light. At the twin bridges along Lighthouse Road, we heard a Great Horned Owl and two Barred Owls, briefly seeing one of the Barreds, and found Red-shouldered Hawk, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Eastern Phoebe, Carolina Chickadee, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and warblers that included Pine, Yellow-rumped, Black-and-white, Tennessee, and Northern Parula.
Another stop farther along Lighthouse Road produced Brown-headed Nuthatch, Marsh Wren, Swamp Sparrow, Eastern Towhee, Common Yellowthroat, and a Bald Eagle on its nest.
American Coots, Boat-tailed Grackles, Little Blue Heron, and a Belted Kingfisher were seen in the vicinity of the Stony Bayou Pool area.
Pied-billed Grebes and Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal were in a nearby pond. Jason spotted a Least Bittern tucked into the reeds a little farther down from there.
Birds spotted at the Headquarters Pond included Common Gallinules, a Purple Gallinule, a couple Anhingas, 34 American White Pelicans, 7 Black-crowned Night-Herons, a few Tricolored Herons, Snowy and Great Egrets, 9 Roseate Spoonbills, House Wren, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and Indigo Bunting.
The adjacent Mounds Trail produced Barred Owl, White-eyed Vireo, Carolina Chickadee, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Brown Thrasher, and Scarlet Tanager.
The Tower Pond held Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Marbled Godwit, Short-billed Dowitcher, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Dunlin, Least and Western Sandpiper, Forster's Tern, Reddish Egret, Osprey, and American Kestrel.
Black-bellied Plover, Ruddy Turnstone, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, and White Ibis were found in the area around the lighthouse.
We left the refuge around 1:30 PM and started the long drive home.
Friday, October 27, 2023
We took a nap at a rest area in West Virginia and stopped twice to do some other birding along the way. We finally got home around 1:00 PM. The 2460-mile trip produced 107 species. More photos can be found in
my Florida Photo Album.
Florida Trip ~ October 24-27, 2023
1) Canada Goose (AL)(GA)
2) Green-winged Teal (FL)
3) Blue-winged Teal (FL)
4) Pied-billed Grebe (FL)
5) American White Pelican (FL)
6) Brown Pelican (FL)
7) Anhinga (FL)
8) Double-crested Cormorant (FL)
9) Least Bittern (FL)
10) Black-crowned Night-Heron (FL)
11) Tricolored Heron (FL)
12) Little Blue Heron (FL)
13) Reddish Egret (FL)
14) Cattle Egret (FL)
15) Snowy Egret (FL)
16) Great Egret (FL)(AL)(GA)
17) Great Blue Heron (FL)(AL)
18) Wood Stork (GA)
19) White Ibis (FL)
20) Roseate Spoonbill (FL)
21) Turkey Vulture (FL)(AL)(GA)
22) Black Vulture (FL)(AL)(GA)
23) Osprey (FL)
24) Bald Eagle (FL)
25) Sharp-shinned Hawk (GA)
26) Cooper's Hawk (FL)
27) Red-shouldered Hawk (FL)(AL)(GA)
28) Red-tailed Hawk (FL)(GA)
29) American Kestrel (FL)(AL)(GA)
30) Purple Gallinule (FL)
31) Common Gallinule (FL)
32) American Coot (FL)
33) Black-bellied Plover (FL)
34) Semipalmated Plover (FL)
35) Killdeer (AL)(GA)
36) American Avocet (FL)
37) Black-necked Stilt (FL)
38) Willet (FL)
39) Lesser Yellowlegs (FL)
40) Greater Yellowlegs (FL)
41) Marbled Godwit (FL)
42) Ruddy Turnstone (FL)
43) Sanderling (FL)
44) Dunlin (FL)
45) Western Sandpiper (FL)
46) Least Sandpiper (FL)
47) Short-billed Dowitcher (FL)
48)
Gray Gull (FL) ***
49) Laughing Gull (FL)
50) Ring-billed Gull (FL)
51) Forster's Tern (FL)
52) Rock Pigeon (GA)
53) Mourning Dove (FL)(AL)(GA)
54) Eurasian Collared-Dove (FL)(GA)
55) Great Horned Owl (FL)
56) Barred Owl (FL)
57) Belted Kingfisher (FL)
58) Red-bellied Woodpecker (FL)
59) Northern Flicker (FL)(AL)
60) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (FL)
61) Downy Woodpecker (FL)
62) Pileated Woodpecker (FL)(AL)(GA)
63) Eastern Wood-Pewee (FL)
64) Eastern Phoebe (FL)
65) Loggerhead Shrike (FL)(AL)
66) White-eyed Vireo (FL)
67) Blue Jay (FL)(AL)(GA)
68) American Crow (FL)(GA)
69) Fish Crow (FL)
70) Tree Swallow (FL)
71) Barn Swallow (FL)
72) Carolina Chickadee (FL)
73) Brown-headed Nuthatch (FL)
74) House Wren (FL)
75) Carolina Wren (FL)
76) Marsh Wren (FL)
77) Ruby-crowned Kinglet (FL)
78) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (FL)
79) Eastern Bluebird (AL)(GA)
80) Hermit Thrush (FL)
81) American Robin (FL)(AL)
82) Gray Catbird (FL)
83) Northern Mockingbird (FL)(AL)(GA)
84) Brown Thrasher (FL)
85) European Starling (FL)(AL)(GA)
86) Cedar Waxwing (FL)
87) Tennessee Warbler (FL)
88) Northern Parula (FL)
89) Magnolia Warbler (FL)
90) Yellow-rumped Warbler (FL)
91) Black-and-white Warbler (FL)
92) Pine Warbler (FL)
93) Palm Warbler (FL)
94) Yellow Warbler (FL)
95) Common Yellowthroat (FL)
96) American Redstart (FL)
97) Scarlet Tanager (FL)
98) Eastern Towhee (FL)
99) Song Sparrow (FL)
100) Swamp Sparrow (FL)
101) Northern Cardinal (FL)
102) Indigo Bunting (FL)
103) Red-winged Blackbird (FL)(AL)
104) Common Grackle (FL)
105) Boat-tailed Grackle (FL)
106) Brown-headed Cowbird (GA)
107) House Sparrow (AL)
*** denotes life bird
