250 & Counting… Slowly
As the summer slows to an end, so does the slowest season for birding in South Florida. The warblers and migratory birds are starting to make their way to their winter destinations and I have been taking every advantage of searching for them. Along the St John’s river sits Blue Cypress Lake, an osprey nesting oasis known for its dark waters that reflect the skies like a mirror due to the tannins in the water from the cypress. I was at 248 and knew my chances of seeing a snail kite here were high as well as my chances of being one bird closer to 250. The first stop was the Fort Drum Salt Marsh Conservation Area. My dad was in town and along for the adventure. We stepped out with our eyes fixated on a pair of limpkins absolutely annihilating a snail. Just as we walked to the edge of the water a figure flew past us. We looked up, searching the skies, then I saw it flying across the marsh. A graceful swoop, sharp talons, and a hooked beak. In that beak? A snail. Snail kite: check! We watched it land on a faraway branch as it ate its catch before flying towards us and off into the distance. Well… that was easy!
The next day was spent looking for birds and seeing plenty of exciting species including a couple of prothonotary warblers in the cypress trees. It was a beautiful day but I still ended it at 249. The next morning I woke up for sunrise and went out along the lake. I had my Merlin app up to help because it was still too dark to take photos. First to rise was a red shoulder hawk who seemed to identify as a rooster as it informed everyone that morning was here. Limpkins and ibis heard their morning alarm and seemed to come out for breakfast in unison. Then, the trees along the water seemed to come to life dancing and singing. A black and white warbler appeared, hopping from branch to branch in the cypress starting its morning song. Then came the blue-gray gnatcatchers with their little “peeew peeew” as they fluttered like large (slightly slower but still fast) hummingbirds. As the cardinals chimmed in with the red-bellied woodpeckers, I heard it, something new to me. A yellow little flash of an underbelly of a warbler and what looked like a hood… “what could that possibly be?” I thought as I frantically tried to adjust my camera settings to capture it while it was still dark. I watched it fly off and immediately checked my camera…. “too dark… fuck”. Then I remembered to glance down at my phone and look at my recording where I saw “HOODED WARBLER” under the identified birds. As I looked at the picture and saw the yellow bellied warbler with a cute little hood around its head I laughed at how much I love the simplicity of some bird names. 250.
