Each February, the wife and I take a vacation to Florida, just to get away from the winter for a few weeks, relax and enjoy some warmth and sun. We stay at my dad’s house, in Northport, which is a few miles east of Venice, on the gulf coast. He lives in a gated retirement community, on the Myakka River with several ponds and a lot of wildlife. This works out real nice for me, because I don’t even have to leave the house to get great photo opportunities. This vacation was not a bird/photography vacation exclusively, but I did allow plenty of time and days for it. I ended up with 110 species and 8 life birds, without much work. The life birds I added were Florida Scrub-Jay, Mangrove Cuckoo, Loggerhead Shrike, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Bronzed Cowbird, Nanday Parakeet, Clapper Rail and Sandwich Tern.
The first couple days (2/10-2/11) we just bummed around and relaxed. I sat out on the back patio and watched birds flying over the river. Ospreys were building a nest, and kept flying up and down the river. They would grab huge chunks of things or large branches. Cool to watch. A Carolina Wren was singing in the backyard, along the river. I also checked the several neighborhood ponds a few times and walked down to the boat dock area. Here are some photos from those days.
On Tuesday (2/12), we went down to Bunche Beach and Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. We started at Bunche Beach, just after sunrise. The road to the beach is at least a half mile long of mangroves on both sides. Prairie Warblers are abundant in there, and on that day I had 6 of them! Depending on when you go to the beach, depends on how many birds you will see, based on high/low tide. On this day, it was on the higher end, but there were still a decent amount of birds. A Reddish Egret put on quite a show for me! I also had great looks at a Little Blue Heron and Snowy Egret. Here are some photos from the morning.
After spending about an hour and a half at Bunche Beach, we drove over to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. If you have never been there, make it a priority the next time you are in Florida. It is a 2.5 mile boardwalk through pine flatwoods, wet prairie, around a marsh, and through the largest old growth Bald Cypress forest in North America. It’s loaded with birds, wildlife and plants! Here, I added a life bird, Brown-headed Nuthatch. On this particular day, the warbler activity was very high, with good numbers. I didn’t spend too much time watching them though, because I get most here in Wisconsin. However, I did see a Prairie Warbler and a Yellow-throated Warbler. This is a great place to see the beautiful Painted Bunting, but we missed them that day. I had a few here a couple years ago, though. I ended up with 35 species for the day. Here are some photos from the swamp
The next couple of days (2/13-2/14), I didn’t do much as far as birds go, just a few walks around the neighborhood. Here are some photos from those days.
On Friday 2/15, we went to the Venice Beach at sunrise. It’s a great beach for terns/gulls and shorebirds, and the best time to go is sunrise. This beach fills up fast with people and then it forces the gulls and terns out on the water. I found a life bird on this day, the Sandwich Tern. There was a group of about 200 birds on the beach. This group included Black Skimmers, Sandwich/Royal/Caspian/Forster’s Terns, Laughing and Ring-billed Gulls. There were also four common shorebirds. On the way home, we stopped at the Shamrock Park and Nature Center, looking for the Florida Scrub-Jay. We walked around the entire park but never saw them. Here are some photos from the day.
On Saturday 2/16, I went out in the morning by myself, in search of the Florida Scrub-Jay. I missed it the day before and the Shamrock Park and Nature Center is rather close to my dad’s. It is an endangered species and they live strictly in areas with scrub oaks. I think there are only 8 families in the entire park. I walked around the trails and didn’t see any, again. I came out on the northwest side, by the Venetian Waterway. I was scanning across the waterway with my binoculars and found a Loggerhead Shrike (life bird), sitting just off the path. I saw two more birds to the right and when I got them in view, I saw they were scrub-jays, also a life bird! Now, I needed to figure out how to get over there. I walked back to the car and drove around to the other side of the waterway. It was a 2.5 mile walk, one way, to where they were. When I finally got to where I saw them originally, I didn’t see the jays, but the shrike was still in sitting close to the path. I walked right over to it and took pictures. The shrike flew down to the ground a few times, but I never saw him get anything. I must have been less than 40′ from it, and it just sits there. I’m lucky to get within 300′ feet of a shrike in Wisconsin! I then turned my attention to finding the jays. I walked on the trail a little bit and I saw one hopping around on the ground. Next thing I know, he’s right at my feet, maybe four feet away! I tried to slowly walk away, so I could try to get some photos, but that didn’t work. He followed me! I squatted down and started running my hand through the leaves and sand. I found an acorn and stuck my hand out, thinking maybe it would take it. It did!!! While he was cracking the acorn, seven more came flying out. By now, I’m completely freaking out, from how awesome of an experience this was. I had no idea they were so tame! I stood up and when I did, one landed on my head! He was picking a little bit at my hat. I grabbed my phone and took a picture of myself. Once I got back to the path, I saw an eighth jay, but it was carrying a twig. I watched it fly to a small scrub oak and then found a nest that was almost done being built. Wow, what a wild morning! Here are some photos from the day.
On Sunday (2/17), We headed to the Sarasota Audubon Center and Celery Fields. I saw that several Roseate Spoonbills had been reported. I was able to find three of them, which were rather hard to come by so far. While I was there, I overheard a local birder, telling a group of people that there was a Cinnamon Teal out in the water, behind some weeds. He was showing them all through his scope. He told where he was looking and I was able to get a couple of doc photos of it, since it’s rare for Florida. He also told me that a few Bronzed Cowbirds were by the feeders at the Audubon center and that a Barn Owl has been seen. I stopped by the feeders and found the Bronzed Cowbirds which were a life bird and also rare for Florida. While watching the cowbirds, a couple of really loud, noisy birds flew in. Turned out to be a couple Nanday Parakeets, which were also a life bird. They flew into the feeding area, but didn’t stick around long. I was there midday and didn’t stay around long enough to see if the owl would come out. I ended up with 48 species and two life birds. I also got to document two rare birds. Here are some photos from the day.
The last hour of sunlight, I headed over to the Venice Audubon Society. This is a rookery and also where a lot of birds come to roost for the night. If you haven’t been there, it’s best to come about a half hour before sunrise and then, come back for sunset. Getting to the see all the birds waking up and leaving the roost area for day is really cool. Then around sunset, they come flying in from all directions and land in the middle of the pond, on the small island to roost for the night. It’s quite the spectacle. There are five huge bat houses, on the south end. Just after sunset, they begin squeaking for about five minutes or so, and all of a sudden, hundreds of bats come flying out! It is awesome to see. These are some of the photos from the evening.
On Monday (2/18), we started the morning out on Sanibel Island. We made a drive through JN “Ding” Darling National Refuge right away, but it was really foggy and not worth spending too much time there. So we drove up to Captiva and had breakfast and then walked the beach. There were quite a lot of shorebirds running around, but nothing uncommon. We then returned to the refuge and made another pass through. It was a rather quiet morning there, only 33 species. I think the tide was a little high, which negatively affected things. I did get to see a Mangrove Cuckoo (life bird), fly from across the water to the Mangroves right next me. I couldn’t relocate it though and I didn’t get a photo of it. We did some more bumming around Sanibel Island before leaving. Then it was off the Cape Coral to see the Burrowing Owls. I arrived to the library and saw one sitting on the wooden structure, right above his hole, along the entrance road. I watched him for about 30 minutes. I was able to see a yawn, wing stretch and foot stretch. They are very alert and constantly looking up when other birds fly over, especially the Fish Crows. I drove around the entire area and that was the only one I saw. I checked the baseball fields and didn’t see any sitting out there either. On the way out of town, I spotted one sitting on the ground, near his hole. I turned around and watched him for a little bit and a second popped out. Here are some photos from the day.
Tuesday the 19th, I didn’t do much as far as photography. I stopped by Florida State College, with about an hour of light left. I’m glad I did, because there are five times as many roosting birds here then are at the Venice Rookery. I could not believe the amount of birds coming in for the evening. Hundreds and hundreds just kept coming. There were also several decent sized alligators. Here are some photos from the evening.
On Wednesday (2/20), we started the morning back at Florida State College. I wanted to see the birds leave the roosting area at sunrise. It was quite impressive. Then we continued our day at the Myakka River State Park. I ended up with 38 species for the morning there, including 16 Roseate Spoonbills. However, most of them were far away, and it was not very good for photos. This is a great park if you want see an alligator. They are all over and there are some real large ones. We saw one about 12′ long, and it came all the way out of the water, stretching out. Nice to see one moving around. I went back to Florida State College in the afternoon to look for rails and soras, but I couldn’t find any. There were a couple of Purple Gallinules, that walked about the lily pads. Here are a few photos from the day.
The next couple of days (2/21-2/22) we just relaxed and hung around the house, enjoying the last few days of beautiful weather, before going home. It was pretty much 80-85 degrees and sunny, every day but one. What a wonderful time to spend two weeks, in sunny Florida! I already look forward to next year, but first, I will be anxiously awaiting another fantastic spring migration in Wisconsin!
Very Nice Jeremy!
Very nice report and photos, Jeremy. It’s been years since I’ve been in Florida; maybe next spring!
Unbelievable talent. These are pro-level
Great photos Jeremy. Any hummingbirds?? Thank you for sharing all of this with us.
Spectacular birds and photography, Jeremy. All the photos are good, but I really like the Burrowing Owl shots- so much personality showing!
Jeremy,
I have bird watch a number of times in Florida and your beautiful photos brought back some great memories. I also have enjoyed seeing your pictures from your bird watching in Wisconsin. Thanks and keep sharing your photography with the rest of us that aren’t as blessed with your skills.
Wow! Very beautiful photos. They are all wonderful & made more so by your notes. While i love them all, i especially love the: Tricolored Heron, Reddish Egret, Black Skimmer, Florida Scrub-Jay, Burrowing Owls, & the Purple Gullinulne! The Glossy Ibis photo with the insects flying around it is stunning. Again, i love them all. They are all beautiful birds! Thanks for sharing these photos of these birds.
Gorgeous photos Jeremy. Thank you for sharing.
Congratulations on such great Lifers! All of your photos are amazing! I’m especially jealous of the Reddish Egret in flight:) Thank you for sharing such detailed information-sounds like a great trip!