Southern Florida - Part Two - Dec. 16, 2012

Once again, I'm a little behind, but I'm catching up... do enjoy :D

Cont...
Kayaking at John D. MacArthur Beach Park in North Palm Beach, FL. with my brother and uncle.

Great city views while kayaking!  Brown Pelican.

A motley Red-Breasted Merganser, female.

A single Sanderling.  On the way back to the shore, to return the kayaks, we came across this sandbar that was virtually underwater on the way out.  Now, it was teaming with bird activity! (pictured in the next several pics.)

A Royal Tern... Awesome! (And a Lifer!)

A friendly confrontation among the Laughing Gulls*.
*Lifer! Of course... :)

A juvenile Ring-Billed Gull in the mix.

Smaller than the gulls, and much smaller than the Royal Tern, Forster's Tern.

In the distance, we see the city getting drenched.  Soon after, it was us. 

Oh my gooooodness!  The bird we all hoped to see, just as we reached the end of kayaking.. The Roseate Spoonbill!!!  LIFER!!!

A raised boardwalk across the kayaking water, to see the ocean.  A storm is a-brewin'

Another single Sanderling.

Also seen on the kayak trip:

• Belted Kingfishers
• Great Egrets
• Bonaparte's Gulls
• Spotted Sandpiper
• Common Yellowthroat
• Red-Shouldered Hawk
• Great Blue Heron
• Red-Tailed Hawk

 And, pictured in post one : Southern Florida - Part One - Dec. 14-16, 2012

• White Ibis + Juvenile
• Osprey
• Common Loon
• Little Blue Herons + Juv.s
• Double-Crested Cormorants
• Turkey Vultures

Southern Florida - Part One - Dec. 14 - 16, 2012

The intent of this trip was not to go birding, but one cannot help one self when the birds find you.  Plus, it helps that last time my uncle was in town, I kinda helped him get into birding.  Yay!  It's always nice to convert people. ;)
The real intent of the trip was to bear witness to my uncle's graduation.  Congratulations Uncle P., for earning your Master's Degree!  Such a tremendous accomplishment! 



Uncle's Backyard:

Turkey Vultures - they're there year round and in GREAT numbers, like I've never seen before.

South Beach:

Common Grackles - a lifter! :)

Monk Parakeet - Not an introduced species,  which I would have assumed.  Apparently they were blown over in a giant storm and stayed and thrived. 

Uncle's Backyard:

Northern Mockingbird - a lifer! :)

Another view of the Northern Mockingbird

White-Winged Dove - another lifer!

North Palm Beach, on the way to John D. MacArthur Beach Park to go kayaking - with my brother and uncle. 

My first White Ibis.  On the side of a busy road... I would have never guessed! (Lifer!)

Next sighting of White Ibis was in the parking lot of the wildlife area.  Two adults, one juvenile.

Ahhhhh!  This was crazy! And a couple walked by and said, "Oh, a small one."  I stared at them for a moment, checking for sarcasm.  Finding none, and probably with a look of shocked horror on my face, I said, "We're from the NW..."  Later we saw several, larger ones, and it was confirmed; no, they weren't being sarcastic.  haha! :)

This next section is the actual kayaking portion of the trip.  So much fun!!! (All photos taken from the front of the kayak, while my uncle was kind enough to steer and paddle.  Thank you Uncle P.! :D)

Osprey - year round resident of Florida.

Osprey

Common Loon.  I was a little thrown off by this.  I've only seen them on the west coast in the winter, and here, in S. Florida, in Dec., it was so hot.  When I saw it, I couldn't piece it together at first.  Florida is full of surprises, that is for certain!

Little Blue Heron.  Like most birds in Florida, a lifer! :)

We were SO thrown off by this one!  Looks like an Egret, but doesn't quite fit the criteria for any one Egret.  Later, I researched and found it's a young Little Blue Heron.

Brown Pelican perched high in a large, bushy tree.

Double-Crested Cormorant perched close to the Brown Pelican.  It was interesting to see birds I've seen many times before in Oregon, in a whole different environment. Almost like a new bird altogether.   

Turkey Vulture.  At this point we had parked our kayaks on a shore and found a short walking trail.  This guy was so close! =)
(We also saw Black Vultures! -further away, not pictured :(, but Lifer!:))

Continued in next post: 

Southern Florida - Part Two - Dec. 16, 2012

Lincoln City/ Depoe Bay/ Newport

The most epic trip to date. 

Places visited
-Josephine Young Memorial Park in Lincoln City 
-Fogarty Creek State Park North of Depoe Bay
-Boiler Bay Viewpoint in Depoe Bay 
-Yaquina Head Bay in Newport

• Great Blue Heron
• Song Sparrows
• Common Raven
• Western Gulls
• American Crows
• Double-Crested Cormorants
• House Sparrows
• Mourning Doves
• Great Egrets
• Red-Winged Blackbird
• Golden-Crown Kinglets*
• Surf Scoters - male and female 
• Black Oystercatchers
• Brown Pelicans
• Pelagic Cormorants
• Brandt's Cormorants
• Savannah Sparrow*
• Belted Kingfisher
• American Wigeons*
• Western Grebe*
• Common Murre
• Western Sandpipers*
• Black Scoter
• European Starlings
• Semipalmated Plovers*

+Grey Whales!


*Lifers!

Great Blue Heron and Great Egret
(Notice the blue heron has a fish.  Watch the progression as he eats it!)

Sudden large bulge in neck. Ha!

Black-Bellied Plover (Winter plumage)

Semipalmated Plover

Black Oystercatchers

Brown Pelican

Surf Scoter - male

Lincoln City

• Turkey Vulture 
• Pelagic Cormorant
• Brandt's Cormorant
• Common Murre
• Western Gulls
• Brown Pelicans
• Great Egret

Fort Stevens, South Jetty, Astoria area

A great trip!

• Caspian Terns*
• Brown Pelicans
• Western Gulls
• Brants*
• Canada Geese
• Barn Swallows
• Cliff Swallows*
• Tree Swallows
• White-Crowned Sparrow
• Pelagic Cormorants*
• Gadwalls* - male and female
• Song Sparrows
• Brown-Headed Cowbird*
• Great Blue Heron
• American Robin
• Turkey Vultures
• Cedar Waxwing*
• Mourning Doves
• Common Raven
• Western Scrub-Jay
• Northern Flicker
• Rufus Hummingbird
• Red-Winged Blackbird
• Bald Eagle
• Osprey
• Nashville Warbler*
• Swainson's Thrush*
• Red-Tailed Hawk

*Lifer

South Jetty, Brown Pelican

Pacific Tree Frog

Cannon Beach

An awesome trip to the beach just to do some birding.  The first of what would turn into several beach birding trips.

• Brown Pelicans*
• Pelagic Cormorants*
• Red-Breasted Merganser* - female
• Harlequin Ducks* - male and female
• Tufted Puffins* (high atop Haystack Rock, only visible through the scope, saw 3)
• Mallards
• Common Murre* (by the hundreds)
• Western Gulls
• Common Tern*
• Barn Swallows
• Killdeer*
• Northern Flicker
• American Goldfinch
• House Sparrows - male and female
• Black Oystercatchers*
• Common Raven* (Surprisingly impressive!)
• American Crows

* Lifer

Haystack Rock