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

Astoria

A lovely day at Astoria yesterday.

• Red-Tailed Hawks
• American Robins
• American Crows
• Great Egrets
• Red-Winged Blackbirds
• American Wigeons
• European Starlings
• Steller's Jays
• Mourning Dove
• Brewer's Blackbird
• American Coots
• Western Scrub-Jay
• Gadwalls

We expected South Jetty to be a pretty big attraction, as it usually is, but let me tell you... I don't think anyone could ever see less in such a prime location.  I don't know where the birds were yesterday morning, but they weren't at the jetty.

• American Crows
• Western Gulls - and I'm not even talking, "oh it was just a bunch of gulls"... it was more like, "oh my goodness, there's a gull!!!"
• Song Sparrows
• Great Blue Heron

South Jetty
cloudy and foggy with a slice of sunshine

Not only were the pickings slim, we really worked to get to the beach.  The tide was high, with a stream blocking the beach, so we walked into the field, through tall grass and soggy ground to jump over the stream once it was narrow enough. Then we struggled our way through taller grass, sand, logs and bushes, over the sand dune to see.... absolutely nothing on the beach, in the water or in the sky.  Oh wait, there were more crows in the far distance!  It was kind of weird.

Next we tried the main beach access and the wooded trails near by.

• Sanderlings* 
• Bald Eagles
• Pacific Wren* - a division of Winter Wren
• Black-Capped Chickadee
• Chestnut-Backed Chickadees
• American Robins
• Varied Thrushes
• Northern Flickers
• Downy Woodpecker
• Common Ravens

*Lifers!

The Sanderlings suddenly took off out of sight

the culprit
(take a look at those beefy legs!)

then he just leaves

a juvenile Bald Eagle follows

Northern Flicker  (25% black and white photo)

deer scratchings

At one point the walking trail goes through a tunnel, beneath a road, and right next to that was a dead Western Grebe.  We were speculating how it died. I noticed there was a trail of feathers leading from the road, down the embankment to where it lied and I thought it could have flown in front of a car and bounced off the windshield (something my cousin and I unfortunately witnessed with a crow and a car ahead of us one trip).  My cousin pointed out that grebes can't walk and would have no reason to be near woods (especially flying low to the ground), making it all the more mysterious.  

Next we stopped at a sewage plant of sorts, which surprisingly, was recommended in a birding pamphlet.  It also borders the Columbia River.

• Greater Scaup* - we stood there with our books forever, realizing Lesser Scaup and Greater Scaup are soooo similar that it's ridiculous. 
• Double-Crested Cormorant
• Common Loon
• Buffleheads
• Western Grebes
• Anna's Hummingbird
• Ruddy Ducks

Greater Scaup

You never know what you're going to come across.  A part of me REALLY wanted to take a peak, but I think there may have been someone inside.

And there was waterfowl in there...
:(

Lastly we checked out the Eagle Sanctuary off Highway 30 that several people have recommended to me.  Unfortunately, by the time we got there it was almost dark, so there wasn't a whole lot out there, but I have a feeling this place has a lot of potential early in the day.

• Mallards
• Green-Winged Teals
• Great Blue Heron
• Tundra Swans

Sapsucker holes

Broughton Beach

Another trip back to Broughton Beach so my cousin could see the Horned Larks.  I was a little worried when we didn't see them right away, but they made a last minute appearance that surprised us both.

• American Crows
• Bald Eagle 
• Horned Grebes
• Western Grebe
• Lesser Scaup
• Common Mergansers - male
• Common Loons
• Gulls
• Double-Crested Cormorant
• Horned Larks
• Great Blue Herons
• European Starlings

Bald Eagle
I'm just trying to win American of the year. Ha!

Broughton Beach, once again, offered interesting beach finds.

Mt. Hood

Great Blue Heron

American Crows

Siletz Spit/ Canon Beach

An attempt to catch the Snowy Owl at Siletz Spit.  As we were closing in on the location that it has been reportedly spotted about two weeks before and two weeks before that, a local guy came out of his house, seeing us all geared up to ask if we were birding.  He informed us the Snowy Owl left last week.  We were a bit saddened by that, but the trip was well worth it anyway.  


Since it was a long trip, I'm splitting up what we saw as we traveled.  


Highway 26 Westbound:

• Red-Tailed Hawk
• American Crows
• Mourning Dove
• American Kestrel 
• Northern Flicker
• Western Scrub-Jay
• Mallards
• Buffleheads
• Double-Crested Cormorant
• European Starlings

Canon Beach:

My goodness that place was dead, as far as birds are concerned.  Oh.. actually that would be quite literally too.  We saw less than 10 Western Gulls, no birds on Haystack Rock, that is except 2 dead Cormorants :(.  Although, on the other side of the rock were several male and female Black Scoters and near the parking lot, a few House Sparrows.

Black Scoters - males and female

Western Gull.... I'm pretty sure.  Gulls are a bit difficult to I.D. sometimes. 

Along Highway 101 Southbound:

• Bufflehead
• Pied-Billed Grebe
• Horned Grebe
• Red-Winged Black Bird
• Anna's Hummingbird
• Less Scaups - males
• Ring-Necked Ducks
• Common Loon*
• Black-Capped Chickadee
• "Dusky" Canada Geese*
• Common Raven
• Great Egrets
• Great Blue Heron
• American Robin
• Brewer's Blackbirds

Siletz Spit:

• American Crows
• Kingfisher - male
• Golden-Crowned Sparrows
• Great Blue Heron
• Great Egret
• Buffleheads
• Spotted Towhees
• Northern Pintails
• Anna's Hummingbird
• Song Sparrow
• American Robins
• Golden-Crowned Kinglet
• Yellow-Rumped Warblers
• Bewick's Wren
• Mallards
• Chest-Nut Backed Chickadee
• Northern Flicker
• Gadwalls
• American Coots
• Varied Thrush - male
• Double-Crested Cormorant
• Surf Scoters
• Red-Breasted Mergansers
• Common Loon
• European Starlings
• Common Goldeneyes - males and females
• Barrow's Goldeneyes* - males and females
• Semi-Palmated Plovers

+Rabbits

+Harbor Seal

*Lifers!!

Surf Scoter - juvenile male

Red-Breasted Merganser - male

Semipalmated Plovers

Common Loon