A Heron Beach Bum

This would've been much better with a SLR camera . . . there were several types of shore birds at my "winter" beach Thurs., which I hadn't visited in many weeks . . . besides this great blue heron, there were royal terns, willets, sandpipers (I believe), sanderlings, and more. That vegetation in the background with the pointed fan shaped fronds is called saw palmetto. It's extremely common, all over Florida. After living here almost 4 years now, I'm not entirely used to it yet!

Another sunrise over the Atlantic; the dark cloud is a thunderhead . . .

At NP Beach, I found 3 sand dollars . . . all good-sized and whole.

Railroad vine (morning glory) is named so due to the very long strands that grow running out onto the beach, vs. climbing. There is also beach morning glory, which is white, growing on the beach dunes right now. I use the term "dunes" loosely; the sand mounds here are nothing like the ones on the Pacific NW coast where I grew up.

Birding Bonanza

The past few days I've been seeing more "new" birds at the feeders, or under them…! Friday I dropped hubby at the park and went here and there in the general area of Flagler and Ormond Beaches, my first real birding outing since moving to NE Florida, away from the Atlantic shoreline. Not far away, but…

First, let's see what I've found close to home…starting with the most exciting visitor(s)! 

Imagine my shock and excitement to see an indigo bunting, a lifer!!

It puttered around the ground below the feeders for quite awhile…I saw the lone bunting two days in a row, then nothing for a few days, and then...

A trio of indigo buntings! After this sighting, a few days ago, there's been nothing since, but they are a summer resident of Florida…

At least one No. mockingbird has become brave enough to check out the feeders…this is a first…I think he really wants suet but seems awkward at the suet feeder...

I took photos of this small dove because it was clearly so much smaller than the mourning dove…turns out it's the common ground-dove, a lifer! It isn't so common in the US actually (see your bird guide)...

Here's a comparison shot of a mourning dove (top) and the ground-dove (bottom)…

I spent some time outside hoping I could catch a brave bird or two w/o the glass window between us…and got two iffy shots of what turns out to be the palm warbler…the birds and squirrels love the bottle brush flowers (boo-boo)! The palm warbler only winters in FL so I'm no doubt only getting a fleeting look at them…they summer much further north in Canada...

I was lucky to catch a brown thrasher at a feeder a few days ago! This is my 2nd sighting of them...

A Carolina wren was bold enough to climb up the screening on our back porch, perching briefly on the light under the awning...

A couple pale Amer. goldfinches visited recently…they've been pretty scarce this year...

Here's a squirrel caught in the act of ravaging my lovely bottle brush tree…they like to snap the entire blossom off; there's dozens on the ground, grrrr!

So, Friday about 8:00 am I began my birding outing…this is a view of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway from Gamble Rogers State Park…as lovely as this is….

The only bird I saw was this No. cardinal….humph!

So, I moved on south to No. Peninsula Salt Marsh...

Since I wasn't supposed to walk out towards the marsh, I had to take distant photos, starting with this one of a killdeer...

…And an immature bald eagle…

…And a great blue heron…

….A lesser yellowlegs…(or greater? both winter here)…

…Hmm, a black-bellied plover? Feel free to correct me...

After the salt marsh, I headed back north a bit…while passing the N Peninsula, on the W side of A1A, I spotted a Florida scrub jay (!!!) way up on the power line! A lifer! They are known to inhabit that area so I will have to make an effort to find one closer up...

I proceeded to a really nice boardwalk that leads over the Intracoastal marshes and oyster beds towards the open waterway…

And found this tri-colored heron (1st for 2014) fishing….

…and another one…

…As well as this snowy egret, that kept flapping its wings but didn't take off...

Walking back towards the parking lot, I scared a pileated woodpecker from a dead tree by the boardwalk…scared myself too! Had to take a long-distance shot once it landed again…

While walking on a dirt path under the hammock, I looked up through the foliage in time to see an osprey flying over, with a fish in its talons…I grumbled about missing that shot…a bit later I looked up as I walked under a dead tree... 

Directly above me, 30 feet max., I discovered the same osprey having its brunch...

Ah yea, sushi! Mmmm….

…For some reason, the fish needed to be given the stink eye…

The light was too harsh to get a great shot but it was a pretty cool experience…except for when a mature gentleman came along walking his dog and I pointed the osprey out to him…and he replied, "But isn't that a bald eagle?" Uh….no. It's not the first time someone tried to tell me that maybe an osprey was an eagle. Wishful thinking!

I then moved on to a town park with a nice foot path, partly along the west side of the Intracoastal...

I took a short walk to see what was about…a great egret was perched on a bare tree on the opposite side….

On my way back, an osprey flew over….

And joined the egret, giving it a visual lesson about hierarchy...

Despite the poor or lack of photos, it has been a pretty nice birding week!

Washington Oaks Gardens State Park

How's that for a mouthful of title?! Ru and I finally visited the WOGSP, off of A1A and touching on the shore of the Matanzas River, part of the Intracoastal Waterway. The park was originally part of a Spanish land grant in 1815 that was developed into a plantation, owned by a distant relative of George Washington. Purchased in 1936 by Owen and Louise Young, the couple built a winter home near the waterway under the live oak hammock, and developed the gardens. When Mr. Young died, Louise gave the land to the state. The park is part of the Great Florida Birding Trail....

This is the view of the Matanzas River / Intracoastal Waterway from the WA Oaks Gardens Park...

A great blue heron graciously allowed us to walk close-by due to the fact that a fisherman was nearby fishing off the sea wall.....the heron was all in shadow until the sun broke through the clouds suddenly, after I'd taken a zillion photos....

The gardens are graced by this huge live oak tree that is dripping with Spanish moss...

I'm surprised I didn't see more mushrooms besides this lone one....

A grey squirrel was keeping a very close eye on us as we strolled by "his" tree....

A pretty, curly frond....

Barely into the garden wandering, the tranquility was interrupted by sudden hammering...I followed the sound as far as I could w/o wading into a pond....a pileated woodpecker sending Morse code...

At the pond's edge is a charming gazebo...

And near the gazebo, this lovely statue....

I'm afraid I don't know the names of most of these flowers...

Bird of paradise, of course.....

I believe this is a double delight rose, a favorite of my mom's...there is a rose garden at WA Oaks...
And pink flowers of many kinds...

Hibiscus of course...

There were many other flowers, some not yet in bloom. We saw one other bird, unidentifiable, that may have been a Caroline wren...besides the usual No. cardinals.