It’s good to be home, and good to add the latest episode to the podcast. This winter’s trip away from the rainy Pacific Northwest started in Florida. About 10 minutes before my planned 3 AM alarm to dash off to SEATAC for a 6 AM flight to Orlando, my brother Bill called to let me know he had just tested positive for Covid, and that I shouldn’t visit. That made for 5-6 days of improvization necessary before Marian and I could arrive at the Big Pine Key home that a family friend of Marian was letting us use. We had tentatively planned to visit Epcot Center from Bill’s place in The Villages, and so decided to start our trip in that direction. First though I convinced Marian that trying to see the American Flamingos that had been blown north from their Rio Lagartos stronghold. Four birds had been being seen consistently at the Merritt Island NWR–Haulover Canal Area most days, and so on our first night in Florida Marian and I drove to Cocoa, FL for a night, then headed to the NWR early the next AM. On arrival at the hotspot, it was easy to spot, but hard to really see with binoculars the four flamingos, maybe a mile offshore near a small reef-island.
In addition to the flamingos we enjoyed nearby Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins, Ruddy Turnstones and plenty of waders.
We had a nice day exploring the island and refuge. We planned to stay until evening to watch a Space-X manned missle launch, but it was postponed, so heaed back for another night in Cocoa before heading for Disney World the next morning.
Epcot Center seemed much more worn-down and commercial than I had remembered from years ago, but we had a nice day walking around and easily avoiding buying Disney themed junk.
Marian in front of the Epcot entrance.[/caption]
After a night in Orlando, we decided to take a couple of days to drive south toward Miami. A nice stop was at the Loxahatchee NWR where we took a midday walk on the March Trail. A pair of Sandhill Cranes were on the dike trail, and essentially refused to move aside, so we quietly walked past them with these iPhone photos unavoidable.
From here we decided to spend a couple of days at Miami Beach, and ate well, checked out the beach, and generally played tourist.
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Miami Beach
From here we headed for the beach house on Big Pine Key where we enjoyed the weather, views and quiet time. Birding was very slow, but some of the Florida specialties obliged.
American Aligator at the Blue Hole.
White Morph of the Great Blue Heron.
Key Deer are a very small subspecies of White-tailed Deer. They are protected, very tame and abundant on Big Pine Key.
After a nice vacation at Big Pine Key, we drove back to Miami where Marian headed on to visit family in Georgia, and I waited to pick up Bruce LaBar at the airport that evening. During the wait I chased and ticked my second ABA lifer of the trip, a Yellow-headed Caracara that had been visiting the Pelican Pavillion at Oleta River State Park at the end of the afternoon most days.
Yellow-headed Caracara[/caption]
After picking up Bruce, the next morning we met Mariah Hrynovich and her husband Luis for a day to try for as many of the Miami area target lifers as possible for Bruce. Too many photos to include most, but the Biltmore Hotel grounds were very cool with lots of parakeets and parrots, along with the historic hotel where many famous guests and movies have been filmed.
Our trip was with Joshua Covill of Hillstar Nature Tours, and was an overall fabulous trip. There were too many photos to put many here. Check out my Flickr album for lots of pics, and the eBird trip report for details.
After the Colombia trip I headed on for a nice visit with Jean and Alan in Costa Rica. This was in large part a family trip. Here are a few photos.
This King Vulture flew right over Jean and Alan’s home and landed in a tree quite close.
Check out Jean’s Regenerate Your Reality website.
Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for more episodes with guests.
Good Birding.