St. Lucie Audubon Society Merritt Island Trip,
January 5, 2008
Filed by Hart Rufe
Thirteen participants braved intermittent rain showers, and were rewarded with outstanding observations of Roseate Spoonbills; a very close Bonaparte’s Gull; numerous White Pelicans; a side-by-side comparison of Greater Black-backed, Lesser Black-backed, Herring, and Ring-billed Gulls and Caspian Terns; excellent views of all the expected herons and egrets; and ended with almost in the hand Scrub Jays. The Scrub Jays would come within about two feet of the peanuts offered, but never made the leap into the participants’ hands.
At one point there were six Eastern Towhees, Catbird, Brown Thrasher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, White-eyed Vireo, Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, House Wren, and Mockingbird, all vying for attention at the same time in response to the pishing tape used to attract them. The group finished with a total of 89 species for the day. Definitely a successful trip! The complete list of birds seen follows:
- Common Loon
- Horned Grebe
- Pied-billed Grebe
- American White Pelican
- Brown Pelican
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Anhinga
- Great Blue Heron
- Green-backed Heron
- Little Blue Heron
- Cattle Egret
- Reddish Egret
- Great Egret
- Snowy Egret
- Tri-colored Heron
- Wood Stork
- Glossy Ibis
- White Ibis
- Roseate Spoonbill
- Mottled Duck
- Northern Pintail
- Green-winged Teal
- Blue-winged Teal
- American Wigeon
- Northern Shoveler
- Lesser Scaup
- Bufflehead (female)
- Hooded Merganser
- Red-breasted merganser
- Turkey Vulture
- Black Vulture
- Cooper’s hawk
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Red-shouldered Hawk
- Bald Eagle
- Osprey
- American Kestrel
- Common Moorhen
- American Coot
- Semi-palmated Plover
- Killdeer
- Black-bellied Plover
- Ruddy Turnstone
- Willet
- Greater Yellowlegs
- Lesser Yellowlegs
- Red Knot
- Least Sandpiper
- Dunlin
- Short-billed Dowitcher
- Western Sandpiper
- Sanderling
- American Avocet
- Black-necked Stilt
- Lesser Black-backed Gull
- Great Black-backed Gull
- Herring Gull
- Ring-billed Gull
- Laughing Gull
- Bonaparte’s Gull
- Forster’s Tern
- Royal Tern
- Caspian Tern
- Black Skimmer
- Rock Dove
- Mourning Dove
- Belted Kingfisher
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Eastern Phoebe
- Tree Swallow
- Scrub Jay
- Fish Crow
- House Wren
- Northern Mockingbird
- Gray Catbird
- Brown Thrasher
- American Robin
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet
- White-eyed Vireo
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Palm Warbler
- Common Yellowthroat
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Boat-tailed Grackle
- Common Grackle
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- Northern Cardinal
- Eastern Towhee
- Sandhill Crane (seen en route to MINWR)