“What do you say we go up to Merritt Island for the day?”

I love it when Jewel comes up with these spur of the moment ideas for quick field trips. It was very early on a week day morning before the sun was even up, but she had breakfast packed in the car to eat on the way, our binoculars and cameras loaded, and we were off in less than half an hour traveling light with the sun just peeking over the horizon.

The trip was relatively uneventful. We stopped at Sandsprit Park in Titusville on the west side of the bay before the bridge across to Merritt Island to look for Common Loons, many species of sea ducks, and lots of different gulls that we normally have seen there on past trips. In the park itself there are usually many White Ibis, Woodstorks, various species of egrets, and lots of Cattle Egrets. On this trip not a bird in the bay, very few gulls flying around and virtually none of the Ibis, Woodstorks and egrets we are accustomed to seeing there except for a handful of Cattle Egrets.

There were, however, three large, damaged sailboats still beached apparently from Hurricane Ian which had only recently passed through the area. Just across the bridge on the north side of the road out to Merritt Island we pulled into the parking area at Parrish Park where we often find more sea ducks and Common Loons on the water, and a large array of gulls, and sometimes Black Skimmers in the parking lot.

This year, only a handful of Laughing and Ring-billed Gulls, and a large number of Boat-tailed Grackles and Rock Doves greeted us by the rest rooms. Along the shoreline  just east of the parking lot we normally expect to find a myriad of Sanderlings, Western Sandpipers, Ruddy Turnstones, Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitchers, and sometimes Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs. This year – nada. The shoreline looked the same as always, so the only explanation we could come up with was Hurricane Ian once again.

As we entered Black Point Drive at Merritt Island we saw a number of photographers right at the entrance being entertained by a Snowy Egret. We also could see that the water levels were probably the highest we had ever seen at Merritt Island which did not portend a promising day. We did not see any of the shorter legged waders that we are accustomed to at Black Point Drive, such as Avocets, Black-necked Stilts, either Yellowlegs, and certainly no shorebirds, and actually very few ducks save for a handful of Blue-winged Teal as well as the occasional raft of American Coots. (I did subsequently see an E-bird report filed the same day where another birder saw a Ring-necked Duck which we did not see).

The day, however, was not without some very satisfying sights. Several egret species, such as Great, Little Blue, Snowy and Tri-colored put on a nice show for us, and the Bald Eagle was up on the same telephone pole where we have seen him (or her) often in the past. A very cooperative Belted Kingfisher and similarly cooperative Osprey posed in close proximity to the Drive affording excellent photographic opportunities.

But the star of the day was definitely the Reddish Egret (top). There were a number of Reddish Egrets at several locations along the Drive. One passed by close and in the same focal plane as a Great Egret (photo 2) affording a size comparison. I have always thought of the Reddish Egret as a particularly large bird, but side by side it now appears to be somewhat smaller than the Great Egret. On the other hand, the Reddish Egret, side by side with a Roseate Spoonbill (photo 3), dwarfs the Spoonbill.

The most interesting show was put on by still another Reddish Egret who was running back and forth with flapping wings (photo 4), occasionally stopping to spread its wings in their typical canopy fishing style (photo 5). I understand this is to create shade to attract fish and also perhaps to enable the Egret to see better under the water. Thus, when it does in fact attract a fish it can plunge right in (photo 6) and grab a huge meal (photo 7) or in this case, perhaps an hors d'oeuvres. While most egret species feed on fish, the Reddish Egret is the only one that routinely uses this unique fishing technique.

The lesson for the day was that even if the birding is not terrific or even minimally exciting, there are always compensations and valuable experiences to be had. While we have had good Reddish Egret days previously, particularly at Black Point Drive, this was probably our best Reddish Egret day ever. Think of it like a blind date where you first encounter the date only to discover that he or she is really quite homely, just barely a notch above ugly, only to discover the date has a fantastic personality, and is witty, charming and completely captivating. Someone you might actually end up marrying. That describes our early November day at Merritt Island.

For more on Reddish Egrets, see: www.stlucieaudubon.org/hart-beat/2018/11/23/hart-beat-reddish.