Today began with an audible (Jonathan's words), one I was not to pleased with initially but was incredibly pleased with in hindsight. I initially drove up to the Progress Park entrance to San Felasco State Park this morning only to find out when I pulled up there was an off-road bike race scheduled. I thought it would not be a productive day with all the racket. So I decided to still try my fortunes out at San Felasco, but at the
Creek Sink trail a few miles to the south.
I was initially on my own, but after hearing so many hooded warblers singing and calling, along with louisiana waterthrush chipping away, I was lingering longer than I usually do. Fortunately it allowed me to run into Jonathan and Ellen and we decided 6 eyes were better than 2 or 4, so we hoofed it through 2.3 miles of San Felasco's forested goodness in search of whatever migrants we could scrape up.
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| Underside markings of an ovenbird |
I jokingly told Jonathan I was on a mission (and since we were all together it had turned into a mission for all of us) to find
cerulean,
golden-winged, and
kentucky warblers and this was serious business. Obviously I was joking, but with so much activity so early in the morning, I figured maybe we'd at least get a glimpse of a kentucky or hear one chipping. Well to keep it brief, I ended up being luckier than I thought possible today. Shortly after joining up we ran into a couple of worm-eating warblers, one of which was singing! It was the first time I've ever heard one sing in Florida, and it was a very beautiful song to hear. After this unexpected good fortune, we ran into some dense tangle and were able to see a female kentucky warbler! One down, two target species to go. Well, it took awhile to find the second of the three, but we did do it. Towards the end of our hike, we came into a large mixed flock containing northern parula, hooded warbler, american redstart, ovenbird, black and white warbler, prothonotary warbler, chestnut-sided warbler, and best of all, a female golden-winged warbler! Just a little further, we came across another mixed flock with hooded warbler, northern parula, ovenbird, worm-eating warbler, and a male golden-winged warbler!!! 2 out of 3 is never bad, especially when jokingly establishing target bird species. In fact, 2 out of 3 is outright stupendous.
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| Female golden-winged warbler!!! |
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| Male hooded warbler |
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| Prothonotary wabler taking flight - check out the underwing patterns |
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| Same juvenile prothonotary warbler - look at the bill coloration to see it's a youngster |
All told, it was an incredibly gorgeous morning weather-wise. The deep, thick forests of San Felasco hold more than enough merit on their own, but when you throw in the variety and richness of bird-life lying in wait there, it just adds another dimension to the majesty of the park. I could traipse through there all day long, just inspecting various fungus and be extremely elated. It truly is a magnificent location.
Well everyone, we are now starting into the thick of migration, so check
Badbirdz Reloaded for weather forecasts and go and check out your favorite local haunts to see what is to be found out there. You'll never know if you don't just put one foot in front of the other and keep doing so. The migrants are waiting, go find them!
