Carrie and I left for vacation on June 30. Our objectives were to spend time together, relax, visit family, attend a wedding that Carrie was asked to be a bride's maid in, eat at Chick-Fil-A and Bojangles, and see lots of birds. Our first destination was Tampa, Florida where my brother Greg and his family and Carrie's uncle Rex and his family live. We decided to stay with my brother first and then stay with Carries uncle. We spent the night in Smyrna, GA, and started off again on our way to Tampa on July 1. Although we had seen several birds while driving on June 30, we had not seen anything new. So I will begin with July 1 as I recount our birding experiences on vacation.
As I was loading the car in the parking lot of Cobb Galleria Inn, I noticed a Northern Mockingbird on top of a light pole. I never grow tired of watching mockingbirds. I had already seen several of them the previous day. In central Illinois, I usually only get a brief glimpse of them on a power line or skulking in a bush near a pasture out in the country, but in the South, there are mockingbirds on virtually every corner and in every parking lot. They are very conspicuous, singing in the open and flashing the white patches on their wings as they fly and strut about. The Song Sparrow I could see from my car was the only Song Sparrow I would see on our adventure.
As we started South down I-75, we noticed the first of many of another southern bird rarely seen in central Illinois--the Black Vulture. Unlike Turkey Vultures I have watched, these birds with black heads and white wing-tips perch on utility poles and street lights. Other birds we saw from the road included Turkey Vultures, Eastern Kingbirds, and Great Egrets.
We stopped at an exit in Dooly County to eat our sandwiches. While we were making the sandwiches, Carrie noticed this beautiful butterfly and asked me to photograph it.
As we drove through Chula County, GA, I looked out into a cow pasture and saw three Cattle Egrets standing in them midst of a group of cattle. This seemed the most appropriate setting in which to see my first Cattle Egrets. Cattle Egrets often feed on the insects attracted by cattle. I wanted to stop to get a better look, but we were driving on the interstate. Between the two of us, Carrie and I saw another 163 Cattle Egrets on our drive to Tampa, including three that Carrie saw in a tree.
Carrie was the first to see our second lifer of the trip just before we crossed the border into Florida--a Swallow-tailed Kite. I did not see the first kite she saw, but I saw several after we drove into Florida. At one point, we saw five or six of them flying together. These beautiful raptors seemed much larger than we had expected them to be, and I found it interesting that they often seemed to fly in groups and that they seemed to be as abundant in Florida as are Red-tailed Hawks in Illinois.
Once we exited onto Bearss Ave. and Dale Mabry Rd. in Tampa, we saw Laughing Gulls and a White Ibis on utility poles, and I saw an Anhinga in flight. As we drove up to my brother's house, we saw another White Ibis foraging next to the road, and an Osprey flew over the house. White Ibis was lifer number three for both of us.
It was exciting to see my family. I am happy to have moved to Illinois where I met my wonderful wife Carrie and many friends and have had the privilege to work at Salem Ranch, but living in Illinois puts a lot of distance between my family and I. I had not seen my brother, my sister-in-law, or my two nieces for a year and a half. As my brother and nieces helped me unload the car, the neighborhood family of feral (domestic) Muscovy Ducks approached us. These birds are pretty common in Tampa, and are beautiful in flight. I gave the ducks some of the bird seed that was in my trunk. My twelve-year-old niece Isabella had named this duck Matthew.
After we unpacked the car, my brother showed me the detention pond in his back yard, where he had often seen a variety of birds including Anhinga, Sandhill Crane, and Roseate Spoonbill. There were more White Ibises in the back yard and there was an Anhinga in the pond. Anhinga was lifer number four for Carrie and I.
Isabella showed me lizards and tree frogs around their screened in swimming pool.
Suddenly, I noticed a Sandhill Crane walking toward the bird feeder in the neighbor's backyard, near the detention pond. The crane ate from the bird feeder and returned to its family. Carrie had never seen a Sandhill, and I had only seen them in flight. We had both looked forward to seeing them in Florida.
Greg and Lynn had planned a late birthday party for Isabella since we were going to be in town. Greg wanted to pick up a gift for Isabella before the party so I rode with him and took my camera along. Greg pulled off every time we saw a bird along the road. Our first sighting was a group of parakeets, which flew into a palm tree. Unfortunately, I could not identify which species they were. Right after the parakeets flew into the tree, we saw a man riding a bike with a snake around his neck. Next, we saw a Cattle Egret, and then a Snowy Egret.
My brother Greg is one of the pastors at a large church in Tampa called Idlewild Baptist Church. He drove me by the ponds in the church parking lot, where we saw this Tricolored Heron--another lifer--and a Great Blue.
On our way back, we drove through the neighborhood and found several Little Blue Herons, White Ibises, and a Green Heron. When we returned to the house, there was a Great Egret and a Little Blue Heron in the pond with the Sandhills.
It was wonderful to be able to celebrate Isabella's birthday with her family after not seeing them for so long, and it was great to see some new birds in Florida. Both Carrie and I finished the day with five lifers--Cattle Egret, Swallow-tailed Kite, White Ibis, Anhinga, and Sandhill Crane for her and Cattle Egret, Swallow-tailed Kite, White Ibis, Anhinga, and Tricolored Heron for me.
Written and published on July 15, 2012
So interesting~!
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