Day Seven - Honeymoon Island State Park in Pinellas County, FL

Carrie wanted to spend one more day birding with me in the Tampa area, and Carrie's uncle Rex suggested that Carrie and I visit Honeymoon Island State Park in Pinellas County and take the ferry there to Caladesi Island. Snowy and Piping Plover had been reported to be there on ebird as well as a variety of other birds I had already seen. I hoped that Carrie might see a Roseate Spoonbill there. So on Saturday, July 7, our last full day in the Tampa area, we drove about five miles or less from Rex's house to Honeymoon Island. The park opened at 8:00 a.m., and we arrived at about 9:00 a.m. The fee of $8.00 per vehicle was the highest I had paid at a park in Florida.

As I mentioned in my last post, Bill Pranty's A Birder's Guide to Florida, which I borrowed from Matt Fraker, was very informative and helpful at several locations I birded. The guide contained a section about Honeymoon Island State Park in which Pranty wrote, "The far north end of the sandspit (a walk of over a mile) has one of the greatest concentrations of shorebirds in Florida throughout most of the year." So Carrie and I drove straight to the North Beach and began walking North to this location, thinking we would be walking about a mile to the end of the sandspit and about a mile back. We did notice a small sandspit just offshore to the right of the entrance station that seemed to hold a large variety and number of birds, but we did not stop to view these birds because we thought we would fare best at the aforementioned location and that we could return to see these birds later. This ended up being a mistake because when we returned, this area was covered by water since the tide had come in, and the birds were no longer there.

Once we got to the North Beach parking area, we started walking North in search of shorebirds. The terrain was a little rocky at first. Fortunately, a man had warned us in the parking lot that our flip-flops were not suitable footwear for the hike. It was no surprise that the first shorebird we saw was a Willet. Next we saw Brown Pelicans and Sandwich Terns flying over and around us.







As we gradually began seeing more shorebirds, I became more aware of the many joggers and sand dollar/sea shell hunters walking or running next to the shore, which was where the shorebirds were feeding. This made it difficult to observe or photograph the shorebirds since the joggers and walkers were constantly flushing them. One of the sea shell hunters seemed particularly determined to flush or chase off all the birds before I could get to them.

Even when I had a brief interval between passing walkers or joggers, the shorebirds would not stand still. These two shots show some of the difficulty I experienced photographing Sanderlings and Ruddy Turnstones as they ran up and down the beach, feeding aggressively.





Eventually, however, I was able to get some decent shots of Wilson's Plovers, Ruddy Turnstones, and Sanderlings. Sanderling was a lifer for Carrie!













As we continued walking and walking and walking, it seemed we might never reach our destination, and the heat started to get to us. It was a good thing we took water on this hike. Carrie had my water bottle, which she preferred to the Camelbak I carried on my back. We were somewhat refreshed, however, by a Reddish Egret, a large group of Wilson's and Semipalmated Plovers, and a Black-bellied Plover. Although I had seen and photographed Semipalmated in Illinois, this species was another lifer for Carrie. Below are shots of the Reddish Egret, a couple of Wilson's Plovers, and the Black-bellied Plover.









By the time we could see the North end of the island, Carrie had gone as far as she could. She sat on a bench, while I walked to the end to investigate some shorebirds I could see from the bench. There were not any roosting shorebirds or any large numbers of shorebirds at the North end of the island, but we had seen a lot of shorebirds on the hike. It turned out that it was worth it to make it to the end, however, since the shorebirds there were Red Knots! Notice the band on one of the birds in the first picture!







I convinced Carrie to take a look through her binoculars as the feeding Red Knots moved closer to her. A third lifer for Carrie that day! Carrie directed my attention to and island across the water from the North end of the island we were on. I could tell with my binoculars that there were a lot of birds on that island. We wondered if it might be Caladesi Island. Not having a scope to use to identify the birds on the other island, we started walking back, and it was a long, hot walk back to the car. I did find a sand dollar and manage a shot of this Willet in flight when we thought we were getting close to the car. However, we were still not exactly "close" to the car. Willets like Wood Storks are far more beautiful in flight than on the ground.



After more walking, Carrie pointed out a bird further up the beach, which turned out to be a Gray Kingbird--lifer #4 of the day for my wife!





Finally, we made it to the car! We were both drenched in sweat and parched, having run out of water quite a way back. Carrie was beat red. Although she had applied and reapplied sunblock, it looked like she was badly sunburned, and it would not have been good for the wedding she was going to be in in South Carolina in a few days had she blistered. Not to mention, it would not have been good for Carrie had she blistered. We sat in the air conditioning for a bit and then drove to the little restaurant on the island. While Carrie sat in the car, I went inside and bought several bottles of cold water, Pepsi, and a fruit smoothie! After water, Pepsi, and shared smoothie, we drove to the nature center and enjoyed their air conditioning. Carrie's skin began to turn white again. The red had mostly been heat.

Carrie had enjoyed the hike in spite of the difficulty and wanted to explore more of the island after cooling off. We asked the volunteers inside the nature center about the inland trails on the island. I was hoping to see some Gopher Tortoises or Armadillos. They both recommended the Osprey Trail. Later as Carrie was talking with them, I overheard them mention that a pair of Great Horned Owls nested on the island, but that the owlets had disappeared from the nest this year. I asked them where the Great Horned Owls could be seen. One of the ladies said to take the Osprey Trail, stop at the third or fourth bench along the trail, and look up into the pine tree. This, she said, was their favorite spot to roost!

We also found out from these kind and helpful ladies why our "2 mile" hike had seemed so strenuous. From the parking lot to the North end of the island, it was 2.5 miles; therefore, we had walked 5 miles along the beach rather than just 2! When Pranty said "over a mile," I did not think he meant 2.5 miles! I thought he meant just over a mile. I wonder if we would have attempted the hike had Pranty been more accurate in his description. I guess I'm glad of his inaccuracy.

I photographed this Magnificent Frigatebird from the parking lot of the nature center before we left.



Carrie and I drove to the picnic area by the head of the Osprey Trail and parked. As we started down the trail, we saw several Osprey nests and Ospreys, including this young Osprey holding a chunk of fish below.





When I first saw this bird, I thought we had found a Short-tailed Hawk, but it turned out to be a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk.



We were counting benches, and when we got to the third, we looked up, and there it was in the pine . . .



Although this bird was not a lifer, this was the closest that either of us had been to a Great Horned Owl. We had not expected to see owls today! This was such an exciting moment for both of us. We walked past the bench, and looked back to the same tree, where we saw a second Great Horned Owl roosting a little higher up.



As we continued on the trail, we saw numerous Gray Kingbirds, a couple of Great Crested Flycatchers, an Eastern Towhee, and a few Common Ground-doves. Common Ground-dove was lifer #5 for the day for Carrie!



We hiked a little further until Carrie discovered that my back was covered with humongous Mosquitoes. She had reapplied bug spray so they seemed not to be bothering her. I decided to walk back to the car and spray myself down before we finished the trail. I hate bug spray. It usually ends up in my eyes and mouth and burns my skin, and the salt from my sweat was already burning my eyes. It was early afternoon now, so we were hiking in the heat of the day. I reapplied as quickly as I could and rejoined Carrie. We had already hiked a good bit of the trail before I went back to the car so it had taken some time to get back to Carrie. Fortunately, my clothing had protected me so that I was not bitten very badly. As we continued, I began to notice the mosquitoes landing on Carrie's back. I killed a few of them, but then we came to a point where the trail was covered with standing water, and I realized why the mosquitoes were so bad. The flooding from the recent tropical storm had left the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes. We decided to turn back, and the mosquitoes decided to follow us. Carrie was wearing a bathing suit, so the monsters were landing on her bare skin and going right to work. Now I was seeing bites swelling to bumps as the mosquitoes continued to target her back, neck, and arms. Apparently, they were not concerned about the bug spray. They did not care if they died as long as their bellies were filled with her blood, and she escaped with no less than 30 bites. I had a few of my own, but she looked like she had been attacked by a swarm of bees.

As we passed the third bench, I snapped a few more shots of the Great Horned Owls.





As Carrie found sanctuary from the sun and the monster insects in our car, I checked the picnic area for birds and other animals. I snapped a quick shot of this Gray Kingbird on the volleyball net.



I watched a couple of picnicking families walk under the pavilion. A moment later, I heard screams. A man shouted at his daughter, "Shutup! They're on all of us!" Suddenly they were all running back to their vehicles with their coolers. Swatting was accompanied by intermittent screams and the crying of a young boy. I was strangely amused by the scene and relieved that I was not the one getting attacked. As there were no Gopher Tortoises or armadillos, I returned to the car. What an adventure--shorebirds, owls, and giant mosquitoes!

Needless to say we were tired. Carrie did not want to take the ferry to Caladesi Island because it cost $14.00 per person, and she had had enough. Oddly, I was okay with being done and skipping the ferry ride.

I did return after dinner to the nature center to see if I could see any additional shorebirds on the sandspit just before low tide. Carrie stayed with her family. When I walked out on the porch of the nature center, I saw a scope already set up. A man and a woman were sitting on the bench on the porch. I assumed the scope belonged to the nature center and started to look through it. The man said, abruptly, "That's ours!" I realized he did not want to share so I set up the scope I had brought with me. There were a few Marbled Godwits, a Wilson's Plover, a Tricolored Heron, and there was a Caspian Tern--the only Caspian of my trip. The lady, who was the man's daughter, seemed to be a very knowledgeable birder. She was excited to show her father the Caspian Tern, and she said she was taking him to Caladesi Island the next day, hoping to see Wilson's, Semipalmated, and Snowy Plovers. Oh well, I would have to save Snowy Plover for another trip. I looked out at the island where the Magnificent Frigatebirds roosted and nested. If only I had a boat to take out. There was so much more to explore in the Tampa area, but I was satisfied with what I had seen. What an adventure it had been! Before I left the park, I snapped this shot of a beautiful juvenile Magnificent Frigatebird. Below are lists of all of the birds we saw at Honeymoon Island State Park.



Honeymoon Island SP, Pinellas, US-FL
Jul 7, 2012 9:03 AM - 2:53 PM
Protocol: Traveling
15.0 mile(s)
37 species

Magnificent Frigatebird 15
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Brown Pelican 12
Snowy Egret 8
Little Blue Heron 1
Reddish Egret 1
White Ibis 13
Osprey 38
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Black-bellied Plover 2
Wilson's Plover 15
Semipalmated Plover 12
American Oystercatcher 1
Willet 33
Ruddy Turnstone 8
Red Knot 28
Sanderling 35
Laughing Gull 60
Least Tern 12
Royal Tern 10
Sandwich Tern 12
Black Skimmer 3
Rock Pigeon 8
Mourning Dove 6
Common Ground-Dove 8
Great Horned Owl 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
Downy Woodpecker 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 3
Gray Kingbird 9
Fish Crow 15
Northern Mockingbird 7
European Starling 11
Eastern Towhee 3
Northern Cardinal 2
Boat-tailed Grackle 12
Brown-headed Cowbird 1

Honeymoon Island SP, Pinellas, US-FL
Jul 7, 2012 6:40 PM - 7:40 PM
Protocol: Stationary
14 species

Magnificent Frigatebird 12
Brown Pelican 6
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 4
Snowy Egret 10
Tricolored Heron 1
White Ibis 5
Black-bellied Plover 1
Wilson's Plover 1
Willet 10
Marbled Godwit 3
Caspian Tern 1
Sandwich Tern 2
Gray Kingbird 1

Written and published on August 4, 2012