Carrie and I enjoyed the early morning with Uncle Rex, Aunt Stephani, Matt and Nick. Then we headed Northeast for St. Augustine where we would stay the night. Carrie wanted to see the oldest city in America before leaving Florida. I would like to say the drive was entirely pleasant, but we had an unpleasant experience at a gas station we stopped at.
When we were getting close to St. Augustine, we saw the restaurant shown above. I thought the sign was amusing though a little foreboding. St. Augustine itself seemed less than welcoming. It was very difficult to find the actual Visitor's Information Center though it was right in front of us and parking was very expensive. The city was just too touristy for me. In A Birder's Guide to Florida, Bill Pranty reported parakeets near the visitor's center, fort, and Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum. The city supposedly contained Monk, Black-hooded (Nanday), Rose-ringed, and Mitred Parakeets. Of course, his book was written in 1996, and it appeared that the parakeets had left the area. Since we could not find parakeets or reasonably priced parking close to Castillo de San Marcos, which is the oldest structure in the city, we decided to go to the hotel.
We had reservations at the Regency Inn & Suites and were happy with the room, but Carrie lost her keys when we were unloading the car. It was a hot day, and I spent a lot of time looking for her keys. This left me exhausted, frustrated, and worried that someone would find the keys and try to get into or steal our car that night. At this point, my experience at St. Augustine and in St. John's County for that matter had been almost entirely unpleasant. I eventually gave the key search a rest and enjoyed some R&R in the room with Carrie. After a couple of hours, we decided to eat at Applebee's. Then just a block or two from the hotel on the way to the restaurant, I saw this Nanday Parakeet, and Carrie pulled off so that I could take some pictures. Things were looking up!
Applebee's was next to a pond, so as we drove up, we saw this Anhinga chase away the Great Egret on the left, and there was a flock of Eurasian Collared-doves in the parking lot. We watched the doves a little during our delicious meal.
After the meal we decided to check out Anastasia State Park. Although the fee was $8.00 per vehicle, the park was worth every penny. Not far from the park entrance was a gravel boat launch pull off on the left beside a marsh that was between the beach and the ocean. As soon as we got out of the car we saw five Roseate Spoonbills. Carrie finally had her lifer!
As we looked around and noticed how many wading birds were around us, Carrie said it was like we were in National Geographic. There were Wood Storks, Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Little Blue Herons, Tricolored Herons, Green Herons, and a Reddish Egret. As I got the scope out and began scanning the lake, a Wood Stork and a Snowy Egret, flew in close to check us out. They both landed just a few feet from us.
With the scope, Carrie and I were able to see our lifer Clapper Rail and two or three more Clapper Rails. I watched them fly back and forth across the marsh and walk in and out of the grass. An attempt to get closer to them for better pictures only resulted in muddy shoes. At first I was not sure whether these birds were King or Clapper Rails, but eventually we were able to identify them by their call according to what Sibley's said about their calls. Also, according to the park bird list, only Clapper Rails could be found here during the Summer.
It was such a pleasure to watch the spoonbills moving their bills back and forth in the water as the fed.
Just before we left to explore more of the park, the Wood Stork beside us posed nicely!
Next we decided to take a walk along the beach. This was the first time on our vacation that we had seen the Atlantic Ocean! Carrie wrote this in the sand and asked me to take a picture of it.
I actually photographed a few birds during our walk, but there was nothing new. The fish this Laughing Gull caught seemed too big to swallow, and a Ruddy Turnstone was feeding right by the shore.
It was during our romantic walk that I took the best picture of the trip.
After the beach, we decided to return to the marsh, where Carrie was impressed by the size of the Wood Stork prints. We spent the remainder of our time at the park here enjoying watching the wading birds flying in and feeding.
Anastasia State Recreation Area, St. Johns, US-FL
Jul 8, 2012 6:31 PM - 8:01 PM
Protocol: Area
8.0 ac
21 species
Wood Stork 5
Brown Pelican 4
Great Blue Heron 8
Great Egret 8
Snowy Egret 7
Little Blue Heron 6
Tricolored Heron 6
Reddish Egret 1
Green Heron 4
Roseate Spoonbill 9
Clapper Rail 3
Willet 2
Ruddy Turnstone 2
Laughing Gull 8
Least Tern 4
Sandwich Tern 4
Mourning Dove 4
Common Nighthawk 2
Chimney Swift 5
Barn Swallow 1
Boat-tailed Grackle 6
Written and published on August 11, 2012
I guess you found her keys??
ReplyDeleteYes, but not for a couple of days. They had fallen inside a basket that Carrie had brought into the motel.
ReplyDeletelove your pics!
ReplyDeleteThanks Anne!
ReplyDelete