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

Day Six - Oscar Scherer State Park and the Celery Fields

At first when I was planning my time birding in Florida, I had a lot of birds on my target list that were unrealistic because I would have to drive too far from Tampa or they were just difficult to find, and it might be very time consuming to search for them. Since it would be my first time birding in Florida, and there were so many birds to see, I decided to target the birds that were closest and easiest and to save more difficult birds for later visits. However, from what several people had told me, Florida Scrub-jay seemed close enough and easy enough to target. So I decided that if the birding was going well, I would make the drive to Oscar Scherer State Park later in the week , but if I had not yet seen some of the other birds I was looking for, I would not. When I checked online on Wednesday night, I discovered that Oscar Scherer was about a 90 minute drive from Palm Harbor--a little further than I had expected. But with 23 lifers already under my belt, I decided to get up early and go for the bonus bird. I also wanted to stop at the Celery Fields on the way back to look for Black-bellied Whistling Duck and Glossy Ibis, which had both been reported to be there recently on ebird.

Excited, I woke up earlier than I had planned and was on the road by 5:30 a.m. I arrived at Oscar Scherer at 7:00 a.m. To my disappointment, I realized that the park did not open until 8:00 a.m. so I had to wait outside the gate. Had I known this, I would have stopped for an hour at the Celery Fields on the way. Once I got in, I was pleased that the fee was reasonably only $4.00. I drove to the parking lot beside Osprey Pond and the Nature Center to park. Along the road just past the parking lot, I saw a Common Ground-dove and, to my astonishment, a Pileated Woodpecker!







There was a couple in the parking lot from New Jersey. They were hoping to see the scrub-jays around the parking lot, but I do not think they were successful. The trail guide said that there was Florida Scrub-jay habitat on both the Blue Trail and the Green Trail. I opted to take the Blue Trail because scrub-jays had been recently reported to be there on ebird and because it was only 1.5 miles long, while the green trail was 2-3 miles long. I hoped to see the birds quickly so that I could stop by the Celery Fields before returning to Palm Harbor.

Getting Florida Scrub-jay was not extremely difficult, but I would not call it easy. It was a hot day, and the whole hike was on loose sand, which is not the easiest turf to walk on. By the time I had hiked almost half of the trail, I was beginning to think I might not see the bird. There were plenty of other birds, including Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Towhee, Red-tailed Hawk, and Blue Jay, but no scrub-jays! Then when the trail dead ended into a gate with some sort of biking trail on the other side, I saw what appeared to be a small falcon up in a tree next to the gate. I photographed the backlit bird, and immediately realized it was a Florida Scrub-jay! Since the bird was backlit, I climbed the fence to get a better view. The bird was no longer in the tree once I got to the other side of the fence. Had I flushed it? No. It had just flown down into the bushes next to the fence, and it did not seem at all shy! Then the bird flew to the ground and eventually perched on the fence a few feet away where it was joined by a second scrub-jay!





Eventually, one of the scrub-jays returned to the ground, and the other flew into the bushes on the other side of the trail. Then the other scrub-jay flew to the same bushes.



I finished the second half of the trail, which contained Brown Thrasher, Northern Mockingbird, and what I thought was Northern Bobwhite until I saw a mockingbird imitating a bobwhite in a tree by the parking lot. Next, I went into the nature center and spoke with a couple of park workers. They told me that people had been saying they could not find any scrub-jays, and they seemed glad to hear that I had seen two of them. They told me if I had a peanut or bird seed, the scrub-jays would land in my hand. Then they added that I was not supposed to feed the birds but that I could fake them out by placing a small rock in my hand. I decided not to go back to bate the scrub-jays, and although there was much more park to explore and probably many other birds including possibly Red-cockaded Woodpecker, though I did not realize this at the time, I began my drive to the Celery Fields in hopes of finding Black-bellied Whistling Duck. By the way, I missed White-eyed Vireo at Oscar Scherer, and White-eyed Vireo is my nemesis bird, but hopefully, I will see one this Fall in Illinois. Before I continue, I want to thank Wes Kolb, Eric Lundquist, and Keith McMullen for recommending Oscar Scherer for scrub-jays.

I learned about the area called the Celery Fields both from Bill Pranty's A Birder's Guide to Florida, which I borrowed from Matt Fraker and from Scott Cohrs' recent thread on IBF, called Sarasota Birding - 6/12 thru 6/16. I want to thank Leo Miller, Eric Lundquist, and Keith McMullen for recommending Bill Pranty's book. I also want to thank Matt Fraker for loaning me the book, which was also very helpful at Fort DeSoto, Honeymoon Island State Park, and Anastasia State Park. Thanks also to Scott Cohrs for the information in his post about birding around Sarasota. As I mentioned earlier I also noticed reports of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and Glossy Ibis at the Celery Fields on ebird. So thank you Matthew Cvetas for reminding me to check ebird while planning where to go!

In his book A Birder's Guide to Florida, published in 1996, Bill Pranty does not refer to the Celery Fields by this name, but he does describe this location. He says, "to reach the area where the ducks may be observed, drive the dirt roads East of I-75 between Fruitville Road and Bee Ridge Road." So I took the Fruitville Road exit. I soon realized that these roads were now paved and quite busy. You have to watch the roads carefully for traffic while you are birding. First, I drove East on Fruitville Rd. and turned right on Coburn Rd. Then I pulled off at the pond at Ackerman Park, which is on the corner of Fruitville and Coburn. This was where I noticed first two and then three Forster's Terns. The third was still in breeding plumage.









This Limpkin was also hanging around the pond, and an Anhinga was sitting on a sign.





As I continued driving, I found this Cattle Egret walking along the road.



At the corner of Coburn and Palmer Blvd., there was a pond with American Coots and Common Gallinules. I headed East on Palmer and found a parking area on the left for birders across the road from a large pond with a boardwalk. After I parked in the parking lot, I photographed this adult Red-shouldered Hawk, perched by the road.



Then I got back into my car, and drove East to Raymond Rd. I turned right on Raymond Rd. and checked the ponds on either side of the road. There were Limpkins and egrets in the West pond, but nothing around the pond East of the road but cattle.



I also observed this Loggerhead Shrike on a power line on Raymond Rd.



I got back on Palmer and drove East, where I saw another pond to the North with Tricolored Heron. I turned around and drove back to the pond with the boardwalk. I got out of the car and walked to the boardwalk. As I walked, I saw this female Boat-tailed Grackle.



Next I noticed a couple of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks fly up out of the pond and a third one fly over the pond from the West. I snapped a photo of one of them. These were not the best of views, but it was a lifer!



Once I got to the boardwalk, I saw a Least Bittern fly across the pond and land in some reeds. Another lifer! I could not really see whether I was actually photographing the bird when I took this shot from a great distance, but the Least Bittern is in the shot!



As I walked back to the car, I snapped a couple more shots of the adult Red-shouldered Hawk.



Then I noticed a couple of Wood Storks flying over. As Carrie later said, they are more beautiful in flight than on the ground.



I would have preferred to see Black-bellied Whistling Ducks in the water and I had not found a Glossy Ibis, but I decided I had seen all I was going to see. So I headed back to Palm Harbor exhausted, but excited to have added three more lifers--Florida Scrub-jay, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, and Least Bittern!

On the way back, however, I drove over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Pinellas County, so I decided to pull off at the North Rest Area and try to get one more look at the Whimbrel. I was thrilled to find a large group of Terns on the beach near the rest area. There were Sandwich Terns . . .





Royal Terns . . .



and Least Terns . . .



Here are a couple of shots of the Royal Terns and the Sandwich Terns together.





And here is a shot of all three species together. Notice how small the Least Terns appear next to the other two species.



I continued along the beach and noticed the same Willet I had recently seen and a Magnificent Frigatebird soaring above!



Finally, I saw the Whimbrel again!







This bird cracked me up when it ran with its head down as shown below.



I returned to Palm Harbor in the early afternoon and spent the remainder of the day with Carrie and her family.

Below are lists of the birds I saw at Oscar Scherer and at the Celery Fields.

Oscar Scherer State Park, Sarasota, US-FL
Jul 6, 2012 7:49 AM - 9:49 AM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 mile(s)
18 species

Mottled Duck 3
White Ibis 2
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Sandhill Crane 2
Mourning Dove 4
Common Ground-Dove 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
Downy Woodpecker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Blue Jay 3
Florida Scrub-Jay 2
Fish Crow 6
Barn Swallow 2
Northern Mockingbird 8
Brown Thrasher 1
Eastern Towhee 2
Northern Cardinal 3

Celery Fields, Sarasota, US-FL
Jul 6, 2012 9:34 AM - 10:40 AM
Protocol: Traveling
6.0 mile(s)
24 species

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 3
Mottled Duck 3
Wood Stork 2
Anhinga 3
Least Bittern 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 5
Tricolored Heron 2
Cattle Egret 6
Osprey 8
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Common Gallinule 3
American Coot 2
Limpkin 4
Laughing Gull 12
Forster's Tern 3
Mourning Dove 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Loggerhead Shrike 1
Fish Crow 12
Northern Mockingbird 4
European Starling 1
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Boat-tailed Grackle 7

Written and published on July 28, 2012