Merritt Island NWR, 12/3/2011

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
American Avocet
This morning I went with a friend to Merritt Island [gallery].  I'd been hearing a lot of good things about pump house road, so we went there first.  It was a great morning.  We saw many Roseate Spoonbills, White Ibises, Osprey, and a Northern Flicker.  We walked back another path and saw scores of Avocets, and about four of them were very willing to come close and get their picture taken.  We saw many Dunlin and Short-Billed Dowitchers (with a few Long-Billed with them).  We also saw flyovers of American Widgeon, Blue-Winged Teal, Ring-Necked Duck, Lesser Scaup and two Bald Eagles.

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
Belted Kingfisher
We then went to Blackpoint Drive.  I had to leave at around 11am, so we didn't have much time.  We saw a few Reddish Egrets, and a Belted Kingfisher came fairly close.  At one point we made it to where there were easily hundreds of ducks.  I wish I had more time to see all that was there, but I had to leave.  We did pick out 3 Eurasian Widgeon, 2 Redheads, 4 Hooded Mergansers and 1 Horned Grebe. There were also many American Widgeon, Blue-winged Teal, Green-Winged Teal, Northern Pintail, and Pied-Billed Grebe.

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
Roseate Spoonbill
Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
Roseate Spoonbill
Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
White Ibis
Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
Little Blue Heron
Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
Hooded Merganser
Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
Short-Billed Dowitcher
Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
Reddish Egret
Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
Reddish Egret
Here's a list of species we saw at Merritt Island today:

Pump House Rd
American Wigeon X
Blue-winged Teal X
Northern Shoveler X
Ring-necked Duck X
Lesser Scaup X
Pied-billed Grebe X
Anhinga X
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 1
Little Blue Heron 1
Reddish Egret 1
White Ibis 5
Roseate Spoonbill 15
Black Vulture X
Turkey Vulture X
Osprey 2
Bald Eagle 2
American Coot X
Black-bellied Plover X
American Avocet 50
Willet X
Dunlin X
Short-billed Dowitcher X
Long-billed Dowitcher X
Laughing Gull X
Ring-billed Gull X
Forster's Tern X
Belted Kingfisher 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1

Blackpoint Drive
Eurasian Wigeon 3
American Wigeon X
Blue-winged Teal X
Northern Shoveler X
Northern Pintail X
Green-winged Teal X
Redhead 2
Ring-necked Duck X
Lesser Scaup X
Hooded Merganser 4
Pied-billed Grebe X
Horned Grebe 1
Wood Stork 4
Double-crested Cormorant X
Anhinga X
American White Pelican 3
Great Blue Heron X
Great Egret X
Snowy Egret X
Little Blue Heron X
Tricolored Heron X
Reddish Egret 3
Green Heron 1
White Ibis X
Glossy Ibis X
Roseate Spoonbill 2
Black Vulture X
Turkey Vulture X
Osprey 2
Bald Eagle 1
Common Gallinule X
American Coot X
American Avocet 2
Willet X
Dunlin X
Short-billed Dowitcher X
Laughing Gull X
Ring-billed Gull X
Belted Kingfisher 3
Fish Crow X
Tree Swallow X
Palm Warbler X
Savannah Sparrow X
Red-winged Blackbird X

Comments

  1. Gorgeous! Especially like Roseate reflections & seeing the markings on the Dwitchers in flight. Good ID info!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Cindy. We had great lighting for most of the morning yesterday, so the reflections were plentiful. Glad the Dowitcher photo helps too. It's so hard to distinguish between the two kinds, but I'm getting there.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Feel free to comment to leave feedback.