We rejoined the WIN group in Titusville, FL. The first day we went to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. We took a walk through the woods on the Oak and Palm Hammock Trails, but didn't see too much.
But then we did the 7-mile Black Point Wildlife Drive. WOW!
I saw my very first Roseate Spoonbill.
And this Tricolored Heron.
A Great Blue Heron has found his lunch.
And we managed to also see an alligator.
That evening we went outside our rigs to see the liftoff, from a distance, of a Falcon 9 rocket taking 11 next-generation communication satellites to orbit, each weighing about 400 lbs. New with this launch is that they recovered the first stage rocket so it can be reused. When it returned to land, we heard a sonic boom - not heard here since the last space shuttle landing in July 2011!
The next day I went for a walk through the Enchanted Forest Sanctuary. I didn't see many animals - only this Gopher Tortoise. He was having lunch too.
On Christmas Eve, Phil and I went kayaking in the St. John's National Wildlife Refuge -
Where we hit the motherlode! Look at all those Roseate Spoonbills!
Wow!
Phil got a shot of me getting the next shot -
A bunch of Roseate Spoonbills, and a Great Egret.
There were also lots of White Pelicans. What a great paddle, although the wind was pretty strong. We didn't get too far, but saw a lot of birds.
On Christmas day, we had a wonderful pot-luck dinner!
I'm still behind in posting, but getting better. I guess I'm just having too much fun here in Florida.
Some wonderful and different wildlife. I can well understand why people go there for the winter months.
ReplyDeleteWOW did you ever hit the roseate motherlode. I've never been to either of the places you went in all my years of ending up in Florida for the winter. Thanks for showing me these new places. While Florida is wonderful in birds and temperatures. SOME DAY I hope I can winter out west. Don't miss a Big Cypress Swamp walk if you are going that way.
ReplyDeleteLove the shot of you in your hot pink PDF! I'm taking notes! Adding this WLR to my possibles Great spoonbill shots, once went with a small tour group and we paddled across the Bay from US #1 to Key Lignumvitae SP. IT was an awesome adventure, saw manatees & nurse sharks in the water with us! The only way to get to the island is by boat so once we arrived we had the place to our small group of 8!
ReplyDeleteGreat paddle, seems the birds know where to go to avoid the crowds!
ReplyDeleteSee, sometimes it's nice to be east of the Mississippi. ;c)
ReplyDelete