30 degrees and we still had 15 and 1/2 birders. The granddaughter  of Fred & Carol Kirk was a real trooper.  She walked most of the 2 mile trek taking in all surroundings. Grandmother pointed out to her many plants and other interesting facts along the way.
It did get a bit warmer as we progressed along the trail.  CCAS has not done this trip for several years as it seems we have neglected the preserve.  We were afforded the opportunity to traverse this trail, thanks to Jim & Eileen who have set foot on most of Central Florida's birding areas. 
There was a fallout of great birds just beyond the gate.  Blue-gray Gnatcatcher,s Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Northern Parulas, and Hooded Warbler, .We were in this spot for 1/2 hour or more.  Traveling on White-eyed and Red-eyed Vireos. First of the season Yellow-throated vireos seemed to be everywhere. 

The Swallow-tailed Kite gave us a fly-over which was a FOS for several members.  The eBird link for the 33 species is here.

We began with two, then four, 6 and finally ended with 8 birders.  Timing was everything.  Traffic was heavy and some were delayed.  But with the low tide, we still were able to find some shorebirds before and just after entering the park.  Heading off to the Nature Center to check on what had been seen and then to the dog park.  Wading through the tidal pools gave us the reward of two very cooperative American Oystercatchers. But continuing on to the area most inhabited by Plovers brought some disappointment.  It seems Hurricane Irma has changed the landscape from my recollection of it from last year.  Several Semi-palmated Plovers was the extent of our viewing here.  The island was extremely busy for a weekday.  People everywhere.  
Photo by Fred Hileman

We then went to the Nature Trail to see the Great Horned Owls. Tom Gulley took the photos of the two sleepy chicks and mother as she looked on from a nearby tree. For this part of the trip we got 40 species and can be seen at this eBird link.

Off to the Lucky Dill for lunch.  And then onto Fred Howard Beach for a great disappointment.  People everywhere and the highest tide I have ever seen there.  The one saving grace was a single Marbled Godwit.  But the lack of birds there did not spoil the rest of what was a bright, sunny day in Florida.

Fred Hileman
President
​CCAS

Where to begin?  Begin at the beginning. 
Lust Rd entrance to Apopka is always hopping. Some of the best are usually there. And so were 15 of some of the best birders of Citrus County Audubon. We got the    Ash-throated Flycatcher that has been seen in this area for quite some time.  

But the most exciting was seeing the White-crowned Sparrows. They blended so well with their surroundings which made them very difficult to see. As I said, some of the best birders were present and keen eyes brought them out. Thanks Mike.

This image of  Wilson's Snipe and American Coot gives a very real visualization of just how small one is compared to the other. A snipe not very often will remain still when spotted as this one did..  

Great Blue Heron and Anhinga nests were seen along the 11 mile ride.  This dark male Anhinga was encouraging the female to let him take over the job, giving his mate a break.. She finally agreed after some encouragement and he slid into her place. The day was very productive with  a total of 52 species. Then it was off to one of our favorite restaurants for lunch.  The list of 52 can be seen at this eBird link.  
Top photo by Tom Gulley
Bottom 3 by Fred Hileman
​

Seventeen eager birders arrived at the entrance to Emeralda Marsh on the first day open to car traffic in 3 years. It has been tremendously upgraded.  There are more open waters to view birds than ever before.  This has always been one of my favorite spots to bird and I am even more excited about it.  Ducks were not in any quantity as the hunting season had ended and the ducks have moved on.The water birds were readily observable. Hawks, Northern Harrier, trilogy of woodpeckers and Sapsucker, 6 species of warbler, Kinglets, Gnatcatchers were busy feeding or looking for food. American Goldfinches were in abundance in the Sweet Gum trees.  The list of 61 species is here.

After enjoying a well deserved lunch at Ramshackle Cafe, the group went to Venetian Gardens in Leesburg to see Purple Gallinules up close.  Some of the group had a life bird from this visit.

7 birders ventured out to check out Ocklawaha Prairie, but it was not a go.  Tom & I went directly to the destination while some met at the gas station as planned.  The entrance to the area was blocked off.  There had been a recent burn in addition to water covering the road.  The back up plan was Carney which is in the near vicinity.  And I must say not a bad choice. We found several areas where there were trees alive with birds. Warblers were in good supply, Orange-crowned, Black and white, Palm, Pine, Yellow-rumped, Yellow-throated and first of the season Northern Parula. Downy, Red-bellied, Pileated  woodpeckers with Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Wild Turkeys, Canada Geese, with Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers in abundance.  The day was perfect with a well deserved lunch at Gator Joe's to end the day.  We had a total of 55 species which can be viewed at this eBird link

​Fifteen Audubon Birders joined us for a wonderful Monday afternoon at the Orlando
Wetlands Park.  The OWP provided us with a Tram and a knowledgeable driver which 
was enjoyed by 9 folks and allowed some to complete the 2 1/2 mile birding loop.  We
tallied 46 species, including Brown Thrush, Bald Eagle, King Rail (H), Limpkin, many 
Purple Gallinule, Red-tailed Hawk, Sora, Barred Owl (H), Black-Crowned and Yellow-crowned
Night Herons, and ~60 Roseate Spoonbills.

​I think for most, the highlight was the Wood Stork and Night Heron Rookery that was
seen from the Oyler Overlook.  Well over a 100 Wood Storks were viewed many carrying
nesting material, along with at least 10 Night Herons!  The list is here
 
On Tuesday, we rendezvoused at the Parrish Beach Park, along with 100s of Falcon Heavy
Watchers!  We completed our normal route at the W. Gator Creek Rd. Cove and Black Point
Drive and picked up 54 species, including C. Loon, Horned Grebe, A. Bittern, Sora, Bald Eagle,
5 Duck species, Roseate Spoonbill, 3 Tern species, and some nearly full-up breeding Reddish
Egrets doing their "drunken sailor" dance. 
 
We decided to evacuate MINWR and go inland for lunch and then visit the Chain of Lakes Park
to watch the Falcon Heavy Launch.  Due to the Launch slip to 3:45, we were able to do some
more birding and picked up 6 more species, including  Mottled Duck and Pileated Woodpecker.  
So in all, 60 species were tallied for the day plus one impressive Heavy Falcon which made the
end of the Launch Window at 3:45!  The list is here
 
                What a great 2 days of birding and Launch, Jim & Eileen

Top Photo and bottom right by Thomas Gulley.  The launch photo by Jim Meyer

The Barred Owl greeted 12 birders at the parking lot.  It has nested here for the past 3 years that I know of.  Weather was a wee nippy in the AM, but the day turned out nice at around 65 degrees.  There were Black-bellied Whistling Ducks aplenty, but only the Blue-winged Teal and a surprise of seeing a Muscovy Duck Storks, a trio of egrets,  and likewise herons were spotted, The Roseate Spoonbills were in abundance as were Tree Swallows.  Two of our troop decided to take the alternate route back to headquarters and were stopped by a barricade. They turned around and were stopped by a 10 foot alligator who was lying across the trail and was not about to move.  A volunteer showed up and tossed a stick at the 'gator'. The 'gator' merely turned around and they had to walk around behind as he showed his displeasure by hissing at them. The eBird list of the 58 species is here.
Owl photo is by Tammy Smith.

 Three of us arrived the day before and experienced a very sunny 81 degree day. I took this photo of a Great Blue Heron who was either just chilling or decided that the day was  just too hot and he needed a cool down.  It was just odd to see the bird in this pose. The eBird list for the 46 species seen is here  Total species for the two days was 65.

​Fred Hileman

The mist was rising from the lake and the frost lightly covered the ground, but 6 hearty and optimistic
birders ventured forth.  We were rewarded with many unusual spottings- a Ruby-crowned Kinglet flashing 
his beautiful crown, a Baltimore Oriole, 2 Red-tailed Hawks, 1 R.S. Hawk, 1 Coopers or Sharp-shinned
Hawk,a Common Loon, Forster's Tern, Y.B. Sapsucker, Pine Warbler and many more for a total of 40 species. The eBird list is here
 
Then it was on to the Wastewater Treatment Facility where we saw a Bufflehead, a G. Scaup, 2 Hooded
Mergansers, good looks at about 10 Meadowlarks, 2 R.Tailed Hawks [caught in the ACT!], American Kestral. 
This facility seems to be very reliable for Hawks and Meadowlarks. The eBird list is here
 
Total for the day is 50 species. The full list is on ebird.

Great start to the Morning at McKethan.  15 birders started at the parking lot .  Robins, Tufted Titmouse, American Goldfinch, Sandhill Cranes, Pied-billed Grebes, etc. Most of us walked the edges that are quite deeper in water than we have ever seen it. We spotted Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Downy and Pileated, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, but not Wilson's Snipes as we have had in the past. We then checked the trail back of the restrooms and in the field off the trail an American Kestrel in his normal snag.  We then continued on and had many high canopy birds. Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Black-and White Warblers, and the very pleasant surprise of 

a Yellow-throated Warbler who was so unconcerned with our presence that he continued to wrestle with a bug to ingest. He stayed on his post. He was no more than 5 feet from us.  All of the group that was present got good views. We continued the walk out to the right of the road way into the area of an open field but saw nothing that added to the list.  The built up area between the two bodies of water afforded us with more view of Ch chickadees, and other warblers.   We continued the walk and then ended with a total of 36 species that can be seen at this eBird link  We lunched at Cedar Creek Seafood and then went to the Wastewater Treatment Facility to check out activity there.. No disappointment there. The weather had turned very cold and windy so our stay was brief and within that few minutes of birding another 13 

species with the beautiful Eastern Meadowlarks in abundance.  We counted the 13 species in just 15 minutes or so. The link can be seen here. The Meadowlark and Yellow-throated warbler by Fred Hileman and the group photo at McKethan was by Thomas Gulley. 

Cool morning at St Marks, as usual.  BUT it was not as cold as last year. 9 hearty birders arrived on site Sunday to check out some of the birds in the area.  We birded the Visitor's Center and got the Brown-headed Nuthatch right off the bat and then added a few warblers.  We came back to the center and learned that a once in a Blue Moon trip on an open tram would be leaving on Monday morning at 9:00 AM. We signed up and got the last nine seats, or so we thought.  We continued birding and  had a most remarkable birding day.  Blue, Green & Cinnamon Teal, Shovelers, Am Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Canvasback, Redhead, Scaup, Ring-necked, Ruddy, Bufflehead, Hooded & Red-breasted Merganser and the list goes on. This day brought our total to 81!

The Krider's Red-tailed Hawk was soaring above us very soon after starting the trek to the back. Willets, Purple Gallinule, Sora, Cooper's Hawk,. Northern Harrier, White-faced Ibis, Dunlin, Black-bellied & Semi-palmated Plover, Ruddy Turnstone, Wilson's Snipe, Least & Western Sandpiper, Yellowlegs, Dowitchers, and the list continues.  This was one of the best in many years to come up with the variety and number of species that we had.  Bottoms Road was late afternoon on Tuesday and the species list was small, but we did get a Clapper Rail and Common Loon.  That 21 eBird list is here.  Day one 81 at St Marks list is here. And day two St Marks is here of 79. The total for the two days was a whopping 103 species.