A Visit To The "Garden Of Eden"

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Some people wanted to stay, some wanted to go. I found the opportunity intriguing and exciting, but I didn't really know much about Austin. There was no rush or pressure for any of us to move, and the new office was just getting established, so I gave it a little thought, teetering back and forth. Part of me wanted something new, and another part wanted to stay and be a part of the birding community I'd found myself deeply involved in.

In June, the company sent a group of us to Austin for a weekend to see if it would be a place where we'd want to relocate. I'd heard a little about Austin from others who'd made the trip before me, and those that knew me said they thought I'd like it. As our plane made its final approach into the Austin, I discovered how green the area was. I was amazed at how many trees there were. It was definitely a good first impression. Our hotel was downtown, right along beautiful Town Lake, and right next to the Congress Avenue bridge where the famous Mexican Free-tailed Bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) roost. The colony is estimated at 1.5 million bats, and they clear out about 10,000 to 30,000 pounds of insects each night!

On Saturday, our group had a short guided tour of some of the residential areas of town and on Sunday we were each assigned a realtor to take us around and show us some homes that were available. I hadn't made up my mind fully about moving, but looking at homes was enticing. With the prices of homes in Austin, I could finally own a house! Night life was great too. Downtown Austin is easy to access, and there are plenty of places to go. Live music abounds! Austin is also home to the University of Texas, and Longhorn fans and memorabilia are quite abundant. It reminds me of the Husker spirit I experience every time I go home to Nebraska.

The only thing that might outnumber the Longhorn fans in Austin (besides the bats, who are probably UT fans as well) is a certain species of bird. These guys (and gals) are everywhere. They have several distinct calls, and one of them is reminiscent of a common sound in Los Angeles...car alarms. Great-tailed Grackles (Quiscalus mexicanus) are everywhere you go. They're greeting you as you park at the grocery store...they're picking up twigs in the parking lot at Target...they're hiding in the plants at the Lowes Garden Center...they're pooping on your car while you're in the restaurant. You name the time and place, and they'll meet you there. There are also a number of other birds (and other wildlife) in Austin as well, but if you ever need to take a photo of a Great-tailed Grackle, you're sure to get it in Austin.

Though it was only a weekend, I got a good feel for what Austin is about. There are many things to do, and lots of nature-oriented activities. After more consideration, I felt that Austin could fulfill some life quality items that Los Angeles couldn't. I'd spent over 18 years in Los Angeles, and I knew it would be difficult for me to leave my friends, as well as my Los Angeles Audubon family, but I felt that I couldn't pass up this opportunity. That week at work, I started the ball rolling on my relocation.

At the end of August, I returned to Austin to do some house hunting. I found exactly what I was looking for on the first day and made an offer. It was accepted. With everything I had to do for closing and preparing to move, the next several weeks are now a blur.

I've been here in Austin for nearly a month now, and I'm still unpacking. I've been mostly occupied with getting settled in (going from an apartment to a house is such a big change!), so I haven't really ventured out much yet. But I will soon, and there will be plenty of experiences to share!

(...continued from Part Six.)

Now that Carol and I were in the Florida Keys, we could relax just a little and enjoy our surroundings. And we didn't really have a choice anyway; the vibe of the Keys doesn't really allow for anything else. The trip so far had produced all the herons I'd hoped for except the Least Bittern, but the chance for that bird had passed. The only birds left were two morphs of the Great Blue Heron known as the Great White Heron and Wurdemann's Heron, found only in southern Florida. (The Great White also appears in the Yucatan Peninsula, and in the Caribbean.)

Broad-winged
Hawk


Palm Warbler


Iron Chicken

Laughing Gull


Ruddy Turnstones

On March 29th, Carol and I woke up at 5am. We stopped at IHOP for some breakfast and arrived at the Florida Keys Wild Bird Center in Tavernier around 8am. The sky was grey and there was a slight rain that soon subsided. The FKWBC is a rescue and rehabilitation center that began in 1984 and has grown considerably.

Great White Heron


Brown Pelican


Reddish Egret
(Juvenile)


White Ibis


Great Egret
(Breeding Plumage)

Snowy Egret


Chuck-will's-widow


Belted Kingfisher

With the addition of the Great White Heron, my heron list was as complete as it was going to be for this trip. Though I missed the Least Bittern and Wurdemann's Heron, I considered the trip a huge success. And we still had one more full day in the Keys. Carol and I were both really hungry, so we headed to No Name Pub and celebrated with their gourmet pizza and No Name beer.

On Friday, our last full day in the Keys, Carol and I decided to make one last trek to see if we could find the Loggerhead Kingbird. We'd missed it on Friday, but it had been seen again on Thursday. We arrived at Fort Taylor at 10am. Some of the birders we'd talked to on Wednesday were there, but the Loggerhead Kingbird was once again missing in action. We searched the area and all we came up with was Osprey, Palm Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, and Great Egret. It was also a treat to see another Great White Heron. Carol noticed something strange in some bushes...a snoozing Chuck-will's-widow. The brush wasn't very thick, but the bird was right in the middle. It was difficult to find the right angle, but I was able to snap off a few decent shots. We went into the fort and looked out the ebrasures. In the moat, we spotted Great Blue Heron, American Coot, Blue-winged Teal, and Belted Kingfisher. Around 1pm we were getting a bit hungry, so we threw in the LOKI towel and checked out the rest of Key West. It turns out that the Loggerhead Kingbird hadn't been seen since.

On Saturday, we said goodbye to the Keys and made our way back to Miami to catch our plane. Our trip to Florida had been a wonderful experience and a great success. Carol and I had seen and photographed a lot of great birds, including ten species of herons and also one of the two white morphs of the Great Blue. Like many places throughout the world, Florida's habitat for herons (and other birds) is slowly shrinking due to development. If you want to see herons, Florida's definitely a must. And if you want to continue to see them in the future, please make sure to do all you can to help ensure their survival.

California's largest wind farm cluster at Altamont Pass unintentionally kills golden eagles, burrowing owls and other threatened birds. Now, wind companies, scientists and environmentalists are working to bird-proof these massive wind farms.

(...continued from Part Five.)

After spending the night in Homestead, it was time for another great day. On March 27 (my birthday!), Carol and I headed out around 6:45am. When I first told people we were going to Florida and planning on stopping in the Everglades, many of them said that we had to make sure and visit Flamingo. And so we did. We arrived as the sun came up; it was 65 degrees, mostly cloudy, breezy, and humid.

Nesting Osprey
(QuickTime Video)

Flamingo took quite a hit from Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma in 2005, and the damage was quite apparent. The Flamingo Lodge used to provide rooms to those without tents or RVs. It was now in shambles. Many of the trees looked like the aftermath of a dominoes tournament. And I could see where once Eco Pond must have been a great freshwater haven with cattails, an island with trees, and observation decks to get viewpoints of all the wildlife, but after the hurricanes and especially dry season, only dissheveled trees and small pools of mucky water remained. The National Park Service has expedited a Commercial Services Plan/Environmental Assessment to determine how best to restore the area. See how you can get involved.

Brown Pelican
(juvenile)

Osprey

Roseate Spoonbill
(QuickTIme Video)

About 12:30pm, we stopped at Pa-hay-okee Overlook, a quarter-mile boarwalk that overlooks a "river of grass".It was starting to get windy and really humid, still threatening to rain some more. Not sure if it was because of the time of day or the weather, but there was next to nothing going on. The only birds we saw were Turkey Vulture, Black Vulture, and Swallow-tailed Kite in the air, and a crow hanging around in the parking lot.

Watch the birds.
Watch out for ants!

Palm Warbler


Green Heron

Purple Martin House
at Robert is Here

We arrived at our lodging in Little Torch Key around 5:30pm. The drive had been incredible. The aqua-green color of the ocean was amazing...not like what we see in California. We checked in and dropped our stuff off. Carol treated me to Parrotdise restaurant just down the road. It was a nice walk, windy, but a refreshing windy. We enjoyed conch fritters for an appetizer, a delicious main course of coconut lime Pink Tiger Shrimp with mango peanut sauce, and a perfect Key Lime pie for dessert. A great way to end an awesome birthday!

(Continue to Part Seven)

(...continued from Part Four.)

On Monday, March 26, it was time for Carol and I to start working our way toward the Keys. We'd had a great time on the Gulf Coast side near Fort Myers, visiting Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge. We checked out of our motel around a little after 9am and headed south down the Tamiami Trail.

There really wasn't a whole lot to see on our way down toward Naples. But as we waited at a stop light in the middle of town, a Cattle Egrets was wandering around some bushes near a mini mall. I wasn't really expecting to see one at a location such as this, and it turned out to be the only one during the entire trip!

Wonderful Wildlife of
Fakahatchee Strand!

Great Egret

The path ends at a small deck overlooking a small bit of open swamp. Here there was a Great Egret sharing the water with a resting alligator. On our way back we added Gray Catbird, Turkey Vulture, and Common Grackle. There really wasn't a whole lot going on. It could have been that we were there during the time of day when things are usually slow.

Welcome to
the Everglades!


Double-crested
Cormorant


Great Blue Heron


Common Moorhen

Open wide!


Green Heron


Purple Gallinule

After hitting a bit of traffic in Homestead, Carol and I finally made it to Anhinga Trail in the Everglades around 4:45pm. It was around 80 degrees with a strong breeze. The sun drifted in and out of the clouds, but the chance of rain looked unlikely. Common Grackles were...well...common in the parking lot. A small pond lined with sawgrass welcomes visitors as they pass by the visitor's center. It looked inviting, but there weren't any birds present. Along the walk is a low wooden rail only a foot or two high, apparently to keep the youngsters from wandering into the small canal runs beside the walk. Double-crested Cormorants were catching some Zs in the little shade that the barrier provided, seemingly undisturbed by the people that were walking only a foot or two away from them. I'd never been this close to them.

To the left, a boarwalk crossed the canal and led into the sawgrass. At the bridge, a Great Blue Heron sat in ambush mode waiting for a passing fish. As we walked out of the sawgrass and onto the open water overlook, a Double-crested Cormorant flew in and landed on the hand rail. We approached closer...and closer...and closer until you could almost smell that fish breath. It wasn't going to budge from it's perch. This was an even better view than the ones we got when we first walked in. As it looked directly at us, we were able to get a good look at those amazing emerald eyes!

Continuing along the boardwalk that led over the water, we were able to get close-up views of some napping alligators. As one of them yawned. I raised my camera, but was a little too slow on the draw. But just then, another one yawned and since my lens was already up, I was able to capture those gaping jaws.

Turkey Vultures and Black Vultures intermittently circled and Anhingas hung out in the trees. At a small platform where the boardwalk meets the end of the main trail, a few White Ibises and a Snowy Egret poked around, keeping their distance from the resting gators. A Common Moorhen flew in and stood on a small rock that protruded out of the water. Heading back toward the visitor's center, Carol spotted a Green Heron in hunting mode. We watched as it remained completely still, and poised like a spring ready for any unsuspecting fish to wander by. After a few minutes, a Purple Gallinule flew in to some nearby bushes. It was about a half hour before sunset, a perfect magic hour for pictures, and few photographers took advantage of cooperation of both the Purple Gallinule and Green Heron. The gallinule was a little difficult to get good shots of as it stayed in the leafy branches of the bush. It wasn't long until the sun peeked behind the trees and disappeared for the evening.

(Continue to Part Six)

(...continued from Part Three.)

Sunday was the last full day in the Fort Myers area for Carol and I. We'd spent time at both Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Both places provided a wonderul selection of birds, and after some thought we decided to return to Corkscrew because of the excellent photo opportunities it had provided on the previous visit.

We arrived at Corkscrew around 8am. It was around 70 degrees, the sky was clear, and there was a slight breeze. Out the window of the Blair Audubon Center, which serves as the entrance to the sanctuary, I noticed movement at one of the bird feeders. It didn't take much effort to identify the bird...it was a male Painted Bunting. The colors in this bird are so vibrant and beautiful, and it looks...well...like it was painted. Go figure. Even though I wasn't able to get any shots, I felt especially fortunate to see it up close and be able add it to my life list. Other birds seen near the sanctuary entrance were Red-shouldered Hawk, Northern Cardinal, Common Grackle, Mourning Dove, and Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Great Blue
Heron


Wood Stork

White Ibis


Black-crowned
Night-Heron
(juvenile)


Great Egret

I spent a few hours here watching the birds and talking to the volunteers. Most of them are "snowbirds", just visiting Florida for the winter, and volunteering at Corkscrew a few times a week. What a wonderful way to spend the winter!

Pileated
Woodpecker

I headed back to the other lakes and continued to watch the feeding birds. A flock of Cedar Waxwings flew over. It was a little after noon, and Carol and I were getting hungry, so we headed to the Blair Audubon Center to get some food.

After filling the tanks with some more fuel, we headed back out on the boardwalk. This time I finally decided to walk the full trail and hit the observation deck. What an amazing view!

Great View!

Barred Owl
(QuickTime Movie)

We stopped at the lettuce lakes for a little while before starting back toward the visitor's center. Another volunteer had spotted another Barred Owl. It was facing us this time, but it was still obscured a little by some leaves. Still, it was good to see it. On the way back to the visitor's center, we managed to add Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Gray Catbird, Blue-headed Vireo, and White-eyed Vireo.

A little part of me was sad to leave Corkscrew, but I knew I would definitely be back some day. If you're ever in the Naples area, I highly recommend stopping by Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary to visit the birds.

(Continue to Part Five)

(...continued from Part Two.)

On Saturday, Carol and I were headed for Sanibel Island, home of J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge. The park opens at 7:30, so we started on our way around 6:45, making a quick stop at Dunkin' Donuts. Carol brags about their coffee, and since we don't have any Dunkin' Donuts in California, we had to make the stop. It's times like these that I wish I could appreciate a good cup of coffee. I used to drink a lot of it in years past, but decided one day to give it up cold turkey. If I had a cup these days, my photos would look like they've been double exposed.

Come see the birds!

First Stop


Reddish Egret


Reddish Egret


Snowy Egret

Little Blue Heron


Snowy Egret

Intermittently along the road there would be little stretches of water with small groups of birds feeding. At one place, we were able to watch four Pied-Billed Grebes as they cruised around, occasionally diving for some grub. At another area, a White Ibis and Little Blue Heron were looking for food, when a Snowy Egret came flying in and bullied his way around. A Black-crowned Night-Heron sat tucked into the mangroves and watched the melee. The trees on the side of the road were often dense. We heard a Red-shouldered Hawk call, and as it got louder, we were able to spot it though a brief opening.

Mangroves


Great Egret

Yellow-crowned
Night-Heron


Yellow-crowned
Night-Heron

The "Ding" Darling visitor's center is really nice. There's a help desk just as you walk in with park staff to answer questions and hand out maps and lists. Several displays explain the history and ecosystem of the refuge. The office and desk of Darling himself, along with a video of the man, really help in appreciating what he was able to accomplish. In addition to being a key figure in the purchase of the land on Sanibel Island, Darling was chief of the US Biological Survey, the forerunner of the US Fish and Wilidlife Service. He pushed the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act through Congress and sketched the first stamp. Since the stamp was introduced in 1934, more than 119 million stamps have been sold nationwide, resulting in over $671 million raised for habitat conservation. According to the J.N. "Ding" Darling Foundation website, "Adjusted for inflation, the amount raised exceeds two billion dollars." For every dollar in stamps sold, ninety-eight cents goes toward the purchase of habitat in the National Wildlife Refuge system. Details by US state.

Yellow-crowned
Night-Heron
(juvenile)

J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge is a wonderful place. I highly recommend it and look forward to visiting again in the future.

(Continue to Part Four)

If you'd like to participate in or host an upcoming episode of "I and the Bird" yourself, make sure to check out the "I and the Bird" info page. The deadline for submissions for the next carnival is May 1.

(...continued from Part One.)

After a night's rest, Carol and I were once again ready for some birds. We'd allowed ourselves to sleep in a little, so we hit the road around 9am, heading down the 75 toward Naples and Audubon's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. Mini forests lined the sides of the highway. It was great to see all the trees, but the "For Sale" signs in front of them indicated that they may be replaced by a shopping center or housing development next time I come through. Traffic wasn't too bad between Fort Myers and Naples, and Great Egrets often enjoyed the same corridor, parallelling the highway to get to their destinations.

Birds
this way!

When we arrived at the Blair Audubon Center at Corkscrew around 10am, it was partly cloudy, around 70 degrees, and calm. We paid our admission fee and continued on to the boardwalk and into pine flatwood habitat, where we watched as a Downy Woodpecker flew in. It knocked on a tree for a few minutes and took off. A Red-shouldered Hawk flew in and stopped for a brief moment on a dead tree before taking back to the air.

Wet Prairie

Sleepy
Squirrel

Great Blue Heron


Little Blue Heron


Black-crowned
Night-Heron


Tricolored Heron

Anhinga


White Ibis
(juvenile)


Wood Stork
(juvenile)


Yellow-crowned
Night-Heron


Belted
Kingfisher
Photo | Video

Carol decided to check out the outlook at the marsh to see if she could spot another Swallow-tailed Kite. I was so intent on all the birds at the lettuce lakes, I completely lost track of time. It wasn't until she caught back up with me at 1:30, that I realized I was getting hungry. We started back toward the nature center, but ran into another slightly larger lake. Here, a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron sat perched and allowed me to get some shots. A young alligator sat on a little log sunning itself. A female Belted Kingfisher alerted us to her presence as she landed in a tree about 20 yards away. We noticed that she was holding a fish in her beak. The fish was a little too big swallow, so she kept beating the fish on the branch. Birds will do this to catfish to break off the bony spikes, but this was no catfish, it was just too big to handle. I got some shots and managed to get some video through my digiscoping setup. The video is a little jiggly because of the people walking by, but still fun to watch. To watch it, you must have QuickTime installed.

After about a half hour, we decided to continue on. My stomach was really starting to growl at me. Forget hunger though, shortly up the path, a docent pointed out a Barred Owl that sat perched about 20 yards through the trees. It was slightly blocked by some branches, but I took some shots anyway.

Barred Owl

As Carol and I picked something out at the nature center's food counter, the attendant described a little grey bird with a black cap that keeps visiting the patio. As I opened my field guide to show her a likely picture, a Grey Catbird landed on the outside railing. Sure enough, she had been making friends with a Gray Catbird. The sanctuary closed at 4:30, and by the time we finished eating, it was too late to go back out. It had been an awesome visit and I was thrilled at all the birds I'd seen!

On our way back to Fort Myers, we decided to take the part of the Tamiami Trail that we had passed up the day before in favor of the quicker 75 route. About 15 minutes before our motel, we passed by a Famous Dave's restaurant. I'd eaten at the one in Lincoln, Nebraska a few times and found it to have excellent barbecue. After dropping our stuff off at the motel, we headed back to Dave's. What a satisfying way to end such an exciting day!

(Continue to Part Three)

It was raining when Carol and I arrived in Miami at 5:30am on March 22. A few minutes after we got to the car rental place at 7am the downpour really set in. This wasn't like the rain in Los Angeles where the news proclaims "Storm Watch" when we experience a little drizzle. This was the kind of rain where every part of you is drenched in 10 seconds or less. You might as well just jump into a pool. The locals welcomed it since it had been a really dry winter in Florida. My sense of direction was completely turned around...it was raining and still dark, and with the storm, the sun wouldn't be providing hints any time too soon. The kind ladies at the car rental place gave us a map and pointed us in the right direction. When the rain let up for just a moment, we stuffed our luggage in the trunk and took off.

I've heard that when it rains in Florida, it's usually for 20 minutes and then it's sunny. Apparently the weatherman hadn't heard the same story and forgot to turn off the faucet. Nevertheless, it was actually refresing to experience a "real" rain. The rains that accompany El Nino in Los Angeles can be pretty heavy, but the experiences with those aren't as enjoyable since I'm usually on my way to work. I digress.

First Gator

Loop Road

On the Big Cypress map (PDF) I'd downloaded, I noticed a scenic trail called Loop Road. Since the map marked the road as unpaved (and it was still raining heavily), we continued to the Oasis Visitor Center for more information. When we arrived at the visitor center around 8:45, the rain had subsided a bit. We got a good look at another lifer, a Black Vulture, as it flew in and landed on a light post right next to our car and looked at us. Though we hadn't showered since the day before, I didn't think we smelled that bad.

Wood Stork

Boo!

Great Blue
Heron

It was almost noon, so we figured we'd head toward the 75 and continue up to Fort Myers. We decided to take Turner River Road, another scenic trail. There were alligators scattered all along the canal at the east side of the road.

Black
Vulture

Red-shouldered
Hawk

When we hit our motel room in Fort Myers at around 3:30pm, we were both pretty exhausted. We'd both been up since 6am (PDT) they day before and only had about two hours of sleep on the plane. We ordered some Chinese food, showered, and crashed. Considering what an awesome day it had been, we were looking forward to what Friday had in store.

(Continue to Part Two)

Update: One bird has been reported to survive, escaping the pen around the time the storm hit. Whooper Happenings is providing updates on their site, and has released a new podcast that sheds more light on this.

Birder's World magazine also has a story on this. It includes interviews with major players on the reintroduction team; explains what happened when and what was lost; and describes the next steps for the project.

• The top five views for yesterday and top ten views for the last seven days have been added to make it easier for new visitors to find the most active cameras. Don't forget to check the other cameras in the list...they could provide you with a nice surprise!
• The local time for each camera has been added so it's easier to tell whether it's day or night there. Daylight Saving Time is taken into account.
• Sorting by location, region, and country hasn't really been utilized in the past, so region and country have been combined. Country is sortable, using region as a secondary sort. Location has been removed.
• Camera names have been added to help distinguish one from another.

The list of cameras is being updated on a regular basis, so make sure to check back and see what's new. If you have any camera additions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to drop me a line at birdcams@beakspeak.com. Enjoy the shows!