Today, Ellen sees a life bird (!), Steve gets a Scrub Jay hat and we find the nude beach at Cape Canaveral National Seashore. We’ll also throw in a pair of Painted Buntings, screaming children, barking dogs and a new campsite.
Another sunny day in Florida, finally. We were up by sunrise today and it was gorgeous, pinks and oranges over the Intracoastal Waterway. The campground was completely packed last night, particularly the tenting area where our site was located. We were squeezed in among the many tents of a family reunion last night and the site next to us contained both a screaming child with only one volume setting—11—and a howling dog that had never been taught the command "quiet". It was not a restful evening.
The good news is that we were up early enough to beat the rush at the one ablutions block (restrooms and showers) for the tenting area. The campground hosts must be commended; the loo was cleaned during the night and they were spotless and dry. Hot showers were had by both of us before the hordes descended.
After a short breakfast, we left early for Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. Our destination was the Scrub Ridge Trail, a mile-long loop trail through scrub oak and pines along the Mosquito Lagoon. It was said to be the home of Florida Scrub Jays, among other birds. It turned out to be quite the productive walk as Ellen had 25 species on her list by our return.
Florida Scrub Jays are a rare species located in only specific habitats in Florida. We found them, with difficulty, on our last visit to Ocala National Forest. As we continued along the Scrub Ridge Trail, we could hear warblers chipping in the bushes, so I tried calling them out by playing a recording of “pishing”. This usually brings some bird species out in the open. It supposedly sounds like a warning call and curious birds come to investigate.
This time the effect was unexpected. We got a rush of Scrub Jays, about a half dozen, including several who decided to perch on my hat and one that landed on Ellen's head. There are signs at the beginning of the trail admonishing walkers not to feed the jays. My guess is that the warning is ignored. These were pretty cheeky birds. The pishing also brought out some other birds, Yellow-rumped Warblers and an Eastern Towhee. We also managed to snatch a look at Common Yellowthroat, saw several woodpeckers, both Northern Flickers and Red-Bellied and a sizable number of waders, mostly flying over to their daytime locations.
After the Scrub Ridge Trail, we drove to the Cape Canaveral National Seashore to search for shorebirds. On the way, we saw a group of folks with scopes, obviously birders, at one of the turnouts on the way. This enticed us to stop, so we did—and it was worth it. There was a small raft of ducks a way offshore, including a Canvasback, a new bird for Ellen. We also stopped on the way back and it was still there. We had good but long views both times, too long for photos. As we were watching, a man in a Jeep pulled over to ask us if there was a launch today, being right across from the launch pad at Cape Kennedy. When we said we were looking at a duck, it was clear where we stood in his eyes as he roared away.
We continued to the seashore, about ten miles away, along the road behind Playalinda Beach, all the way to the end. The beach is accessed by a number of wooden walkways that overlooking the beach. We headed to the platform with binoculars and scope in hand, only to be greeted by nude surfcasting and sunbathing. We had stumbled onto the national seashore's nude beach.
We managed to scope out a few birds, including a big flock of Royal Terns flying by, but we figured that looking out at the view with binoculars might be taken the wrong way. So we decided to head back along the shore stopping at a couple of other beach areas on the way back. The one opposite Eddy Creek was particularly memorable as we spotted a small group of immature Northern Gannets diving offshore.
We left the seashore area by way of a six-mile drive along the Bio Lab Road, an unpaved road bordering the lagoon. It is a very narrow, two-way road, well traveled on a bright Sunday, so the going was slow. The road seemed to be used by a mix of birders and fishermen. We saw uncountable numbers of coots along with many waders and shorebirds.
After another stop to see the Canvasback in its mixed flock of Scaup and Ruddy Ducks, we made a last stop at the refuge Visitor Center to be rewarded with a pair of Painted Buntings at the feeders.
When we returned to the campground, the tent area had thinned out a bit and we were able to move over a couple of sites to a larger one away from the family reunion. We had dinner and have settled in to watch tonight's episode of Downton Abbey—yes, we have TV coverage at Cape Canaveral.
Tomorrow we are off the Kissimmee Prairie and an entirely new habitat.
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