Painted Buntings at the Visitor Center

 Florida 2013 continued (the never ending blog series!)

My mom and I finished up the Black Point Wildlife Drive at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and headed over to the Visitor Center. It was near 1:00 so we had lunch in the van then walked the boardwalk at the center looking for songbirds. Not the best time of day for birding, I admit, but again, when your time is limited you take what you can get.

There wasn't much going on along the boardwalk, but there were several different woodpeckers active along one stretch. We saw a red-bellied and a hairy, and this male yellow-bellied sapsucker. This is not a bird I see around home, and I didn't have very good images of it, so I was happy to spend a few minutes following him through the trees.

Male yellow-bellied sapsucker. The female lacks the red neck patch.

I like catching birds in motion, especially when they are just taking flight. You get some pretty interesting poses. Wings up and back, ready to flap, I love how his feet are sticking out like he's still clinging to the tree.

We walked back to the Visitor Center to check out the feeders. This is where the painted buntings are most likely to be seen. I imagine this is one of the most photographed feeders in the country. I set up my tripod and waited, and within a few minutes this little green bird flew up. I had no idea what it was. Duh.

Oooo, a mystery bird!

Shortly after we got there a couple we'd met on the boardwalk joined us. One of the women was new to birding, and her partner had been pointing out the differences in the woodpeckers. The novice watched the green bird through her binoculars while the other got out her bird book. She'd been birding around the world so I'm a little surprised she didn't just know what this was--and rattle off its Latin name while she was at.

Anyway, she flipped the pages and then said, "Ah, a female painted bunting!"  Yeah, I should have figured that one out! Look at that beak!

Female painted bunting. She would blend in very well with the lush foliage of the south.

 Shortly after ID-ing the female, the male made an appearance.

Male painted bunting. Nothing else in the States can compare, in my opinion. What a privilege to be able to see one.

Just can't get enough of this amazingly colorful bird!

Oh, this shot has potential--I love the pose! I have done an indigo bunting, and have snow bunting images from last winter. Do I see a series in the making?

And now I have a confession. The birds took off soon after this but the female stuck around (there were actually two of them) and posed prettily in a bush next to the feeder. I took lots of shots, happy to see the birds in a more natural setting. But at home, sorting through several thousand images, these all got deleted before I copied them to my computer. What I do is make folders for all the species and/or places, and copy the images to the folders, kind of sorting as I go. I must have thought I'd copied them when I deleted the images from the camera card--and when you delete images from the card, they are deleted permanently. I've checked the card and my flash drive, where I had also stored some images, but they are no where to be seen. I guess I can check the laptop as a last resort but I fear the worst. Ah well, we learn as we go. I am happy then to have any shots of her at all. Sigh.

Next: A chance encounter along the boardwalk.

Merritt Island Buntings

 Florida 2012 continued

One of the reasons we didn't camp longer at Canaveral National Seashore, and the whole reason we traveled to Florida in February, was to be able to spend a day, or at least an afternoon, at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.  Laying to the south of back country area it was on our way back to my Grandma's house, so the plan was to go there after our camping trip.

The refuge, like so many other places, is "managed".  I has to be in order to make it as attractive to birds and other wildlife as possible.  The whole area used to be salt marsh until we came along and decided we didn't like the mosquitoes that bred in the mud flats, so we built dikes to hold in rain water by dredging the mud and sand and piling it up.  This of course messed up the entire natural processes of the marsh and destroyed a lot of prime bird habitat.

So now that we understand the importance of these places we've devised ways to try to replicate the natural state of the marsh.  Rather than knock down all the dikes (what a job that would be) gates were put in to allow water to flow under them.  The marsh is managed by opening the gates in March and allowing the area to drain (it doesn't completely) and letting the grasses grow.  In late summer/fall the gates are closed and the area is flooded, providing habitat for migrating waterfowl--and lots of plant matter for them to eat. What this meant was that if we wanted to see lots of waterfowl, we had to visit before March when the marsh would be drained and only the wading birds would be left.

Anyway....

We stopped first at the Visitor's Center.  I had one purpose in mind, seeing a Painted Bunting.  This is one of the birds at the top of my "must see" list, and I knew that they hung out at the feeders at the Center--Lisa had seen one several years back, and two years ago I had missed one by less than five minutes.  We took a little walk first, and I watched a pair of Osprey on their nest.

Oh Fred, we're being watched again.

Fred, not now!  Have some modesty!

We walked part of the path, but it was a hot day (86 degrees) and we were tired from our long night at the campground, so we soon wandered back to the Visitor's Center.  Lori and Lisa went inside while I set the tripod up near the feeder and waited.

And waited.

I spoke with a fellow who used to live in Michigan who had taken a bunch of pictures of Painted Bunting that morning with a borrowed camera and they didn't turn out very well.  He was back with his own camera and hoping the bird would return.

Now I get wiggly when I know the girls are waiting for me so after 10 minutes or so (I know, not long enough!!) I folded up the tripod and turned to leave, having only seen blackbirds and grackles.  I turned back slightly to speak to someone and glanced at the feeder over my shoulder.  I nearly squealed when I saw who was sitting there, having a late lunch.

My first Painted Bunting!

I couldn't get the tripod down fast enough.  I was afraid these weren't going to turn out because the scene was strongly backlit and the feeder was in the shade, but they did, and I am thrilled.

There were actually two males on the feeder!

Had I not paused to talk to that fellow I would have missed this amazingly brilliant creature!  He perched and nibbled his seed, having no idea how much excitement he was generating.

After a few minutes another group of blackbirds came swooping in and scared off the buntings so I packed it up.  One of the park employees, hearing my concern about the light and whether or not the photos would turn out, suggested a fill flash.   Well duh--aren't I the one who is supposed to know that?

As we walked to the parking lot Lori noticed two Wood Storks flying towards us.  I got the camera up in time to get a few shots as they flew overhead.

Next:  The park yields another "must see" bird!