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Posted by Bill Boeringer on 22:52:06 05/24/09
Gnashing our teeth and rending our garments all week because we could not go to see the Jax Greater Sand-plover last week, all circumstances lined up to allow a chase for the bird on Saturday May 23. I left home at 0030 Saturday, stopped by Angel & Mariel's place in Miami Lakes, and the three of us then met up
with Linda McCandless in Boca at 0145 for the long trip to Jacksonville. I stayed reasonably awake for the drive, although at times we had to switch from conversation to Pearl Jam on the CD. We were even able to start our day list with House Sparrows at a Walgreens near Vero Beach in the middle of the night. We nearly called Toe at home at 0330 to berate him for slacking off- we were pretty sure he had no day birds yet-but clearer heads eventually prevailed.
We arrived at Huguenot State Park at 0700, first in line. We could not go in until 0800, however, despite the fact that there were park employees there. Even worse, it is possible to enter at 6 am IF you have an early bird pass. Which you can purchase. When I asked about buying one, they said I could-- when the office opened at 8am! So we watched helplessly as surfer after surfer drove right into the park, and there was more gnashing of teeth and rending of garments...
At least it was light, and we could bird around the entrance. Laughing Gulls, Green Herons, and eventually I saw an oriole fly into a tree, and it soon broke into song to confirm Orchard Oriole--a lifer for Angel & Mariel, and we hadn't gotten into the park yet!
At last 0800 rolled around, and we drove straight to the small inlet where the bird has been observed. Tide was high, and there wasn't much room to maneuver the cars. Scans of roosting groups were negative, and eventually we parked and began walking and scoping. Lots of quality birds were there: Reddish Egret, White-rumped Sandpiper, Whimbrel...but not what we were looking for!
At 0930 Angel and I had just finished scoping a close group of shorebirds and were picking up our scopes to move further when a young birder near us, who was talking to someone on her cell phone, yelled "I think it just came in!". We whirled, and there, not 30 yards away, was the bird. Right where we had just scanned! A quick binocular view confirmed it, and when scoped the bird filled the eyepiece! We called Mariel & Linda who came running, and soon there were high fives all around, with the teeth-gnashing and garment-rending nothing but a memory.
After that it was all gravy--but really, really delicious gravy. We drove around the dunes and all the way down the beach side to the jetty. Scanning the waves on the far side of the jetty, I caught movement just offshore--"storm-petrel!" I yelled; it was tough to view in the surf, but from the flight, the wing shape and the lack of broad white it was soon determined to be a Leach's Storm-petrel. Angel & Mariel found 2 more petrels directly in front, which this time were clearly Wilson's Storm-petrels, and then Angel & I got onto a much heavier, stronger bird--a Pomarine Jaeger. Heck, pelagic birding in Jacksonville was easy!!
On the way back, we found a dead Leach's Storm-petrel on the beach, which Angel wrapped up and will seek to donate to a state museum collection. It's amazing how small and delicate they appear in the hand, when they seem so much larger sailing over the ocean...
We went back for a last look at the plover, and found it without problem. Someone signaled us over for a look into a scrape of water in the dunes, and we had a Red-necked Phalarope to add to the day!
At 1200 we departed the park, a singing House Finch serenading us as we left. Just in time, for the skies opened up and we had steady rain for the next hour or so as we headed south, and home. The drive home was uneventful; I entertained everyone with my inveterate county birding, which ranged from the sublime (Wild Turkey! Flagler County!) to the ridiculous (alright! House Sparrow, Volusia County! and right in its natural habitat--a gas station!). Our only birding "stop" was grabbing lunch at a McDonalds somewhre in Volusia County, where I ticked that all-important House Sparrow, plus Red-shouldered Hawk and a Pine Warbler (I missed the House Finch that Angel saw on the other side of the building; sadly, it remains missing from my Volusia list, but there is little teethgnashing or garmentrending over it...)
After dropping everyone off, I got home at about 1830, in time for dinner and a celebratory libation. Just a little pinot grigio, thanks, I was WAY too tired for much else. Nearly 800 miles, driving all night...just to see some stray central asian shorebird. I must be crazy. But if a Caspian Plover should show up in Pensacola tomorrow....
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