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Posted by Paul Bithorn on 10:00:37 11/28/04
On Saturday, November 27, 2004, Juan Villamil and I headed north to Merrit Island National Wildlife Refuge. Blustery winds and overcast much of the day, the temperatures hovered in the high 70 s, making for very comfortable birding.
Pump-house Road was our first stop. Except for American Coots, there were very few ducks. We ran into some local birders coming out from walking the levee behind the pump house and most of the birds Sara Linney reported seeing earlier in the day appeared to have moved on. We headed to Black Point Wildlife Drive and stopped about .2 miles from Stop 3 across from an Osprey Platform and located ten species of duck and one Canada Goose. Looking to the left (south) we located male Eurasian Wigeon mixed in with the American Wigeons and we had a possible female Eurasian, when an adult Bald Eagle spoiled our fun and scared up the birds. While many did return, the Eurasian could not be relocated. In the small pond to the right (north) in front of the platform, three Buffleheads casually fed, completely disappearing at times.
As we continued along the drive, highlights included White Pelicans, Roseate Spoonbill, Peregrine Falcon, an adult Broad-winged Hawk, Long-billed Dowitchers (calling) and Lesser and Great Blacked-Back Gulls.
Playa Linda Beach at the Canaveral National Seashore had a steady stream of Northern Gannets heading south with adults outnumbering the immatures by 4-to-1.
The Oak Hammock Trail, badly dmaged by thr recent rash of hurricanes, had Tufted Titmice, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Hermit Thrush and a male Black-throated Blue Warbler.
Late in the day, we returned to the Black Point Wildlife Drive in an attempt to relocate the Eurasian Wigeon, but came up empty-handed. Sustained winds of 20 to 30 miles per hour made keeping our scopes stabilized very difficult and the winds pushed the ducks further south to where they used a levee as a windbreak. However, we did relocate the Canada Goose.
After tallying 91 species, we headed to Porky s BBQ in Titusville for some delicious grub and sweet tea, as we capped off a great day of birding. Life is good............
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