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Posted by Abby on 12:01:43 03/13/05
It's been a pretty good weekend of birding. Friday night Aireo and I went to royal palm to look for owls, where we heard Barred Owls and got great views of a Barn Owl. We first saw it from the boardwalk while there was still some light, and later we saw it perched on the palm stump. We also heard a Whip-poor-will singing, but we couldn't find it.
Saturday, I began and ended the day with life birds. I started at Carysfort circle for the Clay-colored Sparrow and my life Brown-crested Flycatcher. The afternoon was generally slow but included a Least Flycatcher at Lucky Hammock, first of the year Eastern Kingbirds at the end of Research Road, a Worm-eating Warbler on the Gumbo Limbo Trail, and a Louisiana Waterthrush on the Anhinga trail. As the sun sut, I met with my first success in searching for nightjars by looking for eyeshine: as I turned onto the dirt road that leads to the education center I saw a glow in the middle of the road. As I approached, the eye eerily blinking and shot up into the air, and I briefly saw the shape of a Chuck-will's Widow as it flew over my car and into the woods. I found my second nightjar at the visitor center just outside the park. I followed the "pwip" calls of what I thought was a Whip-poor-will to a coconut palm by the office buildings, where an eye shined back in the light of my flashlight. I moved closer and got a wonderful view of my life Whip-poor-will. I sat down to watch it catch moths that flew into the light of the building; a great way to end the day.
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