18 April 2023 - Titusville, Florida

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Great Blue & Little Blue Heron, Great & Snowy Egret, Brown Pelican, White Ibis, Osprey, Anhinga, Royal Tern, Forster's Tern, Laughing Gull, Bonaparte's Gull, Spotted Sandpiper, Double-crested Cormorant, Roseate Spoonbill, Northern Cardinal, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Black & White Warbler, Northern Parula, Blackpoll Warbler, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Pileated, Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers, Merlin, Barn Swallow, Gray Catbird, Great Crested Flycatcher Bald Eagle, Carolina Wren (heard).

What a place! We awoke to bright blue skies overlooking the Indian River towards Cape Canaveral. Birds were moving all the time just offshore, especially Pelicans, Egrets and White Ibis, but also Royal Terns and Laughing Gulls. A Roseate Spoonbill flew over, as did an Anhinga. Around the dock area just in front of the house, a Little Blue Heron fed, and a Spotted Sandpiper lingered, and a Dolphin circled just under the dock area but only showed its fin. A Great Blue Heron was perched on the dock ropes early morning. As we sat in the sunshine,. a pair of Mottled Ducks flew in and landed within the dock area itself. A walk in the wooded grounds produced good views of Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, both quite plentiful, and very close views of a Pileated Woodpecker as it fed just a few yards away. Blue Jays were around the gardens, and Northern Cardinals sang their repetitive song from deep within the tree cover. A cracking Black-throated Blue Warbler appeared, but avoided being photographed, as did Northern Parula and Blackpoll Warbler. I did manage to capture a Black and White Warbler, and a distant view of Great Crested Flycatcher. Also in the woods were some amazing butterflies including White Peacock, Gulf Fritillary and Zebra Longwing. Some small lizards by the house would occasionally extend their bright-orange throat fan (or dewlap) and turned out to be Brown Anole, an introduced species.

Photos roughly in order of sighting.

Digs At Titusville, 1/2500 sec, f/5.6, 100 mm, ISO 320 (view full size image)