How many people get to celebrate 90 years of living? Of those, how many do it with the same health, gusto and enthusiasm for life that they had at 70? My Uncle Clyde is a rarity in every sense of the word.
Not wanting to miss the fiesta, I reserved his spare bedroom and made plans to drive to Florida. Additionally, we decided that hotel rooms would not be necessary and equipped my F250 truck with plywood flooring and two single mattresses from our RV. The topper on the bed would keep the weather and any unwanted guests out, think mosquitos, racoons, etc…
Our target for the first night would be the Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge. My thinking was to arrive late and park in the parking lot overnight to be ready at sunrise for some marsh birding.
A Bad, Great, Bad Start
On the drive down, we made a disappointing stop in Orange, Texas where there was very little bird activity despite some good eBird reports. The next stop would be Steamboat Bill’s in Lake Charles for some highly anticipated boiled crawfish. It did not disappoint. Seeing, smelling, and manipulating the morsel of meat from each little critter brought a tsunami of memories from my days in Southeast Texas where spring crawfish boils were as common as heat waves in the Oklahoma summer. I want more of this!
Now it was dark. We needed to figure out where we were sleeping so we could ring the bell on one night of hotel savings. The drive to the refuge was about 30 minutes, mostly through agricultural land such as rice fields. When we reached a spot close to the entrance we got an unexpected rejection. The sign said, “Crossing Private Property required to access Lacassine NWR. No passage between sunset and sunrise”. A Plan B was Created.
I turned the truck around and within a mile found a spot with an abandoned fifth-wheel trailer and pulled up beside it. This would be home for the night. Outside, the wind was howling (which means the mosquitos could not stop on you). The wind proved to be a false sense of security for me. As we moved things out of the truck bed to make room for our sleeping, I did not take the proper precautions regarding mosquitos. I paid for that most of the night. Seems the mosquitos swarm to the dead air in the back of my truck, duh!
Birding Lacassine NWR in Louisiana
The next morning was spent in the Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge has a few locations to park and walk. It is, however, mostly a slow driving tour. I assume this was to keep gator casualties to a minimum.
The bird life was amazing. In the 3.5 hours we spent in the refuge I logged 50 birds. Notable sightings were a lifer Sedge Wren and Boat-tailed Grackle. So maybe the Boat-tailed Grackle is not “notable”. After all, they are as common in the Southeastern coastal areas as Great-tailed Grackles are in an Oklahoma Walmart parking lot. But hey, everyone must see it for the first time at some point and this was my time. No shame. I also got my first ABA Area Limpkin and Glossy Ibis.
There were a couple of great photo sessions with a cooperative Common Yellowthroat and a Savannah Sparrow.
Perhaps one of the most dramatic sightings was the flock of Snow Geese. Literally thousands of birds filling the sky as far as the eye can see and making a landing in a nearby field. It was like a swarm of mosquitos from a bad dream, except it was beautiful. The field looked like the endless white of pack-ice in the Arctic Ocean.
Destination St. Augustine
Lunch time. Time to eat and hit the road. Where we would stop next, we didn’t know, but we would sort it out.
Turns out the rest stops on I-10 are quite nice and include restrooms and 24hr security. Many weary travelers use them for overnight sleeping. We would stop at one just east of Jacksonville, Florida on our way to St. Augustine to play tourist.
We rose early and hit the road. St. Augustine is a great little town with a rich history from early Spanish occupation through WWI. Full of quaint restaurants and bars and touristy things, one could spend all day there. It also has the famous forts which are part of the National Park System.
Each fort, Castillo de San Marcos and Fort Matanzas, is a National Monument. We spent time in both. Fort Matanzas is located a bit out of town and is accessible only by an NPS boat requiring an advanced ticket. We were lucky to get the last tickets on the last boat of the day. Waiting for our boat was my only real birding opportunity of St. Augustine.
Here I picked up my lifer Palm Warbler. No biggy, another very common bird for Florida that you just don’t see in Oklahoma or north Texas. What was cool, was getting my first photos of the very common Blue Jay, getting a great photo of a sitting Brown Pelican, and seeing a flock of Wood Storks soaring overhead.
Quality Time in Florida
That night we arrived at our accommodation in Taveres and enjoyed a nightcap with our host, Uncle Clyde. The next morning and over the next three days I walked the neighborhood around Clyde’s lakefront home (Lake Harris) and enjoyed seeing and photographing several birds in the yard and the neighborhood. That list amounted to 35 birds.
One bird that I did not photograph was the Snail Kite, which we saw while I was walking without the camera. While this bird is plentiful in the Panama Canal Zone, it was a new ABA area bird for me.
Gray Catbirds are quite common in central Florida. They are little busy-body members of the trasher family (mimidae). The family name, Mimidae, comes from mimicking. Mockingbirds, the greatest American copycats, are also in this family of birds.
Let’s Learn About Pileated Woodpeckers
There was a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers that put on a show one morning in the neighborhood. They were working hard to hollow out a dead tree and could not be distracted by my close approach. I observed and photographed North America’s largest woodpecker at close range for 30 minutes.
For all the effort made to excavate large cavities for nesting, the Pileated Woodpecker does not reuse it the next year. But all is not lost. Nature has a way of maximizing resources and, dare I quip, literally filling environmental voids. Many bird species rely on the excavations of the pileated woodpeckers for their nesting and ultimately for their survival.
It is for this reason that the Pileated Woodpecker, despite being non-migratory and having a very stable population due to its adaptability, is a protected species under the US Migratory Bird Act. Migrating birds depend on the abandoned nesting cavities of the Pileated Woodpecker.
One additional reason for protection is the destructive nature of nest building. Homeowners may not take kindly to him pounding out a lethal sized hole in their favorite yard tree or drilling into the facia and soffits of their home.
The Pileated Woodpecker has close relatives (same genus) all over the world. From the Lineated and Black-bodied Woodpecker of Central and South America to the Black Woodpecker of Europe, to the White-bellied Woodpecker of SE Asia, to the Andaman Woodpecker of the Nicobar and Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean. They are a successful group of birds.
In pop culture, the Pileated Woodpecker is Woody Woodpecker. Interestingly, Woody’s call is more like that of the Acorn Woodpecker.
A Real Fish Story
A visit to my cousin’s property in the area is always a must. Jim and Linda are excellent hosts, and we always enjoy our time spent at their rural property.
While sitting on their dock chatting, I noticed some movement in the water at the lake’s edge 15 feet away. I got a glimpse of the culprit, a large carp…or was it? As we looked more closely, we realized this was no carp. It was the largest bass I have ever seen. Easily over 10 lbs. More than that, we caught (not with hook and line) her right at her moment of spawning. She rolls over on her side, fanning her tail and releasing thousands of unfertilized eggs. All the while, two or three males, one fifth her size, scurry through the sea of eggs to spread their DNA in hopes of passing their genes to this superior mother’s offspring.
Oh, and one more thing, we saw and photographed a Sandhill Crane incubating on a nest! Tis the season for love!
Lake Apopka North Shore
One final birding stop before the big party was a visit to the Lake Apopka North Shore Preserve. This facility is another driving tour with a few stopping points along the way.
We loaded up the car with Mirka, myself, Clyde and his friends Virginia and Hector. The spot was loaded with wetland type birds. In addition to 36 birds seen on this trip, I added Gray-headed Swamphen (introduced species) to my ABA list. I have seen this bird previously in its native range in Vietnam.
Nothing Like Birding from an Air Boat
With the great birthday fiesta behind us, there was one more opportunity for fun before hitting the road. My cousins planned an airboat adventure in the marsh land adjacent to the St. John’s river.
It is always fun to skim around reed beds, lilies and low ground in an air boat. Although there is no hope of sneaking up on reclusive rails and wrens while air boating there is plenty to see. In fact, I logged 30 species on that ride. We had a blast, and it will not be forgotten especially the part about ending up on high ground at one point and taking some effort to recover without any outside help. Cold beers and conversation at the end of the ride were perfect.
Saying Goodbye
And so, we must say goodbye and begin our return to Oklahoma. The return was not without goals in mind. Florida Scrub-jay, Piping Plover and reuniting with some old SE Texas friends were on the agenda. We will see how that goes.
Love your drive to Florida Adventures, especially seeing the Woodpecker!!