An Epic Winter Day Birding in South Florida

Arthur Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge

The weather the last few weekends has been nothing short of depressing.  It was beginning to seem to Kevin and I that the Universe was conspiring to keep us indoors.  Finally, last Sunday we had one of those blue-bird winter skies that Floridians live for, so we decided to go for a hike at our favorite wildlife reserve with camera in tow. Our baby daughter Olivia cooperated by napping in her stroller almost the entire time we were out and about so mom and dad could have a little bit of us time.  

What started off as a sleepy afternoon with not much more than a dragonfly to photograph turned out to be one of the most epic hikes in quite some time.  The winter months are nothing short of amazing for birding in Florida and our first spotting was of a lovely little yellow-bellied sapsucker. We heard him before we saw him but he posed long enough for us to photograph him in the cypress swamp boardwalk that we love so much.  The boardwalk was quiet, save for that fun find. The sound of the trees swaying with the breeze is reason enough to come here, though.

We left the boardwalk and began to make our way to some unpaved hiking trails.  On the way, we spotted a crowd that had congregated by a canal and seemed to be ogling at something in the water.  A momma gator was there, surrounded by 9 hatchlings! They were submerged in duckweed- tiny, free-floating plants, not more than a ¼ of an inch wide each.  (Think ultra mini lily pads.) Most of the hatchlings were in the water with their momma, but one remained alone, sunbathing on a floating pile of vegetation in the water.

We took our share of pictures and continued on our way, only to stop dead in our tracks.  Wood ducks!!! A mating pair was swimming together. Unfortunately, the minute they caught a glimpse of Kevin and I, they went behind some thick brush and stayed there defiantly, not allowing us to get a good shot.  Kevin entertained himself by taking pictures of a little blue heron fishing as he waited patiently. Unfortunately, they never did come back out so we let them be and finally went to the hiking trail as we had intended.

A ruckus was coming from a grouping of trees along the trail.  Most of the noise was coming from boat-tailed grackles that were clacking and chattering away, but we could hear a few red-bellied and pileated woodpeckers in the tree.  Kevin was able to get a couple of shots, although they were a bit obstructed by tree branches.

By this time, Livi was awake and smiling at me for no reason at all.  I swear, this little girl is just the happiest person I know… except when she needs to be fed, so we picked up the pace to make sure we got back home before she got “hangry”.  There was a purple gallinule eating some vegetation to the right, and a strange call at a distance behind it. “That sounds like a sandhill crane” Kevin murmured. He grew up in central Florida where sandhill cranes are as common-place as Great Blue Heron’s down here. I never grew up seeing them or hearing them so I didn’t recognize the sound at all.

Once we got to a clearing, we saw a group of cattle egrets with one odd family member hanging out in the middle.  Once we zoomed in the camera lense, there he was! The sandhill crane Kevin had heard. Another great find!

We walked back to the parking lot and as we made our way to the car, I was so giddy about all of our amazing finds that I couldn’t help begin listing what he had seen that day… only for Kevin to interrupt me to point to a male painted bunting in a tree to our left!  The man had EAGLE EYES that day. What the heck!? We scrambled to turn the camera back on and take a pic but he was too quick and flew away. We couldn’t help but laugh. It just doesn’t get better than that folks!