I haven't had much spare time recently which means I couldn't go out bird watching which is disappointing really. Anyway, I went back to America, down in Orlando, Florida. I stayed at a different place to where I did last time which means there are different views and different birds. I discovered that there is a small nature walk on the complex so i decided to have a look around the place. I realised first how common the Boat Tailed Grackle is because throughout the holiday i saw a lot of them flying around wherever i went.
Anyway, during this nature walk i saw a Western Palm Warbler fly across the path in front of me, at that point i didn't know what it was because i had only had my book about birds in Florida for a couple of days. I took a couple of photos before it flew off for future identification. As soon as it flew off i saw a Red Bellied Woodpecker on a tree about 2 metres in front of me, I had seen one of these the last time i went to florida but i hadn't been able to take a photo, so i seized the opportunity and took some what i consider average photos of it. i carried on walking around this path which was very well maintained considering how many people stay at the hotel i was at, anyway i came across a small river and i could see quite a few Boat Tailed Grackles in the trees on the other side of the river and i could hear them all calling. i then looked down in the river and low and behold there was a Glossy Ibis, i had never seen one before but i knew what it looked like thanks to looking in different books i have. I actually managed to capture it flying away up the river which i think is a lucky shot to get as you can see all of the colours and features of the bird rather than just a silhouette.
I also saw what i thought were European Collared Doves because they have them in Florida but what turned out to be Mourning Doves these look very similar to collared doves but actually they look better than they do in my opinion. i continued to the end of that without seeing anything else which was slightly disappointing but i was still happy with what i had seen.
I can't quite remember where i saw the other birds that i did, but if you are in Orlando i recommend a trip to Black Point wildlife drive where you can drive around slowly in your car and get incredible views of wildlife. I saw a pair of Black Necked Stilts here which is a new spot for me. I saw a few other birds there too which were spectacular to look at as i had never read about them until a few days previous to then.
I forgot to mention that i witnessed the rocket launch that took place at Kennedy Space Centre and it was spectacular, if you ever get a chance to see it actually happen, do it without a doubt. Also when i saw this happen i saw a least tern on the beaches of Orlando, a photo of this will be included in the photos page.
Throughout my visit to Orlando this year this is what i saw:
Red Bellied Woodpecker
Glossy Ibis
Western Palm Warbler
Boat Tailed Grackle
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Anhinga
Brown Pelican
Snowy Egret
White Ibis
Willet
Laughing Gull
Northern Cardinal
Mourning Dove
Least Tern
I probably saw more species than this but as this was in April i can't quite remember what i saw and this was the list i made while i was there. (All the birds underlined in that list are new birds for me)
Here is one of the photos i took of a Glossy Ibis in flight. I will upload the other photos i took that are worth uploading to my Pictures Page.
