We went down to breakfast at the Hampton Inn with scrambled eggs, sausage, waffles and fresh fruit salad. Mark and Cindy came down soon after we arrived in the breakfast area.
We checked out of the hotel and drove to the Black Point Wildlife Drive of Merritt Island Preserve. This 7-mile loop drive has a variety of habitats that attract birds, alligators, snakes and mammals of all types. We drove slowly along the gravel road stopping frequently to look at the birds in and around the shallow water. Mary and Cindy had a wildlife checklist that they used to list the many varieties of wading birds, waterfowl and predatory birds that we saw. We had a lot of debate over many of the wading birds since most were brown with long legs and slender pointed beaks. There were large groups of ducks and grebes feeding in the water along with ibis and egrets wading along the edges. Cindy was especially happy to see some rosette spoonbills flying over us.
We saw several bald eagles feeding on fish in the shallow water, but the ospreys were in abundance as you might expect in the coastal area. Seeing an osprey snag a fish from the water is always a sight to see.
When we stopped at trails leading to viewing blinds we met other visitors to the area. Since Black Point Wildlife Drive is well known for attracting a wide variety of birds, most of the people we met were birders and photographers. It was nice to compare our guesses of bird identification with people with much more knowledge and experience in bird species.
When we got to the Cruickshank Trail the temperature was over 80 degrees, so we decided to take a walk. As we enjoyed the warmth of the Florida sunshine, we thought about the weather forecast back home with nearly two weeks of heavy snow and temperatures dipping into the subzero range. We had been calling family to check on conditions and how everyone was doing.
The Cruikshank Trail is a five-mile-long walk with water on both sides of the elevated path. The only people we saw on the trail were two young men illegally fishing just off the path. Because they were releasing their catch, they didn’t see that they were doing anything wrong. We had gone about 2 miles out the trail when we came to a shelter with seats beside a gauging station to monitor water levels. While we sat in the shelter, we went online to check the status of a Space X launch that was scheduled for 12:20 this afternoon. Because of the wind, we saw that it had been rescheduled for 2 pm although we suspected that is wouldn’t be launched today at all.
We decided to walk back to the car and finish the loop drive then head back to Homosassa. Along with several other cars, we stopped to view a large group of egrets and other birds. After looking at the birds we started driving when we saw an egret fly onto the roof of the car in front of us and ride along for several hundred yards before flying away. We checked the SpaceX launch schedule again and saw that it was pushed back again so we didn’t wait around.
The drive back to Homosassa was uneventful except for some debate in the car over the best routes to take back. After several wrong turns and missed intersections, we made our way back. We stopped at a Twistee Treat for ice cream at a town along the route.
Back at the house we had chicken corn chowder with some leftover cornbread muffins for dinner then watched an episode of Astrid on PBS.
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