Merritt Island & Orlando Wetland

The bed at the Titusville Hampton Inn was very comfortable, so we slept until 5:30. We did a couple of language lessons on Babbel before going to the breakfast area with Mark and Cindy. There was a selection of muffins, bagels, toast, Belgian waffles, potatoes, cheese omelets, sausage, boiled eggs, fresh fruit, oatmeal and an assortment of cold cereals. There were several choices of coffees and juices as well.

Grackle visiting Mark

Cindy checked us out online, and we left for the Black Point Wildlife Drive again. Because the air was still cool in the early morning, we saw fewer alligators than yesterday but many more birds. In some areas many varieties of heron, egret, ibis and storks were congregated. As we neared the end of the loop road, we stopped to observe some wading birds. A large grackle landed on the hood of the car and looked at us through the windshield. It jumped to the mirror on the driver’s side of the pickup and looked in at us while vocalizing. Another grackle landed on the roof of the pickup. We suspected that people had been feeding the birds, so they were trained to mooch food from passersby. We started to drive away slowly but the two grackles stayed on the pickup’s roof for a time hitching a ride.

Osprey with a fish

Our next stop was back at the Merritt Island visitor center where we asked about bird viewing opportunities nearby. The volunteer suggested we go out Peacocks Pocket Road, a short drive from the visitor center. After turning off the road, we drove out the gravel access to the locked gate at the water’s edge. We walked along the elevated path for a little over a mile seeing a lot of grackles, ibis, herons and egrets. The only things that we hadn’t already seen were some of the small wading birds resembling sandpipers. We walked back to the pickup and drove to the Orlando Wetlands.

Purple Gallinule

The Orlando Wetlands is an impressive site. Treated wastewater from the city enters the site where plant life continues the purification process. This 1600-acre wetland is home to huge numbers of waterfowl, wading birds, songbirds, alligators and other wildlife. The visitor center is less than a year old and is well laid out and inviting. Staff and volunteers were very helpful. Although there were many visitors, including tour buses, the facility didn’t seem crowded.

Roseate spoonbill feeding hatchlings

We walked across the boardwalk to a place where roseate spoonbills, wood storks, and herons were nesting. The hatchling spoonbills, called “teaspoons” by some, already have the characteristic pink color of their plumage. As we watched the parent birds tending the young, we observed several turtles of all sizes swimming in the clear shallow water. We stayed at the rookery for some time then continued the boardwalk to the trail through the marsh rejuvenation. From the signage we learned that wetlands will eventually become clogged with debris. About every 30 years the area must be drained so the composting material can be hauled away for recycling as agricultural supplement. As we were finishing the trail and nearly back to the visitor center, we observed a sandhill crane on a nest in the marsh. The bird was well camouflaged, so we nearly missed seeing it.

Basking alligator at Orlando Wetlands

Back at the pickup we had a snack of rice cakes, peanut butter and trail mix before driving back to Homosassa. When we got to town, we drove the pickup through the car wash then to Walmart.  Mary and Cindy picked up salads for dinner while Mark and I topped off the truck's gas.

At the house, we unloaded the pickup and talked to Mike and Pam about the possibly rabid raccoon that was in their yard, It had fought with Bubba, one of their dogs. Mike killed the raccoon and turned it over to animal control for testing. Their dogs would have to be quarantined for 10 days until the raccoon’s rabies test results were in, even though both dogs had been vaccinated against rabies.

Turtle swimming at Orlando Wetlands

Mark and I took his dogs for a quick evening walk while Mary prepared dinner of salad and a turkey breast that I had smoked in December. Everything was very good.

Black Point Drive at Merritt Island

Neither of us slept especially well last night. Me, because of sciatica pain, and Mary because I was flopping around trying to get comfortable. We went downstairs at 6 am for morning beverages and to wish Cindy a happy 68th birthday. We got her a Blenko glass hummingbird and a bird identification book by Stokes. Unlike the Sibley book that use illustrations of birds, the Stokes books use photos of each bird including juveniles, various morphs, and other variants.

Mark made breakfast burritos, which were very good, then we gathered the things we thought we would need for our two-day visit to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Canaveral National Seashore. We left the house at 8 am for the nearly 3-hour drive to the Space Coast. Other than around Orlando, traffic wasn’t too bad and we made good time.

Painted buntings at the Merritt Island Visitor Center

Our first stop was at the Merritt Island visitor center. The volunteers there were exceptionally helpful giving us maps and advice on where to see interesting wildlife. They even gave Cindy a guide to birding in Eastern Florida. We had heard that painted buntings could be seen at feeders behind the visitor center, so we waited out back. We were rewarded by seeing several beautiful painted buntings and other songbirds. As we watched the buntings and took some snapshots, we chatted with a couple that we had met at Myakka River State Park last week while looking for caracara.

Common gallinule

Using the maps and information from the volunteers at the visitor center, we drove through the 15 mile Black Point Wildlife Drive. We have taken this route several times in the past, but we still enjoy this drive every time we are on the Atlantic Coast of Florida. We stopped so many times that it took us three hours to take the 15 mile drive. We saw many types of egrets, herons, ibis and other wading birds and waterfowl. There was a debate over a frequently observed bird whether they were common moorhens or common gallinules. Different print and online guides gave us conflicting information. We eventually learned that the birds had been called common moorhens, but they are now called common gallinules. We saw more ospreys that we could count.

Roseate spoonbill at Black Point Drive

When we left the Black Point Drive, we drove to the Scrub Ridge Trail. We parked at the trailhead and walked the one-mile loop through palmetto and other scrub. We didn’t see the variety of birds that we had seen at Black Point, but the walk was interesting and we were happy to move around which seemed to help my sciatica pain.

Our last stop for the day at Merritt Island was at the Bio Lab drive where we saw large flocks of glossy ibis, egrets, skimmers and terns. We also saw congregations of large alligators along the banks.

Steve & JD Maue at Dixie Crossroads

After leaving the Bio Lab drive, we drove to the Hampton Inn in Titusville where we checked in and freshened up before dinner. We only had a few minutes before we left at 6 am and drove to Dixie Crossroads where we met my friend and former coworker, JD Maue. JD is the STEM coordinator for the public charter schools in Brevard County. It was great to see JD and catch up on our lives as we munched on the sweet hush puppies on the table. We all enjoyed our meals. JD and I had flounder stuffed with crab. Mark and Mary had coconut shrimp, and Cindy had a crab cake. As we prepared to leave, our waitress brought Cindy a slice of key lime pie in a to go box as a birthday gift.

After paying the bill and saying our goodbyes to JD, we drove back to the Hampton Inn. We were all tired and turned in by 9 pm.