Maine through Georgia
Ozzie, Sophie and I arrived in Florida the 10th of September with the 2012 list standing at 355 including 139 lifers for the year. The 400 goal looks tight but I’m not giving up yet.
At the end of August we left Maine to make our way back to Florida. We skirted the top of Florida in June due to heat so now wanted to go back to catch some of the Fall migration there.
One of our first stops was to spend several days at Loft Mountain in the Blue Ridge Mtns. of Shenandoah National Park. What a glorious place…so different from the coast. There I upped the year’s warbler count by adding Black-Throated Green, Canada, and Chestnut-Sided Warblers. We also spend the better part of a day with an impressive 13 yr. old young man and his mother. In 2011 he had a big year of 436 birds at the age of 12! Thank you Gabriel!
One of our first stops was to spend several days at Loft Mountain in the Blue Ridge Mtns. of Shenandoah National Park. What a glorious place…so different from the coast. There I upped the year’s warbler count by adding Black-Throated Green, Canada, and Chestnut-Sided Warblers. We also spend the better part of a day with an impressive 13 yr. old young man and his mother. In 2011 he had a big year of 436 birds at the age of 12! Thank you Gabriel!
From the picturesque Blue Ridge Parkway we dropped down to Charlotte, NC to visit my cousin. There I had a nice morning birding in Latta Park, a little oasis of nature within the city. We had no idea the Democratic National Convention was in town which made travelling in Charlotte very interesting.
From Charlotte Deborah flew to Tempe, AZ to get her grandmother fix while I made my way to Orlando, FL to pick her up. Along the way I had another good day birding at Savannah NWR in SC. A Purple Gallinule has some seriously long toes!
Lastly, before reaching Florida, I stopped for a quick and beautiful walk on the beach at Jekyll Island, GA. There I was able to take the close-up picture of a Wood Stork below as well as having good views of Black Skimmers and Royal Terns.
Black-Throated Green Warbler
Eastern Wood Pewee
Pine Warbler
Song Sparrow
Chestnut-Sided
Warbler
Warbler
Hairy Woodpecker
American Goldfinch
American Robin
Brown-Headed Nuthatch
Red-Shouldered Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Black-Bellied
Whistling Duck
Whistling Duck
Purple Gallinule
Woodstork
Black Skimmer
Royal Tern
Cattle Egret