Saint Mark's

Today I drove south of Tallahassee to Saint Mark's National Wildlife Refuge. I stopped at the visitor center to see the exhibits and get a trail map. The woman asked "Are you a birder?" I replied yes so she gave me a map of where to see rare birds such as a vermilion flycatcher, a nesting great horned owl, an eagle nest, a flamingo, and a roseate spoonbill. I hoped to see some of the birds today.  Off I drove down to the lighthouse and walked around.The is part of the big bend part of the shore. The big bend is where Florida curves from east west to south north. The water here is very shallow. If I walked into the gulf waters for a mile,  the water would be one foot deep. I would have to walk five miles before the water would reach my chin. 

The birds I saw today included turkey vultures, osprey, great blue heron,anhingas, snowy egret, great white heron, Carolina chickadee, tri-colored heron, brown pelicans, canvas back ducks, ring necked ducks, kingfisher, gray catbird, American wigeon duck, hooded merganser, Gadwall duck, red winged blackbirds, and killdeer. 

I got a picture of the tri-colored heron. About four o'clock in the afternoon I thought I would head back to the park headquarters to use the bathroom and leave the refuge. That office was closed already so I drove five miles back into the refuge to use the other bathroom that I saw. On my way to use that bathroom some cars were parked at the side of the road. I carefully drove between them. As I did that I saw why they had stopped. There perched on a branch a few feet above the road in the bright sun light was a Vermilion flycatcher! Score! I used the bathroom and saw the flycatcher again as I drove out. Today was a great day of birding.