Florida Gulf Coast Creations

Tag: Blue Jay

  • Audubon Bird Count

    Audubon Bird Count

    Over the holidays, I joined my friend Art Nadelman for the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count. The event takes place across all North America and parts of South America. This was the 123rd Christmas Bird Count. We were assigned a specific area to record.

    We started around 7:30 am and completed around 12:30 pm. We managed to see 1300 birds across 62 species! The most numerous birds were the robins that are migrating through the area now. We counted almost 500 and likely missed more. Many of them will stay here until early March before beginning their journey back north.

    Robin Landing In Pepper Bushes
    American Robin Landing in Brazilian Pepper Bushes

    Attached is an article about the Audubon Bird Count.

    A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.

  • Highlands Hammock State Park

    Highlands Hammock State Park

    Now that the summer is upon us and the weather is getting hot, a favorite location for us to visit is Highlands Hammock State Park just outside Sebring. Like many other parks in Florida, it has a diversified habitat. The park transitions from a dry, primitive area with scrub oaks and pine trees to a deep woodland swamp with huge cypress trees. In between is an area called the hammock which is covered with large hardwood trees.

    Our favorites are the primitive and swamp areas. On this occasion, we didn’t make it to the swamp because there was so much activity in the primitive area. Highlands Hammock is known for having a population of Florida scrub jays, which are endangered. We were fortunate to find the jays. This time of year, the red-headed woodpeckers, northern flickers, and eastern towhees return to nest. We often see great horned owls, bobwhite quail, eastern bluebirds, American kestrels, and other woodpeckers.

    You can learn more about Highlands Hammock at the link below.

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