Blue Goose ~ Day 243

January 25, 2015 ~ Daytona Beach, FL to Starke, FL

Upon awakening and wiping the sliders I saw thousands of gulls on the beach. Within five minutes I was down there and spent the next two hours absolutely delighted by the whole scene. I hadn't missed it after all.

Daytona Beach - FL

There were terns and shorebirds in with the gulls. I know there were gannets and jaegers flying about also, but didn't look for them. (I had been checking eBird reports which noted them.) Pelicans were dive-bombing into the ocean for food. The terns were Royal and Forster's; the shorebirds that I saw were a lone Willet, Black-bellied Plovers, Sanderlings, Dunlins and Ruddy Turnstones. The gulls were Laughing, Ring-billed, Herring, and a single Black-backed. I am on the cusp of "poking through" the gull flocks for the less common birds, but this morning just settled for the easy ones. They were tame and didn't flush easily. Few people were walking the beach; the occasional car stayed away from the water's edges so it was mostly me and the birds. I walked a mile until the gulls and terns slowly starting flying out in small groups. It was a lovely way to start the day, bundled against the wind, under blue skies, waves splashing on the sand and watching this showy avian spectacle in the bright sunshine.

Royal Terns  - Daytona Beach, FL

I left in early afternoon and finally moved inland toward Lake Woodruff NWR, arriving well into the afternoon and first walking along one of the impoundments before taking a loop trail through the adjacent cypress swamp. I came into a little birdy place on this trail with kinglets and warblers, vireos and titmice flitting about and moving through. The trail was just barely above the swamp with a few significant mushy sections. Lake Woodruff has swamps, marshes and uplands as it runs along the St. Johns, Florida's longest river.

The Florida scene soon changes away from the coasts. It becomes more ordinary with small towns and cultivated fields where possible in between undrained land. The homes are mostly modest with rocking chairs on the porches, an abundance of flora, watery ditches and ponds....

 

 Nature Trail at Lake Woodruff NWR

I stayed in Starke, arriving well after dark, and slept fitfully in a Walmart parking lot. The cold woke me up. Yes, it IS getting less of an adventure and more of a slog, but I'm nearly finished with eight months! I can do this...

Somehow I left a camera charger at the motel, probably when changing rooms. Since I realized it quickly, I went back and the manager and I checked both rooms but it was gone. And then, one of the van's sliding doors stopped opening, a minor annoyance. If I happen to drive by a Dodge-Chrysler dealership, I will see if they can at least tell me what the deal is. Otherwise, It can wait until I get back to Michigan.

Laughing Gull - Daytona Beach, FL