My Life’s Birds: #215-218

June 14, 1994 – “Ding” Darling NWR, Fl - There’s no way my dad and I could bird as much as we wanted to on our vacation. My mom and sister wouldn’t allow it. It was, after all, a family vacation, and it would be unbelievably selfish of us to insist otherwise. But in a place like Florida, and specifically Sannibel Island, it’s less necessary to make the actual effort. The birds are pretty much there as long as you’re ready to look for them at a moment’s notice.

So on the morning we had planned to do some kayaking through the mangrove swamps, it was nice to find a handful of American Oystercatchers on a small shoal made visible by the falling tide. And even nice to spot Sandwich Terns, their yellow-tipped black bills obvious even to those in boats, as we made our way across the bay to the head of the mangrove trail. When you don’t have to work for your birds you know you’re in a paradise, and when you can bird while “not birding”, all the better for familial relations.

But my dad and I found a short time that afternoon to go to the Bailey Tract, a small section of Ding not attached to the larger refuge. It’s a freshwater marsh, unusual on the small island, and one of the best places to find a Florida speciality, the Black-whiskered Vireo, similar to, but slightly different than, the Red-eyed Vireo we were already familiar with. Following a Vireo song led us to a pair of the birds. Thank goodness Vireos aren’t deterred by the hot midday sun.

A Eurasian Collared-Dove, more impressive then than it is now, on a the power lines on our way to dinner put a nice bow on a pretty solid day. Florida is great birding, whether or not you’re trying hard.

AMOY from wikipedia
BWVI from jerryoldenettel via flickr