Florida Scrub Jays!
jadel
to Merritt Island NWR. There were huge numbers of waterfowl and
shorebirds, including Marbled Godwits--a life bird for me--. I had
never seen Gadwalls, either.
The highlight of the trip was a visit to Scrub Ridge Trail. There I
saw five Florida Scrub Jays. I got pictures of them and was absolutely
astounded to have four jays literally at my feet for several minutes.
I'd seen them on a previous trip, but only from a distance.
We also saw many of the usual suspects for Florida, ibises, both white
and glossy; several kinds of herons; ospreys, bald eagles; snowy,
common, and cattle egrets. I also saw Palm and Yellow-rumped warblers
and Blue-Gray gnatcatchers, the last a group of at least a dozen busy
among a patch of scrub oaks.
J. Del Col
maryann kolb
wrote:
Merrit Island is a great place to bird. I saw my first Florida Scrub
Jays there and I was also impressed by how approachable they are.
You make me want to get in my car and head south!
Mary Ann
Barnwell, SC
Dave Fouchey
wrote:
Road Trip with Mary Ann!
Florida is a great state for wildlife observing in general, and this
time of year is your best bet as far as avoiding the unofficial state
bird, the Mosquito.
Cheers!
Dave F.
Somewhere Nowhere
I remember when my folks lived in Sebring, Fla in the 70-80s. The
would come and sit on my dads head and then fly to his hands where the
penuts were.
Now it is illegal to feed them cause they have come to be too
dependent on humans.
Larry Sheldon
I have no credential from which to speak, but either that is just wrong,
or all of our bird-feeding efforts are.
My mother had trained the jays to take peanuts from her hands (she would
play tug-of-war with them--and it seemed clear that it was a game of
rules--if she let go too easily it almost seemed like some of the birds
would give the peanut back.
And it is not clear to me who trained who.
There is a down side--one of the saddest things was watching one, after
her death, tap on the kitchen window trying to summon her.
But the Quail, Raccoons, and the Squirrels missed her too. We just
couldn't show it as plainly as the Jays did.
Except for the current freeze, which is no doubt causing difficulties
for lots of critters, I have trouble believing that there is ever a time
of year when feeding young is not possible, and I have trouble believing
that feeding can alter biological clocks and calendars. That just
doesn't make sense to me.
And I have trouble that the law is effective against spilled French
Fries and myriad other tasty things humans make available "un-naturally".
--
Remember: The Ark was built by amateurs, the Titanic by professionals.
Requiescas in pace o email
Ex turpi causa non oritur actio
Eppure si rinfresca
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jadel
It is illegal to feed any wlidlife on a Federal NWR, including Merritt
Island
.http://www.fws.gov/Merrittisland/Regulations.html
My brother-in-law-,who does not live near an NWR, swears he has had
FSJ's visit his bird feeders, but in that case the feeder is not set
up specifically to bait FSJ's.
(Mostly it attracts squirrels)
Florida state law prohibits the -deliberate- feeding of bears,
raccoons, foxes, alligators and sandhill cranes. (Sandies can be
nuisance in built up areas. A three foot tall bird with a big sharp
beak and a bad attitude is not a good thing up close.)
J. Del Col