The beginning of the fourth week in Florida started with some morning rain that kept me at the house for a bit before there was a slight let up. With rain threatening through late in the morning I never strayed too far away. Warblers were tough to come by with just five species. At least it was warm with highs in the 70's and likely the last warm day for at least a week.
The cold and wind settled in for Tuesday and I was torn on where to go. I decided on a trip out to the coast in the Daytona Beach area to track down more coastal species that could still likely be found despite the wind and if the wind let up at all I would travel up to Ormond Beach to try to track down a Wilson's Warbler. After a few stops on the coast the wind would occasional let up a little so I tried my luck at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex where the Wilson's Warbler was reported. Unfortunately the notes people provided for the location were contradictory so I had little to go on. Despite a lot of looking I never was able to locate the warbler. However all was not lost as I managed to find a different rare warbler with the brief sighting of a Nashville Warbler near the end of my two plus hours at the location. Although I only had five species for the day the Nashville Warbler was a new one for the year for me.
Wednesday was yet another frosty morning and I headed to Lake Woodruff NWR before dawn. Thankfully there was little wind early on so it was tolerable. The Northern Yellow Warbler continued in the same spot for another day (no photo of it today) and I managed five other species giving me an even half dozen.
For Thursday I headed to Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive to walk a part of the drive during a time when there are no cars allowed. The drive typically doesn't hold too many warbler species as it is mainly water impoundments and I had just three species there over a couple hours. The next couple hours spent Apopka Birding Park added a few more species and by the end of the day I had yet again found half a dozen species.
I made a return trip back to Lake Woodruff NWR on Friday. It was finally a morning without frost (although just barely with temps in the upper 30's). I spent over three hours exploring the area and found a total of eight species of warblers with fantastic views of several.
For Saturday I decided to try my luck more time in trying to track down a Wilson's Warbler in Ormond Beach. I tried for it on Tuesday without any luck although the cool temps, breezy conditions and noise from all the activity at the location made finding it tough. I made the drive out before dawn and arrived to overcast conditions with mostly calm winds. I heard the Wilson's Warbler fairly quickly and then got brief looks before in disappeared into the deep tangle area it favored. I spent the next hour and a half trying to get better looks and photos (with some success). I did not have any luck finding the Nashville Warbler I saw at the location on Tuesday. The Wilson's Warbler was the 20th warbler species of the year for me and a great species to end out the month.
To end the fourth week in Florida I had to contend with record setting low temps and wind throughout the day. It was a numbing 24 degrees with a wind chill at 10 to start the day and it only warmed to the mid 40's with a continued wind. Given the conditions I didn't stray too far from the house and just visited some local areas. Despite the cold and windy conditions I managed to find a total of nine species to start off the month of February.
For the entire fourth week in Florida I found a total of 14 species of warbler with two new ones for the year (Nashville Warbler and Wilson's Warbler) with the Wilson's Warbler becoming my 20th warbler species for the year.
