To kick off the final week in Florida I had to contend with record setting cold once again with morning lows in the 20's with a slight breeze (not nearly as windy as the day before). With the less than ideal conditions I once again didn't stray too far from the house with visits to Gemini Springs Park, Thornby Park, Campbell Park and Audubon Park. I took a lesson from home with my strategy today in tracking down warblers by finding a sunny edge as the sun rose and warmed things up. It worked fairly well with a few mixed flocks found and I ended the morning with eight species of warblers.
For Tuesday I headed north to Lake Woodruff NWR well before dawn. It was yet again a frosty morning and the warbler activity was low, especially early on in the morning. There were lots of Common Yellowthroats, Palm Warblers and Yellow rumped Warblers plus the continued Northern Yellow Warbler. The Northern Yellow Warbler has been incredibly reliable at the location and is always within an area of less than a fifty foot circle. This seems to be the case with other Northern Yellow Warblers I have found down in Florida. I came home somewhat early to pick up Wilson and then we headed to Gemini Springs Park. Just half a dozen species for the day.
Wednesday was finally a morning without frost (although just barely with temps at 35). I spent about three hours at Gemini Springs Park and then came home and picked up Wilson for a walk back at the park. I started off before dawn and started adding warblers once the sun started warming stuff up. I got some great looks at a variety of species and got a few good photos. The most noteworthy warbler for the day was an American Redstart on had on my walk with Wilson (a new species for me in Volusia County). A total of nine warbler species for the day. It eventually warmed into the low 70's with lots of sun.
Rain arrived for Thursday and persisted on and off through midday and then the wind picked up. I got out a bit as soon as the rain let up and visited a couple nearby parks. Even without ideal conditions and rain threatening I had seven species of warbler.
Friday was another morning with frost unfortunately, although with no clouds and light breezes initially it was not too bad. I decided to headed down once again to Gemini Springs Park and I had some good warblers there once again. I got some great looks at a number of species as I ran across a few mixed species flocks. Among the eight species for the morning before the wind picked up was my first Black throated Green Warbler (warbler species #21 for the trip and the year).
On Saturday I returned to Gemini Springs Park before dawn and stayed there for a few hours. I originally was going to go further away but with a bit of a breeze I figured it was not worth a longer trip. The park once again produced a great selection of warblers with nine species total. Not bad at all considering the breeze.
For the last full day in Florida I headed to the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive and spent around three and a half hours there. It was a sunny day that started cool and warmed up nicely with full sun...a great bit of weather as our time in Florida comes to an end. Even with the spot not being typically great for warblers I found a total of eight species including one of the continued Northern Yellow Warblers and loads of Common Yellowthroats and Palm Warblers.
Now a look at overall numbers for the trip to Florida that lasted from January 4-February 9. I had a total of 21 species with two of those new for me in the state (Northern Yellow Warbler and Swainson's Warbler). The Swainson's Warbler was also new for me in the US. My Florida warbler list now stands at 28 species.
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