To start off the second week I headed down to a small city park in Orlando called Ward Park with the main goal being to track down a rare for area Western Tanager as well as some Summer Tanagers and I had success with both. Although the park was quite small it held a decent number of birds including a total of eight species of warblers.
Tuesday I finally made a trip out to the coast with the goal to add new species for the year with the focus being shorebirds and gulls (and other coastal birds). Without a lot of time I headed to the closest coastal area available in the Ponce Inlet area instead of going further south to better birding locations (like Merritt Island NWR). Warblers were not a goal for the day and I only ended up with five species with only three of those on the coast.
Wednesday found me making a return trip up to Lake Woodruff NWR and among the four species of warbler there was an unusual for location Northern Yellow Warbler. I added a couple more species for the day at Scrub Oak Preserve so ended the day with half a dozen species.
On Thursday headed out on a rainy morning and given the conditions I didn't travel too far. I decided to hit a number of places off to the southeast including D Ranch Preserve, Leon Bluff Boat Ramp, Hickory Bluff Preserve and Lake Monroe Conservation Area. Once the rain ended the wind picked up a bit and it was overall a cool day. It was another day with half a dozen species of warblers.
This Friday found me once again headed over to Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive. The day started with record setting cold weather with a frosty low of 30 degrees. I didn't think I would need to break out the winter coat and hat again until I got back home! At least it was sunny with little wind so it really didn't feel terrible after the first couple hours. The most unusual warbler for the morning were two Northern Yellow Warblers in the same area I had them last week. The drive also contained high numbers of Common Yellowthroats and Palm Warblers.
I had limited time on Saturday morning before I had to return to take care of Wilson as Sherri headed off to a conference and I decided to head out early with a trip to the coast to add some more shorebird species. I started off at New Smyrna Beach where I spent a little under two hours before heading south to the northern most sections of Merritt Island NWR. Again not a warbler centric morning so just a half a dozen species.
To end out the second week in Florida I stayed close to home as Wilson had a rough evening and was still not quite back to normal in the morning. Once I was sure he was okay I headed to a couple nearby areas before returning home to take him for an early (and long walk) before the latest cold front was forecast to arrive. Managed just five species of warblers for the morning.
For the entire second week I ended up with a dozen species of warblers.
