Great Northern Diver

Another Great Northern Diver for North Lincs. This time at Burton Pits. It didn't swim close like the Ashbyville bird but remained in the centre of the pit.

Blacktoft Bitterns

This morning saw us heading out to see what was about on Crowle and Thorne Moors. Got mud up to our knees as we tried to navigate a brand new footpath...........and all we saw was a deer and a stonechat! Called at Blacktoft on the way home where bittern never fails. Saw 2 flying in to roost.

Red Kites

Always good to see red kites so usually call at Warter when we are on the north bank. There are not as many kites in this roost as last year, but still good to see. Keep your eyes peeled for David Hockney painting a few trees ! A fabulous landscape.

Lesser Scaup

Saw 1000's of these in Florida last week but dashed off for this one at Freiston Shore, Lincs as it was a new UK bird for Karen. Very distant in a biting wind.

A sunny, birding break to Florida

Desperately needing some sun and heat in our bones, Karen found a late bargain deal to Kissimmee. We had been to America before so knew we wouldn't get that many new birds, still that didn't deter us. We picked up the hire car and off we went. First decent birds were a group of 4 swallow tailed kites ! Brilliant - our first new bird. With nowhere to stop we weren't too bothered as we thought we would see alot more - wrong !  Just one single bird was seen and yet again we were driving with nowhere safe to stop.  We did find the driving very stressful, the levels of traffic were massive and it never stopped. Of course, the nearer to Disney the worse it got. We got very lost many times!

We managed about 140 species with 30 of these being new. Saw some fabulous mammels, had a day at Sea World and got a cracking suntan (now covered up with 2 fleeces!).

The places we visited were Brinson Park, Kissimmee Lakefront Park, Kaliga Park, Canoe Creek Road, Joe Overstreet Road, Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area, Lake Wales and the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Plus any good stops along the way. A big thank you to Roy and Linda Harvey for their trip report, much appreciated !

We saw plenty of warblers in full colour which was good after seeing them in autumn in Cape May with little colour.

Bird of the trip was the pileated woodpecker, big misses were American Avocet and Burrowing Owl.

Food shopping was quite a challenge. Trying to find plain food without maple syrup proved difficult, believe me they put it in everything ! But we managed it and spent very little. The meal of the trip was a Porterhouse steak and chips from Longhorns Steak House - probably the best steak we have ever had and a 7 chocolate pudding, scruptious! Infact, we needed a doggie bag for half the pudding which was swiftly demolished the following afternoon with a cup of Yorkshire tea on our balcony. We know how to live the high life!!

A fabulous weeks break with some excellent birds in the sun - can't go wrong !

Bald Eagle

10 bald eagles around the jetty at Lake Kissemmee but we saw single birds nearly every day. These 2 chicks were in a roadside tree in the 3 Lakes area. 

Roseate Spoonbill

Quite a few roseate spoonbills around Black Point and Gator Creek. This was a bird that has always eluded us so we were very pleased to see one this close.

Pileated Woodpecker

This was definately the bird of the trip. What attitude !!  When we stopped to look at the turkeys on Joe Overstreet, it flew across from a nearby tree. It certainly had the wow factor but remained very active and always a few trees away ! A cracker of a bird. We then found another one poking out a hole at the 3 Lakes Campsite where the red-cockaded peckers should have been. Afraid we didn't see red-cockaded.

Red Shouldered Hawk

There were 2 birds actually in the car park of Kaliga Park. How lucky these people are to live near such a wonderful place.

Florida Scrub Jay

Another target 'must see' bird. Although we saw a couple of these at Lake Kissimmee picnic area, they remained hidden in trees. Probably due to the weather (foggy and drizzling!). We thought we would have to come back here but we found this beauty sitting out on a trail just before the Manatee viewing area.