After a cold night up in Tallahassee (I did not realize it would get down into the lower 40s when I decided not to use a blanket to sleep with), Dave Simpson and I hit Alligator Point to chase the second Spotted Towhee in Florida. Arriving before the sun hit the horizon, we looked around for five minutes, decided it was too dark and cold, and went to the beach for a little bit to scan for ducks and loons. After seeing a grand total of 0 loons, we got back into the warmth of the car to go look for the towhee again. There was lots of activity including a Rufous Hummingbird, multiple Parulas, White-throated Sparrows, and a flyover Common Loon, but it was not until about 8:15 that I got a quick glimpse of the Towhee. Dave came running over, but I had already lost the bird. Several hours and multiple short sightings later, the towhee finally came out for all seven chasers to get excellent views.
On the way home we made some stops so Dave could add county birds to his county lists. Most stops already had Parulas finding territories, while only a few had Yellow-throated Warbler and Broad-winged Hawk. At lake in Jefferson County had my year Northern Rough-winged Swallow (282). The best bird of our county listing stops was a young Whooping Crane at a place called Koon Lake. |
