Great White Egret
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We researched the Space Coast before we left on our trip and discovered it is a prime bird wathcing destination. We packed our bird identification books,two pair of binoculars and Jim's new 70-200mm Nikon lens. In fact, Nikon hosts a birding festival in January at nearby Titusville. There were many species we wanted to see and some we didn't.
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Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is a 140,000 acre buffer zone around Kennedy Space Center and closed during a launch. Otherwise, the refuge is open to the public and many species of plants and animals. There is a Visitor Information Center with boardwalk around a pond where we found many forms of plants that were strange to us yankees..
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Migrating Pintails
We didn't see as many migrating waterfowl as we had expected. However as can be seen in the above image, there was a large gathering of pintail ducks in this marsh.
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Nesting Ospreys
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On our first trip to Merritt Island, we saw this pair of ospreys. The male is in flight and just flew from the nest. The pair is building a nest on a platform placed there for the osprey's use. Large marshlands surrounding their nest provide a food supply of small mammals and fish for their offspring.At times like this, Jim wishes he had a bit more telephoto lens as he didn't wish to get any closer to the pair.
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Great White Egret
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We took several self-guided driving tours around the refuge. Theree were a number of wading shorebirds but not the flocks we had expected to find during January.
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American Alligator
Looking like a log this American Alligator keeps its nose and eyes above the water surface. It moved slowly along the surface not even making a wave as it searched for food--or just loafed.
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