Preview of Things to Come

You know how birds fly south in the fall and then they fly north in the spring? Well it occurred to me that if the birds show up in our are in May, they must be somewhere south of that in April. Sure enough, research and connections at the DVOC showed that going to Florida in April might be a good idea. They were right.

Take the Cape May warbler. It was named by one of the early ornithologists because he shot one in Cape May NJ for a specimen. They next in Canada and winter in Central and South America. They rarely make it to NJ except for fleeting moments. I maybe see 1 each spring and a dozen in the fall. Guess where we found 8 of them this morning? In the Florida Keys at Windley Key Fossil State Park.

Cape May Warbler

They flitted around all morning just a few feet in front of us. We tried to get some good photos but only managed a few. Check out the rusty cheek patch on this guy. He was joined by 6 other males and 1 female. We also spent the morning with our signature bird - Black-throated Blue warbler.

Black-throated Blue Warbler

While these birds are more common in our area, it is still great to spend quality time with one. We saw other warblers too but didn't get any photos for the blog. You have to keep your eyes peeled down here because there are rarities too. I thought I had one with this bird but it turns out to be a browner version of our normal Mockingbird.

Mockingbird

Although the Cape May Warbler may be misnamed, they nailed the name of this creature. Can you guess?

Curlytailed Lizard

I Googled "curly tailed lizard florida". The name of the lizard is actually Curlytailed Lizard!

Lori and I just got here. She booked us a luxury 2 bedrooom/2 bath condo at Hyatt Regency. It has all the amenities including pool, beach, tiki bar and a veranda from which I am writing this blog post. All for the same price as 2 hotel rooms in a regular hotel. Wow.