My favorite thing about Merritt Island right now is the Green Heron’s nesting in the mangroves. There are also Boat-tailed Grackle’s with chicks in the nest, and a pair of Eastern Kingbird’s building a nest last time I was there.

At this point you can see all ages of Green Heron’s there. Some are still sitting on the nest, others have little fuzzy heads poking out, while various sizes of chicks perch on branches.

Happy first day of Summer!

What a great Spring it was. I hope that Summer will be great too. I’ve been having so much fun outside, but I dread the upcoming heat and mosquitoes.

I have held strong in spending 30 minutes outside every day this month. Here are a few photos from this last week and a half.

Pileated Woodpecker’s

Tri-colored Heron

This gorgeous Barred Owl made my day, and see the little Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher next to it in this photo? That little bird was making a huge fuss when the Owl landed on that tree, but it is kind of a cute photo.

Brown Thrasher

Green Heron

Knowing I was getting out of work early today, all I could think about was finally getting in some bird watching time! So despite the dreary clouds looming overhead I got in my car and was off to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, picked up breakfast at Sunrise Bread Co. and was on the beach by 10:30.

Found this beautiful Prairie Warbler on the dune.
Unfortunately, also discovered the return of mosquitoes. BIG TIME. Rushed back to car!

Green Heron

Great Blue Heron

Eventually it did start to rain… Black-necked Stilt. Love their legs.

Roseate Spoonbills in the rain.

What a great face!

I also saw a number of nests out there. Will definitely be back to check for chicks.

Friday night we had thunderstorms, followed by an incredibly windy Saturday, and a freezing cold Sunday. One of those days that while cold is bright and sunny and beautiful! A great day to be out. The birds, however, looked like they weren’t too happy about the temperature…

The coolest thing I saw was 100 or so American White Pelicans flying over. Seemed like they just kept on coming… such large and graceful birds.

Here are some birds from Merritt Island a few days ago. There is so much to see, I could be there all day. There was a Bittern attracting the most attention, I didn’t take any photos because it was just so crowded.   The Horned Grebe is my favorite! It’s so cute.

Horned Grebe

Green Heron

Coots

Northern Shovelers

Glossy Ibis

Wilson’s Snipe

Roseate Spoonbill

Northern Pintail

Reddish Egret

Pied-billed Grebe

American White Pelicans

Great Blue Heron

Yesterday was the first day of Summer! I got up while it was still dark, and my Mom and I drove over to Merritt Island for some birdwatching. When we got there the sun was up, and making for some beautiful light and sparkling water.

My main hope was to see some baby chicks. It didn’t take long before we found this fluffy little Willet chick.

It’s parent was in a tree making a fuss.

We saw some other birds…

Then I was about to give up hope on finding any more chicks. We had driven down Gator Road, and Black Point Drive where I had seen so many Black-necked Stilt’s nesting about a month ago. But down Bio-Lab Road, I got out to look at a Roseate Spoonbill and there was my Black-necked Stilt family by the shore! One parent was flying overhead and making a lot of noise, the other walking along with baby.

So adorable!