Good Birds, Bad Pics: Florida edition

For a lot of reasons, it's looking like I probably won't be going back to my home state of Florida for quite some time. Although I have a complicated relationship with the place, I increasingly enjoyed my regular visits, and was able to develop an appreciation for the things that make it special. Arguable (and certainly for the purposes of this blog) the best thing about Florida is the birds. A great state for birds in general, but also, one where there is relatively little overlap with my adoptive home state of California. 

So every time I've gone back I've tried to get a bit of birding done, despite how little time I actually get to spend there. This past April was my last trip, and while it produced some good bird pictures (to be posted at the usual rate that things go around here), it also produced some real stinkers. However, given that this was my last trip for a while, I'm going to go ahead and say 'still counts'! So here, without further equivocating, are some really terrific and cool birds that I was so happy to see, but that I was unable to get anything but the #WorstBirdPics of.

Caspian Tern
Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Boynton Beach, Florida, USA

April 2023
Member of the Gull, Tern, and Skimmer Family
§A Committee of Terns§

★The World's Largest Tern★

{Etymology Corner} Yes, they are named after the Caspian sea. And yes, a lot of these terns do live there. They really get around, huh?

What went wrong? Man, you know how these things fly around. It's hard to get a picture of them in flight, and they weren't landing. Also, the light was getting a little tough by this point.

Cape May Warbler
Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Boynton Beach, Florida, USA

April 2023

Member of the Wood Warbler Family

§A Confusion of Warblers§

{Etymology Corner} Yes, they are named after Cape May, New Jersey, which was where the bird was first collected by European colonizer types. However, unlike the Caspian Tern (above), they do not actually really live in Cape May. In fact, it took a hundred years for another Cape May Warbler to be sited there, although today it's recognized as an uncommon visitor. Maybe don't go for just your first idea on these things, when you're naming birds. And yet, still better than being named after some guy..  Shoutout to the Bird Names for Birds movement on their recent victory.

~True Bird Fact~ They have a curled semi-tubular tongue, which is unique among warblers, and enables their seasonally varied diets. In the summer, they're up North, mostly eating bugs, but in the Winter, they live in the Caribbean, where flower nectar and fruit end up being a large part of their diet. I wonder if they like the winter better. I know which of those two diets sounds more appetizing to me.

What went wrong? This guy was hoping around everywhere, going nuts. Also, I get reluctant to hold other people up when I'm trying to take a picture of a bird around other people. Maybe my camera settings were funky? I think the light was also starting to go a little here as well.

Worm-eating Warbler

Lantana Nature Preserve, Florida, USA
April 2023
Member of the Wood Warbler Family

§A Confusion of Warblers§

{Etymology Corner} They don't eat worms! Not even a little. They do eat caterpillars, but not more than any other warbler. The reaction to this information across the bird internet is muted, sort of a 'eh, what are you gonna do?' vibe. I find this distressing information. To make matters worse, the Worm-eating Warbler has a range that includes Cape May much more regularly than the Cape May Warbler, and the Cape May Warbler is known for it's favored food source to be an insect called the Spruce Budworms, to the point where Cape May populations increase when there's a Budworm outbreak. Who is naming these things? We need to shut this whole thing down.

What went wrong? I saw this guy out in the open for about 5 seconds before he completely disappeared. I followed his chirping around for a bit, but he never came out in the open again. Also, it was raining

And lastly, a very special welcome back to the American Redstart in his unprecedented second appearance in the Good Birds, Bad Pics series. Go to hell American Redstart.

What went wrong? Personal hatred for me, I'm assuming

Ruffed Grouse

Ruffed Grouse aka. Patridgde, aka. Pheasant, aka. Prairie Chicken (all colloq., inaccurate) aka. Thunder-chicken

East Glacier Park, Montana, USA
August 2023
Member of the Turkey, Grouse, and Partridge Family
§A Pack of Grouse§
★The State Game Bird of Pennsylvania★ (Ranked the worst state bird by this website, due to not being a state bird (Pennsylvania does not have one)
★The most widely distributed game bird in North America★

~True Bird Fact~ They are described as an "immensely popular game bird" by allaboutbirds.org, and I see no reason to argue with that characterization, given that they appear to have an enormous organization named after them. Yes, you heard me, The Roughed Grouse Society exists, and appears to have an extremely slick website, and a history of working with state governments to improve forest management to create more appropriate grouse habitats. 

Yes, these are hunters, which is not really my thing, but I think the lesson to take here is that a bird species thrives when attention and care is paid to it, although maybe not for ideal reasons in this case. Anyway, this aforementioned website is filled with great quotes. Like this one, about the birds comfort with humans "they can still be killed with a canoe paddle or thrown stones in Minnesota wilderness forests, and are not considered much of a sporting bird in western mountains and north into Canada due to their confiding “fool-hen” nature."

And this one about Ruffed Grouse chicks "The chicks are precocial, which means that as soon as they have dried following hatching they are ready to leave the nest and start feeding themselves. Grouse chicks are not much larger than a man’s thumb when they leave the nest. They are surprisingly mobile and may be moving farther than 1/4 mile a day by the time they are 3 or 4 days old. They begin flying when about 5 days old, and resemble giant bumble bees in flight."

I also learned that "Ruffed Grouse are almost exclusively “flower-eaters,” living on the dormant flower buds or catkins of trees such as the aspens, birches, cherries, ironwood and filberts. Extensive feeding upon flower-buds in apple orchards caused Ruffed Grouse to be placed on the list of bountied animals in some New England states at one time."

Man, what a great website.

So anyway, I went to Montana, to Glacier National Park specifically, to continue my bucket list dream of visiting all the National Parks. Didn't actually get that many birds there, due to not really taking a birds-first approach, but I did get some, that I'll be posting in the coming (months? years?). I did also capture some strange non-bird animals, that maybe you'd have a passing interest in. Like this one

Moose (Shiras subspecies)

Fishercap Lake, Glacier National Park, Swiftcurrent, Montana, USA
August 2023
Member of the Deer Family
§A Herd of Moose§
★Largest and Heaviest Member of the Deer Family★

{Etymology Corner} from the Algonquin "Moosh" from the Innu people. Meaning "stripper and eater of bark"

Dark-eyed Junco

Dark-eyed Junco (aka. Oregon Junco)
Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, Carmel-by-the-sea, California, USA
February 2022
Member of the American Sparrow Family
§A Quarrel of Sparrows§ 

~True Bird Fact~ Truly baffling that I haven't blogged this guy yet since I see him everywhere. Something between never bothering to blog him because I think I already have and never bothering to take a picture because I think I don't need one. Still, one of our cutest little guys. This bird is subject to a debate that is baffling to the amateur bird enjoyer like myself. See, this bird is described everywhere as having an 'extremely variable' appearance. What does this mean? It means that depending on the 'sub-species' the bird looks entirely different.

Map illustration by Borja Mila from the National Museum of Natural Science in Madrid

Take a look at this. Does this look like the same bird to you? Now keep in mind that I've never known ornithologists to not tell me that two almost identical (please see all seagulls for example) birds were actually different, and we have a real mystery on our hands. This article sort of explains it- scientists believe that this bird is involved in very rapid speciation. That is, it's turning into lots of different birds, right before our eyes (at least compared to the scale of time these things usually happen according to). I have to assume it's only a matter of time before they spin this bad boy off into like 14 different birds, half of which are nearly identical. Until then, I'll enjoy my local Dark-eyed Juncos without having to worry too much.

Two left feet
Never uses a public restroom
Always picks a little piece of tall grass and caries it with her when she goes walking
Swears by grinding her own spices over using the pre-ground kind