One more hike

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." - George Eliot

Alas, Fall Break is ending today, and I'll be heading back to the busy college life once more this afternoon. I try not to wish I was at home, while I'm at school (what good does it do to yearn for somewhere else when you could be enjoying where you are now?) but fall always makes me think of home anyway.

Florida fall is nothing like it is up north, but live here long enough and you'll come to know and love the signs of the changing season.


This morning, I wanted to go birding one more time before I head back to the coast. The park my sister and I wanted to go to was closed, so we headed down the road a little further to another trail in the same nature preserve.

It had changed a lot since I had last been there, over a year ago. The once grassy marsh area had been completely flooded and grown in. A doe and fawn sprung over the trail in front of us on our way to the observation deck, but there weren't as many birds as I had hope to see. Regardless, we managed to see some Great Egrets, Red-shouldered Hawks, American Crows, and an Eastern Phoebe.


Beyond the marsh area, we followed the little-used trail back into the woods, through forest, pine flatwoods, and finally to the creek. By this time, it was around 10am, and most of the morning activity had settled down.

We turned around and headed back the way we came, enjoying the warm breeze and subtle fall colors. At one point, we came across a large flock of Pine Warblers and Tufted Titmice. I tried to get some pictures with my sister's camera (since I still haven't replaced my poor Olympus), but they didn't come out well enough to post.

Back passed the marsh again, the Eastern Phoebe was sitting closer this time, so I managed to get a just-barely-adequate picture of the little bird. There was also a large flock of Ibis across the clearing, and a couple Cardinals seep-seeping their warning calls to us as we walked by.

It was a lovely morning, and I only wish it could have lasted a little longer. :-)

Until next time,

Happy birding!