Camping trip, last day

Our final morning in the woods dawns cool and damp -- no rain during the night, thank goodness, but everything is covered in dew and the air hangs heavy with clamminess.

As we warm up by the fire during breakfast, the forest is alive with birds. A huge pileated woodpecker sets up shop right above our tent, hammering away at an oak tree. Downy woodpeckers "peep" to one another all around, and my mother, while taking a walk down by the river, photographs a yellow-bellied sapsucker! I'm not going to lie -- I'm jealous!

In addition to the woodpeckers, there are also the usual Eastern phoebes and towhees that have claimed our campsite as their territory. The phoebe tries to fight its reflection in our car window for a little while, before losing interesting and flying away. The towhee on the other hand is more interested in eating the old corn grounds in the bushes.

In late morning, once our fire has died out we take a long hike on one of the upland trails that follows the path of the river. Compared to the trekking we were doing over the uneven terrain the last two days down by the river, this flat trail is a piece of cake to walk.

I'm amazed by the habitat diversity in the area. We go from pine flatwoods, to centuries-old oak groves, to cypress swamps, to fields of grass.

In the more open areas, I find mixed feeding flocks of pine and palm warblers flitting across the path. Also along the river I find a pair of common ground doves, a species I rarely see.

Although my photo didn't capture it well, a brilliantly colored blue-gray gnatcatcher spent some time in an oak tree along our way as well.

Not far past the gnatcatcher, two black-and-white warblers scale the oaks with skillful agility. I love these guys -- they're so much fun to watch, and so well disguised!

Reindeer moss

We make it back to camp in early afternoon, and, perhaps with some reluctance, pack everything up and cram it into the trunk of the car. It was quite honestly the best camping trip I have ever been on, even despite the first cold night. below is my bird count for the three days:

1. eastern towhee
2. northern cardinal
3. black-and-white warbler
4. carolina wren
5. chipping sparrow
6. common ground dove
7. american crow
8. black vulture
9. turkey vulture
10. bald eagle
11. eastern phoebe
12. pileated woodpecker
13. downy woodpecker
14. palm warbler
15. pine warbler
16. mourning dove
17. red-shouldered hawk
18. carolina chickadee
19. tufted titmouse
20. great blue heron
21. anhinga
22. blue-gray gnatcatcher
23. ovenbird

Until next time,

Happy birding!