Disney World Birds

Limpkin

We recently came back from a week-long vacation in Florida. We spent our time at Disney World staying in the All-Star Sports Resort (the only value resort with room available while we were down). The weather was gorgeous, with highs between 25.5 C (78F) and 28 C (82F) each day and only a couple of very light showers on the Friday. Crowds were a different matter, this being our most crowded trip to date, but it didn't overly hamper our vacation.

I wasn't able to do much dedicated birding despite having borrowed an awesome birding lens for the trip. This was partly due to my SLR camera case hanging by a thread by the end of the vacation so we only carried a point-and-shoot for the last couple days. Our days were spent enjoying the parks as a family and swimming at the hotel. I was able to get out early a few mornings to walk around the area near our room, which was more fruitful than I expected as I will explain soon.

A pair of Limpkins

The birding began on the bus ride from the airport to the hotel. My very first Florida bird this year was a Wood Stork at a pond just outside the airport. Wood Storks have eluded my photographs thus far despite seeing many on this trip. I have always been in a moving vehicle (not driving) when I see them. I also spotted Anhingas, Double-crested Cormorants, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vultures, Great Egrets, and White Ibis on the bus ride.

Great Blue Heron

I was impressed with the location of out hotel room. It wasn't too far from the front desk/concessions/transportation but it was completely surrounded by woods and ponds. On the very first morning at about eight we saw one of my favourite birds right outside our room - a Pileated Woodpecker! I was so busy taking pictures of the unexpected Pileated that I apparently missed my only opportunity at a Redheaded Woodpecker, which would have been a life bird for me.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

The very next morning there were two Pileateds outside our room, and I got my best pictures ever of this bird. Strangely, the two birds were males and Pileateds are supposed to be very territorial. Perhaps they were just wintering in Florida and were not territorial because they were not breeding. Pretty much every morning there were Red-bellied Woodpeckers outside our room as well, and once a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. The Red-bellieds were all over the campgrounds where my parents were staying as well, along with Downy Woodpeckers and (while I wasn't there) Redheaded Woodpeckers.

Roseate Spoonbill - Not wild

My only life bird came in the form of a foursome of Wild Turkeys seen at the roadside near the campground. I have seen Turkey before, but not while I was listing. This was again from a moving car, so I didn't get any pictures. Not the most impressive life bird on a vacation to Florida, but considering the small amount of birding I did it isn't too surprising that I didn't get anything better.

Ostrich - Not wild

My best birding experience of the vacation came one morning a couple of days before we came home. While Erin and Finn slept I got up at about seven to have a look around the hotel. As sunrise was right around seven at that time it was none too bright, especially using a long lens, but I decided to go anyway. At a pond about 100 m from our room there was a Great Blue Heron walking along the opposite side. I got quite a few blurry pictures but also a couple of clearer ones, including one with his/her reflection in the pond. Erin says this is her favourite bird picture from the vacation. What made this my favourite experience - however - came from a pond 100 m to the other side of our room.

Painted Stork - Not wild

While at this pond looking for an Anhinga I had seen earlier in the week I happened to spot a pair of nondescript wading birds across the pond. I took some photos from right where I was (as is my habit when I see something interesting in case it flies away in the next few seconds or as I try to get closer) and then looked around to see if I could get any closer. They were making their way toward the far end of the pond from where I was standing, but were walking ever closer to my hotel wing. I walked over to my end of the pond and lost sight of them as there was heavy undergrowth around the sides of the pond.

Pileated Woodpecker

As I came to the stairwell right under my hotel room I realized that if I were lying in bed I would be about 10 m from the birds (albeit one floor up). I was pretty sure at this time that the birds were Limpkins and as I photographed they continued to walk toward me. They were making their way through some thick green weeds at the waters edge, and at one point one of them caught something of a considerable size, possibly a large snail. The one that caught the snail walked up onto the bank and the other joined him/her there. After a minute or so the one that caught the snail came back into the water and continued toward me as the other stayed up on the bank for a few more minutes apparently finishing the meal. After I felt I had enough pictures I walked away to look for woodpeckers and heard a crashing and a wailing cry. One of the Limpkin had flown up into a tree beside the pond and was calling out but flew away as I came back. The other Limpkin walked away and up onto the bank across the pond.

Common Moorhen

Animal Kingdom is a good place to take pictures of birds, although not birds you can count on a list of birds seen in the field. It is a challenge to take photographs from the safari ride, since it is on an extremely bumpy (realistic?) track, the car doesn't slow down or stop very often, and it is usually the bigger animals that people want to see. I did got some shots of Helmeted Guineafowl (blurry), Painted Stork, White-breated Cormorant, Pink-baked Pelican, and some other birds that I have little chance to see in the wild.

Pileated Woodpecker

The other odds and sods are: a few Bald Eagles, American Coot, Black Vulture, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Mallard, Pied-billed Grebe, Redish Egret, Common Grackle, and Boat-tailed Grackle. Still no Purple Gallinule, but I was so confident I would see a Common Moorhen in the World Showcase Lagoon I said I would not leave Epcot unless I saw one. The entire day I didn't see a single Moorhen until we were about to leave and my dad pointed one out under a bridge. The pictures in the blog entry are in no particular order because I uploaded them in a strange way. Despite having a program and a dedicated "2009 Florida List" to keep track of the birds, I did not list properly during the vacation. It was definitely a family vacation and not a birding vacation, and that is okay with me. The fact that I was able to see so many birds, have a couple of really great birding experiences, and add a life bird are enough for me.