Beautiful Washington Oaks Gardens, 77 species of birds, and 10 birdwatchers of the human variety make for one super day. Our group included: Teddy, Ned, Peggy, Jacky, Els, Joanie, Fran, Margaret, Diane, and Jane.  If your name isn’t here, you missed a good one.  

We got off to a slow start with temperatures in the mid 50’s.  A chilly wind made us wish we had hot coffee and a doggie convention was getting cranked up under the big picnic shelter.  Fortunately, the canine cacophony didn’t bother the birds.  We soon got into a flurry of activity in the palmettos and live oaks near the bathroom.  Yellow-rumped warblers, ruby crowned kinglets, titmice, and several woodpeckers were seen and heard. A yellow-throated warbler and a gorgeous black and white provided great looks.  Things were literally warming up. 

Escaping the pestilence of pooches, the horde of hounds (Okay, enough!), we headed along the river toward the gardens.  A veritable parade of snowbirds yachted south down the river, one of them actually named “Snowbird”.  Anyway, we had good looks at ospreys, common yellowthroats, a couple of bald eagles, plus the usual suspects. 

We did some botanizing along the trail, exchanging information and interesting anecdotes about the anatomies and uses of plants.  Everyone learned something, although I must say, I don’t see how botany generates all that laughing!  Hey, field trips are supposed to be fun. 

Ranger Joe Woodbury had given us some good tips on places to check.  He was right on the money with the sunny side of the rose garden.  There were lots of birds: cardinals, wrens, a sapsucker, many, many yellow-rumps, more kinglets.  After a leisurely tour of the gardens, we watched a pretty little 3-year-old do lop-sided pirouettes in front of chairs being set up for a wedding.  We all clapped.  She hid behind a pedestal.  Sorry, little girl!  We also spotted a basketball-sized hornet’s nest which we studied from a good healthy distance. 

After a picnic lunch, our group picked up northern gannets and birdwatcher Jane at beachside, then headed down to Matanzas Inlet.  Wow!  What a great place.  Using scopes from atop the bridge we observed skimmers, a marbled godwit, a variety of terns, gulls, and sandpipers.  But best of all were four kinds of plovers including piping, semipalmated, black-bellied, and Wilson’s.  At Fort Matanzas  we added lots of white ibis, wood storks, and black-crowned night herons.   

Time to go home?  Well, yes, but------ 

A couple of hours later we find ourselves checking the end of Weff Road near the Catholic Church, Veronica’s neighborhood and guess what?  Veronica herself.  Well, folks, this place is worth the stop.  Long docks extend out to the river and  hundreds of shorebirds rest on them at high tide especially in the late afternoon.  There were numerous American oystercatchers, another marbled godwit, dunlins, dowitchers, cormorants, and lots of really cool stuff.   

A couple of retention ponds later we really are headed home.   “This has been a great day,” says Ned.  “Yes, it has,” I respond.  “We should do it again sometime.”