It’s not just a Lerner and Loewe song, but May usually marks the end of the migration season and the beginning of the full fledged breeding season. Of course here in Florida, many of our birds, like the Great Blue Herons, have been nesting since December; but still there are birds that produce offspring in May such as the Moorhens, Gallinules, Stilts, and Mottled Duck. Other birds, like the Black-bellied Whistling-Duck are just beginning to nest.The extreme drought that South Florida is facing this year has placed a damper on our spring migration. I noticed fewer warblers then usual during April. The Swallow-tailed Kite activity in Everglades National Park is also slower than last year. At Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, there doesn’t appear to be any successful Red-shouldered Hawk nests. The drier conditions have forced many animals to move closer and closer to populated areas to seek food and water; like the Bobcats at Green Cay that have made the parking lot a regular place to hang out.
Hopefully these are not signs of a long term trend, and these populations bounce back next year. One of the goals of this website is to be able to keep track of the trends from year to year.
Thank you for the kind e-mails everyone sent me, after my car accident on April 1st. Most everything is back in order again or in the process of getting back in order. After a few doctors’ visits, it looks like my injuries are minor. We now have a new car, the newly redesigned 2007 Honda CR-V LX in Glacier Blue. Actually when I say “we” I mean my wife got the new car, I’m back to driving my old car, which she had taken over after our daughter was born. I’m pretty sure this whole thing relates to the Circle of Life somehow.If you’ve been looking for something to watch on television, you didn’t have to look far this spring. There was the beautiful documentary on Planet Earth, on the Discovery Channel. Another great documentary on the Galapagos was on the National Geographic Channel. A new show called Spring Watch USA on Animal Planet. Finally there’s always the continuing series Wild Florida on your local PBS station.
The May gallery is now open. Enjoy.
