Great Backyard Bird Count - II

We continue our endeavors to find and count how many species are in our neighborhood (or “Backyard”) this weekend with a walk around the Marine Discovery Center grounds in New Smyrna Beach. We are hoping that the birds will be more cooperative than they have been so far this weekend, and the fact that it is now mid-day does not make the prospects any more promising. We’ll begin with a walk down the trail that leads to the waterfront.

Osprey - Marine Discovery Center (MDC) - 2/14/26

One of our first birds of this leg of the count is an Osprey. We expected to find this bird here as it has occupied a nest it has used for several years now and is in the process of getting ready to produce offspring. There were no little ones that we could see, but we are hopeful that it will not be long before the little ones will be seen in the nest.

White ibis - MDC - 2/14/26

Out along the water’s edge, we do find several species of iconic Florida birds, among them the White ibis. This bird is looking for food (which is what most water birds do 90% of their time!) among the oyster bars. Not far from this ibis, another bird we expect to find is also at work looking for seafood. This Great blue heron was on the far shore of the water not far from a young man in his kayak looking for the same thing!

After a slow start, more birds were becoming active and while we checked the martin nest boxes to look for action there, an Eastern phoebe flew by and perched in a low shrub

Eastern phoebe - MDC - 2/14/26

Near where we were photographing the phoebe, we heard the distinctive call of a Red-bellied woodpecker. I moved around a Live Oak tree where I had seen the bird fly in and tried to get the sun at the most advantageous position….over my shoulder. Before long, the bird came into view and the lighting was just about perfect. With direct lighting, the colors of your subject will have the greatest “dynamic range”. Under these conditions, you can expect the camera to record most of the actual colors coming off that bird, even colors your eyes have trouble detecting! It’s always wonderful to have a species with this much “personality” as your subject….full of action and brilliant hues.

Red-bellied woodpecker - MDC 2/14/26

While photographing the woodpecker, we noticed an handsome bird, the Loggerhead shrike. The “Butcher bird” as he sometimes called, is a regular here at the Discovery Center, and today he was hanging around with his partner. That bodes well for a new brood of shrikes to be entering the world here at the Center in the near future.

Loggerhead shrike - MDC - 2/14/26

Eventually, our final count for this early afternoon GBBC outing ends at 14 species after just a bit over 1 hour of birding. This was our best site so far, and still, we were a bit disappointed in the two day tallies. Perhaps the next venture into the field will prove a bit more productive.