Marl Bed Flats in May

Stilt Sandpiper with Greater Yellowlegs

There's a wonderful little birding treasure in Seminole County called Marl Bed Flats.  It's just north of Lake Jesup, and it's the best place I know of for shorebirds in my home county. Calling it a park would be a bit of a stretch. You'll find no restrooms, no amenities, just a gate and some poorly marked trails.  But after walking through an Oak Hammock area, you end up on the flats--a wide expanse of wet, grassy wonder with a slough that sometimes fills up with shorebirds and wading birds.  This May at least 12 species of shorebirds have made their way through the area, much to my delight: Black-necked Stilt, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Stilt Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher (a bit of a rarity inland here), and Long-billed Dowitcher.

Black-necked Stilt

Greater Yellowlegs

Semipalmated Plover

Stilt Sandpiper

Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers

Solitary Sandpiper

Short-billed Dowitcher

We find an assortment of wading birds here all year round, but Roseate Spoonbills seem to like to come in here around the beginning of May.

Roseate Spoonbill

Red-winged Blackbirds and Eastern Meadowlarks are also here year-round, and they breed here, but Bobolinks also pass through. They usually arrive in late April and continue well into May.

Bobolink

Bobolink

Red-winged Blackbird

Eastern Meadowlark

One of the nicer surprises of this May, though, has been the persistence of at least one Savannah Sparrow into late May.  In fact, I saw one this morning.  They should be long gone by now to their breeding grounds up north, but this one just doesn't want to leave sunny Florida.  This photo below was taken on May 22nd.

Savannah Sparrow