Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Day 4 Summer 2011 Road Trip

Got to sleep in a bit today because we are at our destination in Florida.

7716 County Road 406 (Garden St.) Titusville Florida

Karen took some photos around the hotel property which I will post on our Flickr site.

After lunch we headed out for a bit of bird watching at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. On our way we crossed over the Max Brewer Bridge which spans the Indian River Lagoon.

7717 A. Max Brewer Bridge from County Road 406 (Garden St.) Titusville Florida 7718 A. Max Brewer Bridge, which spans the Indian River Lagoon in Titusville Florida

We saw some early birds of the human kind… dry camping in their motorhomes along the shoulders of the road, awaiting the launch of the Space Shuttle on Friday. They will have a front row seat, the launch pad is just beyond the Vehicle Assembly Building.

7720 A. Max Brewer Memorial Parkway, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida RV set up waiting for shuttle launch 7721 A. Max Brewer Memorial Parkway, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida RV set up waiting for shuttle launch 7723A. Max Brewer Memorial Parkway, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida, Indian River Lagoon

We drove along the Black Point Wildlife Drive, a 7 mile loop through part of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

7729 Black Point Wildlife Drive sign, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida7730 Black Point Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida

7739 Black Point Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida 7740 Black Point Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida

Here are some photos of the birds we saw.

A Snowy Egret that just caught a fish. You can still see it holding the fish.

7751 Black Point Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Snowy Egret with fish in mouth 7752 Black Point Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida - - Snowy Egret with fish in mouth

A Great Egret

7749 Black Point Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Great egret

A Tricolored Heron

7762 Black Point Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Tricolored Heron 7763 Black Point Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Tricolored Heron

A couple of White Ibises.

7768 Black Point Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida - White ibises 7769 Black Point Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida - White ibises

A Reddish Egret

7774 Black Point Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Reddish egret 7775 Black Point Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Reddish egret

A Great Blue Heron

7779 Black Point Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Great Blue Heron

We finished the loop and then drove about 10 miles to the Manatee Observation Deck. Along the way we saw these two Black Vultures sitting atop a hydro pole.

7788 Courtenay Parkway (State Road 3), Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - - Black Vultures

And this Osprey sits on another hydro pole.

7791 Courtenay Parkway (State Road 3), Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Osprey

Arriving at the Manatee Observation Deck.

7800 Courtenay Parkway (State Road 3), Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Manatee Observation Deck 7802 Courtenay Parkway (State Road 3), Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Manatee Observation Deck 7804 Courtenay Parkway (State Road 3), Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Manatee Observation Deck

7808 Courtenay Parkway (State Road 3), Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Manatee Observation Deck 7809 Courtenay Parkway (State Road 3), Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Manatee Observation Deck

Surprisingly we actually saw a Manatee… we really didn’t think we would see any.

7819 Courtenay Parkway (State Road 3), Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Manatee Observation Deck - Manatee 7821 Courtenay Parkway (State Road 3), Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Manatee Observation Deck - Manatee 7822 Courtenay Parkway (State Road 3), Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Manatee Observation Deck - Manatee

We then headed to the Merritt Island Wildlife Visitor Center, and along the way we discovered the NASA Employee Entrance road… strictly no entrance. This is as close to the Vehicle Assembly Building that we got.

7827 Kennedy Parkway (State Road 3), Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - no public access 7828 Kennedy Parkway (State Road 3), Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - no public access - Vehicle Assembly Building, Kennedy Space Center

The Visitor Center

7833 Playalinda Beach Road (State Road 402), Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Visitor Center 7830 Playalinda Beach Road (State Road 402), Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Visitor Center

The lady at the Visitor Center told us that if we wanted to see even more wildlife we should drive along the 9 mile Peacocks Pocket Road. We certainly saw more birds but it was a goat trail of a road, not really suitable for anything less that a high clearance pickup truck, but we made it through without tearing the oil pan off the bottom of the engine. The road started out ok for the first mile, but then progressively got worse and worse.

7839 Peacocks Pocket Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida 7855 Peacocks Pocket Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida 7875 Peacocks Pocket Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - A. Max Brewer Bridge in background

She was right though, we saw so many more seashore birds, including these two black vultures in a dead tree.

7838 Peacocks Pocket Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Black Vultures

A Great Egret

7842 Peacocks Pocket Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Great egret 7843 Peacocks Pocket Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Great egret

A Tricolored Heron

7844 Peacocks Pocket Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - - Tricolored heron 7845 Peacocks Pocket Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Tricolored heron

A Common Moorehen

7846 Peacocks Pocket Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Common Moorhen 7847 Peacocks Pocket Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Common Moorhen

A Roseate Spoonbill and a White Ibis

7851 Peacocks Pocket Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - White ibis (left) and roseate spoonbill 7853 Peacocks Pocket Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - White ibis (left) and roseate spoonbill

Some Black Necked Stilts

7867 Peacocks Pocket Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida- Black-necked Stilts 7877 Peacocks Pocket Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Black-necked Stilt 7878 Peacocks Pocket Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida - Black-necked Stilt

After 9 miles of driving on that trail we are back onto pavement and heading back to our hotel. We went to the Garden Grill for dinner and then to Wal-Mart to stock up on some supplies.

To see all of our photos from today, they are posted on my FLICKR site.

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