Resaca de la Palma State Park

Yesterday, Skip and I got the oil changed on the car and then ventured to Resaca de la Palma State Park to do some birding.

We took the half hour tram tour and then did some exploring on our own along the Ebony trail and the trees in the parking lot.

The resaca is pretty dried up. It is done intentionally every couple of years so invasive non-native plants can be removed. However, there were some species working their way along.

There were several white ibis in various stages of development.

This solitary sandpiper really was on its own.

Turtles were stacked up on lots of semi-submerged logs.

The butterfly of the day was the Mexican blue wing. There were lots of them along the Ebony trail.

This is some kind of red beetle that we'll need to identify. It was the size of a pinkie finger nail.

We heard green jays but didn't see a lot right out in the open for good photos. This was the best I could do.

I also got a good shot of this Clouded Sulphur butterfly. I don't know many butterfly names but am trying to learn the names as I capture their images and Google them when I get back to my computer.

There were quite a few greater yellowlegs, distinguished from the lesser species by the slightly upturned bill.

We will also need to ID this rather large wasp.

In the treed area in the parking lot, this Altamira oriole hid itself quite well and also didn't come out so I could get a good photo.

Also spotted today but not photographed was a chachalaca, white-tipped dove, long-billed dowitchers (which prefer fresh water), blue-wing teal, snowy egrets, great egrets, Couch's/tropical kingbirds, Muscovy ducks, double-crested cormorants, anhingas, and a Gulf Coast ribbon snake.

It was a perfect day for birding - very little wind, bright sun, and clear blue skies.  We'll try to remember to visit earlier in the season next time we're down here.