Camping and Birding in the Florida Northeast Coast

Camping and birding make a great combination.  We enjoy both.
This trip took us to the Northeastern coast of Florida in Little Talbot Island State Park.  What a beautiful place! 

Snowy Egrets behind our tent.

Our camp site was right beside the bathrooms, and the river (a swamp to be more accurate) was just behind us.  The picture above with the Egrets was taken from our site.  We got a lot of visitors behind our tent (literally): various Grebes, an Ovenbird visiting during breakfast one morning, various Mergansers, Herons, and pretty songbirds in the trees all around. 

It's nice to have a cup of coffee in the morning and start birding right on trails around the campground enjoying Brown Pelicans, Belted Kingfishers, Red-Breasted Mergansers, Yellow-throated Warblers (oh, so pretty!), Kinglets, Woodpeckers....owls hooting one night.

Morning after coffee and before breakfast

For anyone who does not camp in State Parks, let me just mention that SPs have bathrooms with hot showers, and the camp sites have water and electricity hookups.  With an electric heater in your tent and a cozy electric blanket, you can still be quite comfortable even if the nights get a bit chilly. 

A photogenic Osprey

We had a goal of beating our last record of 102 bird species during a camping trip. We got 127 bird species including 13 life birds this time!!! That's thousands of birds seen.  A "life bird" is a bird that a birder is seeing for the first time.  (We keep a list).  Our birding included stops on the Georgia coast: Statesboro (Northern Lapwing!), Tybee Island (Snowy Owl!!!), Jekyll Island and the Altamaha Wildlife Management Area on the way back. 

Lots of unspoiled areas on the beach

The area where we were camping was a superb birding spot. Little Talbot Island is part of a seven park system that includes Amelia Island and Great Talbot Island.  We saw some pretty Roseate Spoonbills feeding quietly in the marshes. 

Biking and birding!

We tried a different quite of birding technique on this trip, biking and birding.  Worked great.  Seemed as the birds do not hear you coming as fast as if you were walking.  And you cover more grounds too.  This was a bit similar to canoeing/kayaking and birding.  

Debbie on one of our birding outing



We enjoyed the birding very much but we could not spent anytime on the beach as previously planned; except for observing shorebirds.  It was just too windy on the beach and not warm enough. 

Unique tree with a unique person

When we go out camping and birding, we see more than just birds.  Nature tends to offer beauties that come in more forms than just with feathers.  The ocean is beautiful, the various rivers and estuaries were beautiful.  Even the marshes have their own beauties.  Some of the trees we saw were just amazing.  Just walk down a quite beach with driftwood and you'll appreciate what birding on the coast means.  Soaking it all in. 

Still young at heart.  Swinging away in Jekyll Island

Before we knew it, it was time to come back home.  Jekyll Island and the Altamaha brought us a few more birds on the way back.  We're already thinking about the next birding/camping trip. 

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The year in review

2013 is at the door.  How quickly a year passes by! Was there something memorable that happened in 2012 for you?  Share in the comments section.  Thanks!

Here are just some highlights of the year for us.

We went to Helen, Georgia with Mama (Debbie's Mom).  Mama could walk all by herself, and she greatly enjoyed herself as we all did.  We're now happy to see her walk again at the end of the year, with a walker, after she broke her hip...twice. 

As soon as weather permitted, we went camping at the Okefenokee and loved it.  I just put a link there for you if you care to see some pictures of this wonderful place. 

Early spring. We fix up the backyard with new sitting areas, new plants and flowers.  That came in handy as we like to spent time outside. 

 

Kelly graduated from college (université in French).  Wow!!! Time does pass by fast.  We had a little party for Kelly at home.  And yes, we used the backyards also. 

Michael Coupat, my cousin's son, came to visit from Paris for a month.  A sweet young man! We really enjoyed having him over.  He got along with everyone, and fit in nicely. 

More camping trips, George L. Smith State Park, Lake Sinclair... Did we even camp at the Oconee National Forest this year? I can't even remember. 

A few birding field trips this year since we've joined the local Audubon Society the previous year.

What else happened? Kelly got a job in Atlanta!

I've been teaching both Judo and Taekwondo at a martial arts school (Ahn's Taekwondo, a great school).  We've been going to the woods (Piedmont Wildlife Management Area, Ocmulgee National Monument, and the Oconee National Forest) until Mama broke her hip and we slowed down. 

We learned to play "Settlers of Catan", a board game, and we love it. 

My brother Jacques went back to France with his whole family. 

Yes, I wish we went on more camping trips, and more birding trips with Debbie... I wish the kids came home more often.  I wish we saw Connie and Duane more... but all in all I enjoyed the year.  Just think of Syria, North Korea, Afghanistan, the ugly mass shootings right here in the States... and I believe you would appreciate your year a little more also.

After all, I'm grateful for this year.  Life is to be appreciated.  Let's live fully and thankfully! 

Back to the sunroom...for winter

How do you keep a little summer flair in the winter? Not a bad idea, or question.  As for us, we bring some of our plants and flowers in the warmest room in the house - the sunroom.
It's also a great opportunity to re-pot many of the plants and flowers, giving them a new lease on life with rich soil.

From the sunroom you can see a deck with bird feeders, a water fountain, and to the right (not visible in this picture) a small birdbath.  Of course, these items attract birds galore.
We've counted 21 bird species last weekend including those who fly over our house.
The nice treat for us this year is the small colony of Brown-headed Nuthatches who have decided to make their winter home in our very backyard!

The sunrooom is a great place to relax and read.  I'm surprised how many times we would have family come over and we'll go straight to the sunroom instead of the living room.  It's just cozy.

There goes a Mockingbird drinking in the birdbath I mentioned earlier!

Bu the way, the sunroom always has some banana trees (small ones) to give a little tropical feel...and fake colorful parrots from the Dominican Republic.  Let's brace the winter!

Enjoy the holidays!

Butterflies at the Piedmont

Butterflies on Leah's hand

The Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge is a good place for birding...but also for butterflies and wildflowers.

We love to go there as we just did this past Saturday.

The funny thing is that everyone gravitates to his or her area of interest.  Debbie looks at the wildflowers and does some birding, Kelly and Leah look for butterflies, and I like birding.  All in the same area.

Seven butterflies on Leah's fingers at a point.

As a result, someone is always calling the rest of the group to look at what they see.  "A Swallowtail, it's a Spicebush!!!...no, it's a Red-spotted Purple." 
And Debbie goes "I wonder about those purple flowers? They always seem to grow in the wild but if I put them in my garden they won't grow."  and I usually answer "because you'll give them too much care, they don't want any care.  They're wild".
And I go "did you hear that? That's a Red-eyed Vireo...here she goes again! Heard it this time?"

This time I've decided to do something different.  Set aside my birding and just follow the kids for some "butterflying". 

Armed with two butterfly guide books and one phone ap, we were able to identify all the butterflies that we saw.

Luckily, the butterflies were very active. 

On Kelly's finger.
A Pearl Crescent.

 Among species seen, I remember a large group of Gray Hairstreaks near the water by Pond 2A, Gulf Fritillaries, with some landing on us, a pretty Question Mark, lots of Cloudless Sulphurs (with their bright yellow!), and some Swallowtails. 

We spent some time by the large rocks at "Little Falling Water". More butterflies were waiting for us: Buckeyes, Viceroys, a Red-spotted Purple, a Red Admiral landed on me!, lots of Little Yellows, Pearl Crescents, some Skippers, and more colorful butterflies.

To cap the day, a Hooded Warbler (this is a furtive pretty yellow bird) was playing by the stream and taking a bath.  Everyone got a chance to appreciate it with binoculars. 

Who knew looking for butterflies could be this much fun?

Camping by Lake Sinclair

Mist over the lake

How do you describe this feeling when you step out of your tent in the morning and see the mist rising above a lake, just in front of your camp site? Awe? Very pleasantly calming, happy feeling? Do you have a word for that? Maybe halcyon?

We went camping last week by Lake Sinclair and enjoyed that special feeling.  It's nice camping in general.  It's nicer when the weather cooperates, neither hot nor cold, and no rain.  A perfect mid-September weather.

I now understand why people like to live by water.  It has a calming effect. 
Lake Sinclair Campgrounds are part of the Oconee-Chattahooche National Forests.  In this case, a forest with a lake.

The 5-gallon red container you see in some of our camping pictures is for water.  Not gasoline! We brought water because these campgrounds are different.  They don't have all the State Parks amenities and they're not primitive camping either.  No electricity and water hook ups at our site, but the bathrooms with hot showers were close by.  A big advantage for us is that these campgrounds were not crowded either.  We were practically the only ones camping those days. 

Yes, we went birding a lot during the day and heard owls one night.  We've seen several migrant birds.  Actually we've enjoyed the birding there very much.  We've seen two Bald Eagles, and of course, lots of other bird species...close to 60 different bird species. 

Have you ever been camping and saw the night sky with no cloud? Lots of stars, right? I always like that.  A clear sky just full of stars. 

It was Debbie's birthday a couple of days earlier and we celebrated it with a special dinner.  Salmons stuffed with crab meat and a bottle of white wine out of this world.  It's called "Paradis" which means "heaven" and it tasted like that too.  A nice person sent it to me from Paris.  Do they drink good wine in heaven? I hope so.  

Visiting North Georgia

Picnic by the Chattahoochee River after tubing

Michael is visiting from France...so we've been trying to show him a little bit of Georgia, and share some American experiences. 

Tubing! in Helen.  Everyone had fun.  We went at the best time possible.  That's after some rain -always better to go tubing when there is enough water in the river-, middle of the week and after school starts (no crowd).  

We love nature, we love the outdoors, and we're already in Helen, Georgia, what better place to go but...(you guessed right!)  Anna Ruby Falls, a short drive away. 

Wow! This is just majestic if you haven't seen the Anna Ruby Falls before.  The falls are located in the Chattahoochee National Forest.

Everyone looks happy and that makes me happy too.  The walk up to the Falls was fairly short and beautiful.  Even our young Parisian loved it.  He is a relative, but he fits right in as if he was my daughters' brother. 

 As you walk up to the Falls, you'll hear the soothing sound of the river.  Always sweet to be surrounded by the beauties of nature.  We soaked it all in.  Rejuvenating!

 After a few hours on the river, tubing, it was nice to hike up the mountain (short hike of about 20 minutes) and enjoy the lush greenery. 

Unicoi State State Parks is close by.  You even drive through it to reach the Falls.  Wouldn't be nice to camp there for a couple of nights and enjoy this place longer? Frankly, I wanted to stay longer and see all the birds I could hear...

Time to go home now.