We left our 1950s-era motel in the St. Augustine area and headed over to New Smyrna Beach where we are staying with our friends Don and Loree. When we got there Don immediately took us to Merritt Island.
On our way to Merritt Island we stopped to see a Bald Eagle nest, which was quite nice. But across the street from the nest was something more interesting.
There was a pair of gopher tortoises at a nest. We had never see two together before, so this was quite a treat.
We got to the Black Point Wildlife Drive and were greeted by a huge mass of egrets and ibises.
There were a few Great Egrets among the 450 Snowy Egrets.
There were also a lot of Glossy Ibises and a few White Ibises.
Along Black Point we found quite a few butterflies (mostly skippers) and even a moth. The moth on the left is a Blackberry looper. The butterfly on the right “might” be an Obscure skipper.
Scanning flowers resulted in a lot of Hymenoptera.
The lower wasp is in the genus Polistes.
The more I looked the more I saw.
It was enjoyable to find a few Roseatte Spoonbills.
We then headed over to Haul over Canal to see the four Flamingoes.
A final photo for the day is the Oleander moth near Don and Loree’s.
More tomorrow…
Michael's Place 