Florida 2024. Part 1. Florida Scrub Jays

We've been to Florida many times as a family with the emphasis being on the theme parks with just the bit of causal birding thrown in. This time was different. Jan was going to play golf with friends and the idea was that I could tag along and look at the wildlife along the golf courses, drive a buggy and drink a few beers from the mobile buggy bar! I also had my own car so I could go off birding when I wanted to. 

One of the target species I had in mind was the endangered Florida Scrub Jay and thanks to Kevin Kelly and a bit of internet searching I had a few sites in mind. The Florida Scrub Jay is endemic to Florida and is restricted to the few remaining areas of unspoilt sandy scrub generally close to the coast. There's estimated to be only 7-8,000 individuals left in the wild. One of the sites I found was Helen & Alan Cruickshank preserve about an hours drive from our villa base in Kissimmee. Leaving just after breakfast I figured I'd get to the reserve around 09.00 and get some birding doe before the main heat of the day and get home for lunch and an afternoon in the pool! 

Arriving in the car park I found I was the only person there. There had been report of Jays in the car park scrounging food from visitors so  I spent  good 15 minutes waiting and looking around in the hope of seeing one. Its now illegal to feed the Scrub Jays so I guess they've no further need to venture into the car park.

Making my way along one of the trails I soon heard a Jay and stood looking until one appeared and perched up in one of the taller scrubby bushes.

During my visit I eventually saw quite a few Jays but theres always the thrill of seeing the first one and the satisfaction of knowing a plan has paid off. Interestingly this seemed to be a sentinel btid o nthe look out for predators as  I could hear other jays feeding in the scrub but couldn't see them. I saw this quite often. A bird sat motionless for ages whist others fed around them. I also noted that Jays always seemed to be accompanied by Northern Mockingbirds. Where ever there were Jays there were always a couple of opportunistic Mockingbirds.

Moving on I came across a pair of Bald Eagles in a dead pine and a few gems such as Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and the ubiquitous Pam Warblers. They were literally the commonest bird I saw in Florida.

I really wanted to have better views of the Jays though so I retraced my steps until I once again found a sentinel bird. This time it was much closer to one of the tracks so I sat and waited. Sure enough I could hear the excited chatter of Jays approaching followed by rustling in the track side scrub before three birds appeared a few metres a way from me and fed unconcernedly on invertebrates and acorns on the ground. 

Two photos above: sentinel bird

The Florida Scrub Jay population is heavily studied and many of the birds are ringed (banded in US parlance) and colour ringed so they can be individually recognised in the field. From my photos  I was able to identify two different banding birds and contact the Federal banding programme who put me in contact with one of the research scientists. It turns out the Jays generally have 2-3 colour rings so the ones I photographed couldn't be identified from the colour rings alone.Luckily I had plenty of photos and managed to read one complete Federal (metal) band and get all but one of the digits on another so I'm hoping to hear back as to when they were banded.

What  I did find out was that there are 11 genetic units of Florida Scrub Jay and the area I was in was area A/C. The map below also shows movement of birds between study areas which is important to keep the gene pool fresh.

A great way to start our trip  - by midday the sun was getting to hot and most of the bird activity had ceased so I headed back to the car and to the villa for a nice cool dip in the pool and a cold beer whilst waiting for the rest of the party to get back from their golf.