Tweeters - another Florida list:

A week ago Monday I abandoned my family to the thrills of Epcot Center
and headed out birding on the last day of our Florida vacation. From
Orlando I drove over to St Cloud and checked out Lake T-something (name
hard to pronounce, let alone remember) but didn't see much there, then
drove south about 20 miles from St Cloud on CR523 and turned left into
the Three Lakes WMA. Conditions were sunny and dry, about 85 with a
light easterly breeze. I birded the pine flatwoods for about 3 hours in
the middle of the day and found all three of the birds I was
particularly looking for - swallow-tailed kite, red-cockaded woodpecker
and Bachmann's sparrow. The latter two were lifers.

The area I explored consists of open groves of mature pines and of young
pines with an understory of palmetto and a few other shrubs and various
grasses. The landscape is nearly flat but the vegetation is quite
diverse, varying due to slight changes in topography. Although very dry
during my visit the area must be wet much of the year. Bald Cypress
groves occupy the lowest ground. The trees in the center of the grove
are taller than those on the outside so the stands look like dome-shaped
green islands rising out of the grassland. Some of the groves are
semi-open in the middle with waist-high ferns underneath; others have an
understory of grasses and shrubs and still others have almost no
vegetation at all underfoot. Overhead the cypresses create an airy
canopy of rather sparse feathery foliage, soft green against the bright
blue sky. Their spindly trunks with shaggy gray bark host small and
large bromeliads along with the ubiquitous Spanish 'moss', itself
another bromeliad I believe. Some of the larger bromeliads sport bright
red and yellow flower stalks, a colorful accent to the grays and greens
of the trees.

Outside of the cypress groves the predominant ground cover is a wiry
bunchgrass interspersed with low palmetto. Patches of the grass have
been oddly uprooted, perhaps by pigs. If so, I'm glad I didn't meet any
of the critters, though I found numerous trails and old tracks in some
of the cypress groves. In certain areas, apparently a little lower than
the surrounding terrain, the wiregrass and palmetto are replaced by a
yellow-flowered shrub which reminded me of creosote bush, mixed with a
grass which might be tall bluestem - it's been a while since I studied
the grasses. In areas a little lower yet the only plant is a coarse
broad-leafed grass, its new foliage poking out of a 6" deep layer of
matted dessicated leaves and stems, strange stuff to walk through and a
little disconcerting since I couldn't tell what might live underfoot.

After paying the $6 per-vehicle fee at the self-service stand I took
binoculars and birdbook and poked around the mowed entrance area for a
few minutes, then wandered off to the SW. Bird activity seemed to be
concentrated in the cypress groves and in the fringe of tallker palmetto
and shrubs around the cypress, but Bachman sparrows singing in the
distance lured me out into the pine flats. I crossed broad grassy
openings to find the sparrows, then headed NW, I think, to a big cypress
stand where I spent nearly an hour savoring the soft airy colors of the
woods and tracking down unfamiliar warbler songs before heading out into
the hot sun again to return to the car. Were it not for the distant
rumble of trucks on CR523 I would have had some difficulty finding my
way back. The flatwoods lack the topographic cues I usually rely on to
orient myself so I recalled the position of the sun when I'd started and
used it to stay on a northeasterly course back towards the road.

26 species (lots of woodpeckers)
bobwhite 1 calling
turkey vulture 6 high and low overhead
swallow-tailed kite 1 Just above the tops of the cypress trees, bold
black and white silhouette against the blue sky
bald eagle 5 soaring high then sailing at treetop level
across the pine flats, probably from nearby lakes
red-shouldered hawk 1 perched in top of pine snag
mourning dove 1
northern flicker 1
red-cockaded woodpecker 4 At nest hole in pines, also foraging in pines
and cypress groves. Trees marked by white band.
downy woodpecker 1 cypress grove
pileated woodpecker 1 pines
red-bellied woodpecker 1 cypress
great-crested flycatcher 6 cypress and pines, vocal
white-eyed vireo 5 cypress grove edges. song 'chik'
followed by loud warble or several buzzy notes.
tufted titmouse 2 cypress groves, song a ringing 'tekeer tekeer
tekeer'
brown-headed nuthatch 4 small chattering groups in pines
blue-gray gnatcatcher 2 cypress. song/call a soft
'zerzerzerzerzeezee'
eastern bluebird 1 pines near entrance
northern mockingbird 3 near entrance
northern parula 1 colorful male in cypress, singing typical song
yellow-throated warbler 1 bright male in cypress. song musical, slightly
descending 'sweetsweetsweetsweetsweetseetseet'
pine warbler 8 in pines. plumage drab to bright. song a
semi-musical trill like a junco
common yellowthroat 6 palmetto thickets
eastern towhee 2 pair in palmetto thicket
Bachmann's sparrow 5 open pines, typically singing 5-10' up on
branch of young pine. song musical, clear note followed by trill
cardinal 3
eastern meadowlark 4 palmetto scrub/grass. song similar to western
but much more slurred.

Brian Pendleton
Auburn, WA
kc7wpd at hotmail.com