Blackpoint Drive - Merritt Island NWR - Feb 2.
We spent the day at Merritt Island yesterday and had mixed results. The first trip though, at 7:00 AM, was fairly good, but the birds were mainly on the sun side of the road. We did however spend 2.5 hours on the drive, mixiing birds and landscape. Gators were not present at their usual places that early, which was to be expect as it was heavy overcast, with the temp was about 53 and a windchill in the low 40s at best.
We decided to go though a second time after finishing the first round about 9:30. That was the best trip of the day. There were a lot of Spoonbills, a few Wood Storks, usual ducks, egrets and herons along the road. Lighting was good, because of the overcast sky. One gator was sited in the tree island area beyond the outhouse turnout.
After that run through, we decided to do the gators on BioLab Road. We saw three, versus the normal 20-40. We had a surprise on the south end of the road as the gate was closed. We found out later they closed it, for the shuttle launch this coming week, for security. The drive back to the other entrance was without incedent or images. We saw few birds on the BioLab road.
Finally, we did another run through the refuge before heading home. It was midway between the two prior runs. Not as bad as early morning, or as good as late morning. As we left the area the sun came out!!
I don't regret going, but it will get a lot better soon. I would consider it an average day for this time of year, with much better coming in the next few weeks.
Good Luck should you decide to take the ride.
