Birding Brevard: Viera, By Dawn's Early Light

By Dave Freeland

Viera Wetlands is well known as one of Central Florida's premier birding locales. If you're a morning person (and what birder isn't?), one of the most exciting times to visit Viera is the hour surrounding dawn. Arrive about a half-hour before sunrise some morning, as I recently did, and drive the dikes slowly for about an hour and a half. Most of the birds roost on the dikes for the night, perhaps to avoid becoming gator food while they rest, and you will pass hundreds of early-morning risers during your leisurely tour.

I drove the dikes in slight fog on February 28, making the tour seem a little surreal but very interesting. I passed birds as closely as 10 feet distant - flocks of American Coots and Common Moorhens, those hard-to-spot Wilson's Snipes in very easy viewing position, a flock of Northern Shovelers and another of Ring-necked Ducks staying put for another few weeks before migrating north, lots of herons and ibises, a Limpkin, dozens of Yellow-rumped Warblers, American Robins and Savannah Sparrows.

At one point near the northwest corner of Cell 4, a river otter was feeding on the bank of the dike. It looked at me. I looked at it. We were at relative peace with one another.

A Crested Caracara sat in its usual "watch tree," a roosting perch in a cabbage palm at the southwest corner of Cell 1, near where I believe one of the nesting pairs is raising its next brood. Often, a caracara will be found standing on a dike, eating its breakfast of a crayfish or small frog.

Twice, though not this particular morning, I've watched King Rails walking in the grassy edges of the dike bordering Cell 4. King Rails, like others in that family, are notoriously hard to see because they spend so much of their day hiding in dense vegetation. Early morning is the best time for spotting rails.

You may hear good birds, too. A Barred Owl may call, or a Common Nighthawk later in the spring. Sandhill Cranes will be bugling even at this early hour. On February 28, a Sedge Wren was in full song in the marshy edge of the central lake. You don't need binoculars to enjoy this spectacle. In fact, binoculars can be difficult to focus in foggy conditions. Besides, with the birds 10 or 15 feet away from your car, why bother with optical enhancements? Just look out the car window and take it all in.

In case you're wondering, Viera Wetlands is open 24-7, though management advertises it as dawn to dusk. I've never been asked what I was doing in the pre-dawn hours and seldom see any of the office personnel at that time. Since you no longer have to check in at the wastewater facility office before entering the wetlands, entry is especially easy these days. Viera is good at any time of day and any time of year, of course, but if you can manage a dawn experience there, you won't be disappointed.

Where to Go: Viera, of course. Take Exit 191 off of I-95 and travel west on Wickham Road until it ends at the entrance to the wastewater treatment plant. The wetlands are through the gate; continue west onto the dike roads.

Bird of the Month: Loggerhead Kingbird. At this writing, a bird of this species had been seen by many observers and photographed well at Key West and, while a bit outside of Brevard County, it will be a North American first if accepted (and it probably will this time). Loggerhead Kingbird has a history of being rejected by the birding authorities when reported here, but this time looks like the charm.

Your Question: We have had a beautiful bird in our backyard. I looked it up online and it is a male Painted Bunting. I got a really good picture of it, too. He comes to our bird feeder every day. I was wondering if it was a normal bird to see in Central Florida. I know they inhabit the Florida Keys.

A - I'm not sure where your backyard is, but Painted Buntings do winter in Florida as far south as Fort Lauderdale and are even found in Central America. Spring visitors to the Dry Tortugas often see a Painted Bunting or two at Fort Jefferson. They breed as far south as Brevard County along the coast, but are decidedly rarer inland until you get to Georgia and the Carolinas. They are sometimes hard to see because they hide in bushes and are often very quiet.

Forward your birding questions to me at freela148@aol.com. I'll answer as many as I can directly and will publish one each month in The Limpkin.