Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge - Day Two

The morning of Tuesday 21st saw get up early and go again. We had placed ourself on standby for the three hour guided tour. We were lucky and we had the last two available seats. It was worth every minute as our guide, a volunteer and former biography teacher, who carried the name Ned Steel knew what was what and just as importantly where. Betty, the driver and another local knew her stuff, but not just the birds but butterflies too.
Our list for the day:-
Wild Turkeys
Mourning Doves
Belted Kingfishers
Ospreys
Red-shouldered Hawks
Greater Black-backed Gulls x 2
Painted Buntings
Yellow Rumped Warblers
Palm Warbler
Common Yellow Throat
Red-winged Blackbirds
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Catbird & Carolina Wren were heard calling.

On the tour:-
We added Reddish Egret and a Green Heron to this trip's list,
as well as a multitude of all three other egrets and with some excellent views of Tri-coloured Herons.
Roseate Spoonbills - feeding and flying.
Yellow Legs both Greater and Lesser
Willet
Least Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Ruddy Turnstones
Hooded Mergansers
American Blue-winged Teal
American Widgeon
Ring-necked Duck (Ring-billed?)
Scaup
American Avocet
Northern Shovellers
Pied-billed Grebes
Moorhens
Coots
White Pelicans
Forster's Tern (confirmation for Ritch Grissam at Viera)
Royal Tern
Caspian Tern
Ring-billed Gulls
Laughing Gull
Mockingbird
Tree Swallows
A total of 47

As always both Turkey and Black Vultures were flying and perched. At one time I counted at least seven Ospreys flying over a lake. On reflection a very good number of species and some firsts for us. However, there are still some more to add to our list. Scoters have been seen and American Bitterns were seen yesterday at Rich Grissom. Our only mammals were a feral hog, grey squirrel and a dead Armadillo on the road in.

The major advantage of taking this three hour guided tour was that both of them knew what to look for and where to find it. They gladly shared their knowledge in a friendly manner. I would visit this refuge again ensuring that I had adequate time to enjoy the wildlife.