It was great to see Caspian Terns again along the Black Point Wildlife Drive at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.
I love to watch these largest members of the tern family dive into the water, hoping to make a big catch. What was really interesting during my Sunday Nov. 16 visit was a different behavior one of the juvenile terns exhibited.
It was acting more like a Black Skimmer — skimming across the top of the water with its beak in the water hoping to grab a fish. It didn’t work — as best I can tell. So it went back to its traditional form of fishing, which was a success.
Caspian Tern, Black Point Wildlife Drive at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, November 2025.Caspian Tern, Black Point Wildlife Drive at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, November 2025.Caspian Tern, Black Point Wildlife Drive at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, November 2025.Caspian Tern, Black Point Wildlife Drive at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, November 2025.Caspian Tern, Black Point Wildlife Drive at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, November 2025.Caspian Tern, Black Point Wildlife Drive at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, November 2025.Caspian Tern, Black Point Wildlife Drive at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, November 2025.Black Skimmer, Black Point Wildlife Drive on Merritt Island, February 2024.Caspian Tern, Black Point Wildlife Drive at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, November 2025.
Even though it’s the slow summer season for birding, I know that a visit to the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive will usually supply something memorable. And that was the case when I visited on Saturday, July 22.
These colorful little warblers are here for breeding season. In recent days I have heard them around my house and at the Wetlands, but I had not been able to spot one, let alone photograph one.
With the addition of two new birds that I spotted on Sunday at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, my Birds Catalog total now is 120. The two newcomers came from high and low.
