Hi folks,

Before I get back to the story, let me start off by saying that this Big Day
has already occurred and I am simply getting around to telling the story as
my busy schedule allows.  The Big Day occurred on Sunday June 01.  The story
begins with Thursday May 29.  I am telling the story in parts in order to
impart to the readers the methods and thought processes that went into the
Big Day.  Now, hear goes again.

We left off our latest adventure, pondering where to go for the rest of
Friday.  Scouting in the Tallahassee area would be key, as mentioned before,
for success on the coming Sunday.  New areas are to be added.  A new
starting point may be in order.  I want to shave off time in order to add
the pine woods sights.  I could even run a dry run tomorrow that would turn
into the Big Day, as occurred in May.  That seems unlikely as this would
require either scouting the remaining three major areas during the rest of
this Friday afternoon, a feat rendered unlikely by late Friday traffic in
our capital city, or running the route somewhat blind on Saturday, a mode of
action almost certainly destined for failure on any Big Day.  It is likely
that the Tallahassee city areas will be best left to Saturday when traffic
will be much more amenable.  Brother Alan's directions to FR 305 in
Apalachicola National Forest include several spots where Swainson's, and
Kentucky warblers may be found.  Prothonotary and Hooded could be there as
well.  Is it possible that I could get all the Tiger Hammock targets in ANF
and skip that area altogether?  Let's find out.

I headed to the west end of FR 305 even though it was unlikely that I would
go that far on the Big Day itself.  I wanted to see if there may be reason
to go that far and check the miles and timing to ascertain the costs of such
a wayward excursion.  The road was located with comparative ease and I set
off to pursue its treasures through the limiting scope of the impending Big
Day.  There was little singing activity in the swamps along the way.  Some
of the RCW colonies had apparently been abandoned and new ones had sprung
up.  Swainson's warbler sang in one swamp and the familiar sound of foraging
RCW's came from the longleaf pine flatwoods along the way.  The ubiquitous
Bachman's sparrows sounded off in the woods.  A pleasant ride, but nothing
to entice me to run the route this way.  The east end of the road held the
promise of another RCW colony and a swamp where Prothonotary, Kentucky, and
Swainson's warblers would hopefully be found.  When I arrived at the RCW
colony, I found the active with sap wells indicative of a thriving colony.
There were no signs of adults immediately, but they undoubtedly had young in
the nest and would drop by accordingly.  A sound rather like a young Downy
woodpecker emanated from one of the trees.  A baby RCW, and a noisy one at
that!  The sound never ceased in the whole time of my presence.  What a
fortunate circumstance for a Big Day where time was of the essence.  Even if
the parents weren't there, I could count on the hungry ones to get my check
mark.  Buoyed by this discovery and casually noting the foraging
Brown-headed nuthatches that are so easily found at St. Mark's NWR, I
descended to the one lane bridge over the creek which split the swamp where
my warbler hopes rested.  I quickly found a Prothonotary warbler and then
another, but no Swainson's or Kentucky.  I would have to hit both ANF and
Tiger Hammock Road.  That would require some planning to make the time work
out.

Other business calls, so I leave the rest of Friday to part C.

David Simpson
[log in to unmask]
Fellsmere, FL

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