Sunday, April 4, 2010

Hooded Warblers - A Look at March

Put a few miles on the car and several hours in, in search of birds. Had a bit of  luck in twitching after rarities, but seemed to have missed out on most.  Missed the smooth-billed ani, twice in the Everglades, and the laSagre Flycatcher at Key Biscayne.  My best find was the Harlequin Duck that had wintered in Sebastian Inlet.
The beginning of March is a time to seek out the wintering specialties here in Florida and at the conclusion of the month begins the spring migration. Gone are the large numbers of Yellow-Rumped Warblers, American Robins and most of the wintering ducks. And was exciting to see the arrival of the beautiful Swallow-tailed Kites
American Coot at Green Cay



Just last week, at Sanibel Lighthouse, we were able to find several Northern Parula, Hooded Warblers and even a Worm-eating Warbler. So the migration has begun. We even found very large numbers of exhausted Purple martins and Barn Swallows.

Monk Parakeet at Cape Coral



Other fun sitings included the Cedar Waxwings in my neighbors tree, the Swamphens and Purple Gallinules at several of our wetlands, and the different kinds of parrots I can locate. The best siting for the month was noted as I was crossing the Sanible causeway on my way home last Monday after checking the lighthouse. It was extremely windy and I could see a large flock of shorebirds circling and circling as they tried to fight against the wind. They would finally give up and settled onto the water. They were to far out for a good photo, but with my binoculars I was am to identify them as American Avocets, most in breeding plumage. It is also cool to locate avocets, but the count I got off of the photo, I did managae to take, numbered around 85 birds. That was the most unusal part of the scene. You just never know what you will Find





Harlequin Duck at Sebastion Inlet


Yellow-Throated Warbler at Corkscrew Swamp



Red-Cockaded Woodpecker colony site at Babcock-Webb




A Gray Catbird on a chilly morning at Six-Mile Cypress Slough




A Mourning Dove at Six-Mile Cypress Slough

Exhausted Purple Martins at rest upon arrival at Sanibel Lighthouse




My List for March - (163)
  1. Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
  2. Muscovy Duck (Domestic type)
  3. Wood Duck  
  4. Mottled Duck
  5. Blue-winged Teal
  6. Northern Shoveler
  7. Green-winged Teal
  8. Ring-necked Duck
  9. Lesser Scaup
  10. Harlequin Duck - a lifer
  11. Hooded Merganser
  12. Red-breasted Merganser
  13. Ruddy Duck
  14. Wild Turkey
  15. Common Loon
  16. Pied-billed Grebe
  17. Northern Gannet
  18. American White Pelican
  19. Brown Pelican
  20. Double-crested Cormorant
  21. Anhinga
  22. Great Blue Heron
  23. Great Egret
  24. Snowy Egret
  25. Little Blue Heron
  26. Tricolored Heron
  27. Reddish Egret
  28. Cattle Egret
  29. Green Heron
  30. Black-crowned Night-Heron
  31. Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
  32. White Ibis
  33. Glossy Ibis
  34. Roseate Spoonbill
  35. Wood Stork
  36. Black Vulture
  37. Turkey Vulture
  38. Osprey
  39. Swallow-tailed Kite
  40. Snail Kite
  41. Bald Eagle
  42. Northern Harrier
  43. Cooper's Hawk
  44. Red-shouldered Hawk
  45. Broad-winged Hawk
  46. Short-tailed Hawk
  47. Red-tailed Hawk
  48. Crested Caracara
  49. American Kestrel
  50. Merlin
  51. Peregrine Falcon
  52. Sora
  53. Purple Swamphen
  54. Purple Gallinule
  55. Common Moorhen
  56. American Coot
  57. Limpkin
  58. Sandhill Crane
  59. Black-bellied Plover
  60. Wilson's Plover
  61. Semipalmated Plover
  62. Piping Plover
  63. Killdeer
  64. American Oystercatcher
  65. Black-necked Stilt
  66. American Avocet
  67. Spotted Sandpiper
  68. Solitary Sandpiper
  69. Greater Yellowlegs
  70. Willet
  71. Lesser Yellowlegs
  72. Marbled Godwit
  73. Ruddy Turnstone
  74. Sanderling
  75. Semipalmated Sandpiper
  76. Western Sandpiper
  77. Least Sandpiper
  78. Dunlin
  79. Short-billed Dowitcher
  80. Wilson's Snipe
  81. Laughing Gull
  82. Ring-billed Gull
  83. Herring Gull
  84. Caspian Tern
  85. Common Tern
  86. Forster's Tern
  87. Royal Tern
  88. Sandwich Tern
  89. Black Skimmer
  90. Rock Pigeon
  91. Eurasian Collared-Dove
  92. White-winged Dove
  93. Mourning Dove
  94. Common Ground-Dove
  95. Black-hooded Parakeet
  96. Monk Parakeet
  97. Mitred Parakeet 
  98. Red-masked Parakeet
  99. Great Horned Owl 
  100. Burrowing Owl
  101. Whip-poor-will
  102. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
  103. Belted Kingfisher
  104. Red-headed Woodpecker
  105. Red-bellied Woodpecker
  106. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
  107. Downy Woodpecker
  108. Hairy Woodpecker
  109. Red-cockaded Woodpecker
  110. Northern Flicker
  111. Pileated Woodpecker
  112. Eastern Phoebe
  113. Great Crested Flycatcher
  114. Eastern Kingbird
  115. Loggerhead Shrike
  116. White-eyed Vireo
  117. Blue-headed Vireo
  118. Blue Jay
  119. American Crow
  120. Fish Crow
  121. Purple Martin
  122. Tree Swallow
  123. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
  124. Barn Swallow
  125. Tufted Titmouse
  126. Carolina Wren
  127. House Wren
  128. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  129. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
  130. Eastern Bluebird
  131. American Robin
  132. Gray Catbird
  133. Northern Mockingbird
  134. Brown Thrasher
  135. European Starling
  136. Common Myna
  137. Cedar Waxwing
  138. Northern Parula
  139. Yellow-rumped Warbler
  140. Black-throated Green Warbler
  141. Yellow-throated Warbler
  142. Pine Warbler
  143. Prairie Warbler
  144. Palm Warbler
  145. Black-and-white Warbler
  146. American Redstart
  147. Worm-eating Warbler
  148. Ovenbird
  149. Common Yellowthroat
  150. Hooded Warbler
  151. Savannah Sparrow
  152. Northern Cardinal
  153. Indigo Bunting
  154. Painted Bunting
  155. Red-winged Blackbird
  156. Eastern Meadowlark
  157. Common Grackle
  158. Boat-tailed Grackle
  159. Shiny Cowbird
  160. Brown-headed Cowbird
  161. Orchard Oriole
  162. American Goldfinch
  163. House Sparrow

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