Saturday, July 31, 2010

Short-billed Dowitcher


After leaving work, I headed over to Bunche Beach again to try to add to my July List in this final day.  Not far from the work a 200 plus acre property was being denuded to prep it for a new research park by Florida Gulf Coast University. It is ironic that all this forest was being destroyed to create a research center dedicated to advancing GREEN technology. The property was infested with mealaluca trees, which is a serious pest in south Florida, yet I have seen many white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, bobcats and wild hogs use the property over the almost ten years I have been using this road.  The developers did remove mealaluca and Brazilian pepper from wetlands that could not be developed. But there is a plus, though only temporary. The now muddied fields have the potential as an attraction for migrating shorebirds like pectoral sandpipers, yellowlegs and peeps. A check this morning reveled the usual Killdeers and Boat-tailed Grackles, plus a Spotted Sandpiper. Hopefully we can see more activity later.

At the beach the tide was just right and the beach was active with large numbers of feeding Sanderlings, Semipalmated Plovers, Wilson's Plovers and Short-billed Dowitchers..  All the usual waders are on-hand, plus a couple of American Oystercatchers, several Marbled Godwits, Willets. Also seen were several Western and Least Sandpipers and first-of-season, unbanded Piping Plover. Had several Laughing Gulls, Sandwich Terns, Royal Terns, Least Terns a sole Black Skimmer.  Saw only one Brown Pelican and a single DC Cormorant. A beautiful Bald Eagle soared overhead and a lone Roseate Spoonbill was feeding in the south channel. The mud flats to the north were also loaded with many more avian, but a scope was needed.

I plan on returning tomorrow morning to start my August list.  Also planning on a return trip to the Everglades Ag Area in mid-August to seek out the upland sandpiper.
American Oystercatchers

Wilson's and Semipalmated Plovers






 

My July List -


1 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

2 Muscovy Duck

3 Wood Duck

4 Mottled Duck

5 Northern Bobwhite

6 Pied-billed Grebe

7 Brown Pelican

8 Double-crested Cormorant

9 Anhinga

10 Magnificent Frigatebird

11 Great Blue Heron

12 Great Egret

13 Snowy Egret

14 Little Blue Heron

15 Tricolored Heron

16 Reddish Egret

17 Cattle Egret

18 Green Heron

19 Black-crowned Night-Heron

20 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

21 White Ibis

22 Glossy Ibis

23 Roseate Spoonbill

24 Wood Stork

25 Black Vulture

26 Turkey Vulture

27 Osprey

28 Swallow-tailed Kite

29 Snail Kite

30 Bald Eagle

31 Red-shouldered Hawk

32 Short-tailed Hawk

33 Red-tailed Hawk

34 Crested Caracara

35 Common Moorhen

36 Limpkin

37 Sandhill Crane

38 Black-bellied Plover

39 Wilson's Plover

40 Semipalmated Plover

41 Piping Plover

42 Killdeer

43 American Oystercatcher

44 Black-necked Stilt

45 Spotted Sandpiper

46 Greater Yellowlegs

47 Willet

48 Lesser Yellowlegs

49 Long-billed Curlew

50 Marbled Godwit

51 Ruddy Turnstone

52 Sanderling

53 Western Sandpiper

54 Least Sandpiper 5

5 Short-billed Dowitcher

56 Laughing Gull

57 Least Tern

58 Gull-billed Tern

59 Black Tern

60 Forster's Tern

61 Royal Tern

62 Sandwich Tern

63 Black Skimmer

64 Rock Pigeon

65 Eurasian Collared-Dove

66 White-winged Dove

67 Mourning Dove

68 Common Ground-Dove

69 Monk Parakeet

70 Burrowing Owl

71 Barred Owl

72 Common Nighthawk

73 Chimney Swift

74 Belted Kingfisher

75 Red-headed Woodpecker

76 Red-bellied Woodpecker

77 Downy Woodpecker

78 Hairy Woodpecker

79 Red-cockaded Woodpecker

80 Northern Flicker

81 Pileated Woodpecker

82 Great Crested Flycatcher

83 Gray Kingbird

84 Loggerhead Shrike

85 White-eyed Vireo

86 Blue Jay

87 American Crow

88 Fish Crow

89 Purple Martin

90 Bank Swallow

91 Barn Swallow

92 Tufted Titmouse

93 Carolina Wren

94 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

95 Eastern Bluebird

96 Northern Mockingbird

97 European Starling

98 Northern Parula

99 Pine Warbler

100 Prairie Warbler

101 Black-and-white Warbler

102 American Redstart

103 Prothonotary Warbler

104 Common Yellowthroat

105 Eastern Towhee

106 Bachman's Sparrow

107 Northern Cardinal

108 Red-winged Blackbird

109 Eastern Meadowlark

110 Common Grackle

111 Boat-tailed Grackle

112 Brown-headed Cowbird

113 House Sparrow






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