Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Sunday, May 29th

When my work shift ends at 7 AM on Sunday mornings, I like to take my time heading for home. That is because the world is so much quieter and finding interesting birds is so much easier.

My birding actually started upon my arrival at work when I sighted our resident Barred Owl. Every year, just during the rainy season though, a barred owl, and sometimes two, will spend part of the evening in a hunt for beetles and mole crickets around the yard lighting. At sunrise, I could hear the 'peet' calls of Common Nighthawks. Then the Common and Boat-tailed Grackles start to descend on the property. Today a fledgling common grackle, not even fully feathered yet, was sitting in the middle of the parking lot with the adult birds surrounding the baby. Had to shoo the young bird  out of the way before it could be run over.  We also have a resident Red-shouldered Hawk that appears at dawn and the morning also brings the Snowy and Great Egrets passing overhead.

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Just outside the front gate can be heard a calling White-eyed Vireo in the clumps of Brazilian Pepper.and today I succeeded in spotting it.  Usually its skulking manners made it almost impossible to see. Further down the road were the usual Mourning Doves and calling Northern Cardinals and Red-bellied Woodpeckers. But was also found was a pair of Northern Rough-winged Swallows. Hadn't seen any swallows around here for awhile. On Airport-Haul Road I added a pair of Eastern Bluebirds and at the drainage ditch at the intersection of Alico and Airport-Haul was a lone juvenile Wood Stork.

White Ibis

Close to home, I checked out both Domestic and Lee Roads north of Alico Road. Well on Lee, just a bit north from the intersection with Alico Road, was found a family of five Burrowing Owls.  A sixth owl was sighted in a lot along Domestic Street. Also found here were a couple of Eastern Meadowlarks, a flying Green Heron, ten Purple Martins, more grackles and a Red-winged Blackbird, a lone Cattle Egret,  and about two dozen more Mourning Doves. The drainage ditch along Alico held  several Mottled Ducks and a pair of Common Moorhens. The ponds along Domestic Street are very empty of the coots and ducks seen over the winter.  Today was a single Anhinga, a single Double-crested Cormorant, and pair of Mottled Ducks and a pair of very late American Coots. Loggerhead Shrikes occupied the wires as well.

Closer to home the neighborhood had the usual species including more mourning doves, Eurasian Collared Doves, Fish Crows, grackles, another Red-shouldered Hawk, Blue Jays and Northern Mockingbirds.