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| Hooded Warbler at Ft DeSoto Park. Photo by Bob Pelkey |
First off I want to wish my friend Ed, in Onalaska, Texas a Happy Birthday. Secondly we are seeing the start of the Spring neotropical bird migration. The earliest arrivals are trickling in with Hooded Warblers and Prothonotary Warblers showing up in good numbers.
Today, in a late day visit to Ft DeSoto Park in Pinellas County, Bob Pelkey and I saw that Hooded Warblers had arrived in large numbers. They were hopping around everywhere. White-eyed Vireos are also abundant today. Other migrating warblers seen included Prairie, Northern Parula, Worm-eating, Louisiana Waterthrush and Black-and-White. Lingering winter resident birds included Black Scoter, Red-breasted Merganser, Redheads, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Gray Catbirds, and Palm & Yellow-rumped Warblers. Nanday Parakeets, a family of Great Horned Owls and a Merlin were nice additions for the day. The beaches offered all the usual and expected shorebirds and waders.
Earlier in the day I visited one of our local hot spots, Six-Mile Cypress Preserve, in search of migrants. Seen today included Great Crested Flycatchers, Black-and-White Warblers, Parula, Prothonotary Warblers, Pine Warblers, Black-throated Green Warblers, Prairie Warblers, Yellow-throated Warblers, White-eyed Vireos and Red-eyed Vireos. Lingering winter visitors included Blue-headed Vireos, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Palm Warblers and Yellow-rumped Warblers, Gray Catbirds and Common Yellowthroats.
This was a nice start for Spring migration. Hopefully weather conditions will allow us in southwest Florida opportunities to enjoy these colorful birds as they rush north to start nesting.
A count for the reached 74 birds.
Today, in a late day visit to Ft DeSoto Park in Pinellas County, Bob Pelkey and I saw that Hooded Warblers had arrived in large numbers. They were hopping around everywhere. White-eyed Vireos are also abundant today. Other migrating warblers seen included Prairie, Northern Parula, Worm-eating, Louisiana Waterthrush and Black-and-White. Lingering winter resident birds included Black Scoter, Red-breasted Merganser, Redheads, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Gray Catbirds, and Palm & Yellow-rumped Warblers. Nanday Parakeets, a family of Great Horned Owls and a Merlin were nice additions for the day. The beaches offered all the usual and expected shorebirds and waders.
Earlier in the day I visited one of our local hot spots, Six-Mile Cypress Preserve, in search of migrants. Seen today included Great Crested Flycatchers, Black-and-White Warblers, Parula, Prothonotary Warblers, Pine Warblers, Black-throated Green Warblers, Prairie Warblers, Yellow-throated Warblers, White-eyed Vireos and Red-eyed Vireos. Lingering winter visitors included Blue-headed Vireos, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Palm Warblers and Yellow-rumped Warblers, Gray Catbirds and Common Yellowthroats.
This was a nice start for Spring migration. Hopefully weather conditions will allow us in southwest Florida opportunities to enjoy these colorful birds as they rush north to start nesting.
A count for the reached 74 birds.
Great blog Tom - I enjoyed the write ups. Ive just come back from Florida and many of the places are familiar though I wished I had found your blog before I went. The flycatchers and kingbirds were two I missed.
ReplyDeleteSteve.
Oh, what a gorgeous shot of the hooded warbler! That beautiful yellow capture is making me green with envy! Nice! Hopefully I'll find some spring migrators on my side of Florida, too.
ReplyDeleteThat was a fun trip, Tom. Observing Hooded Warblers for the first time, I was amazed at their tolerance of the close presence of people. The HOWA reminds me of Florida Scrub Jay with the behavior similar between the species. It should be noted that the North Beach Lagoon was disappointing with the few numbers of birds seen, but the kid chasing the Wood Stork possibly explains that. The chase of birds by adults was observed at Bunch last week as well. Thankfully a very rare event.
ReplyDeleteTom -- great post and good job finding the Cape May at the Lighthouse!
ReplyDelete