Some Vagrants are Still Hanging Around

Friday, May 30th

Recently Charlie Ewell posted that the Cape Coral Eurasian Wigeon was still to be found on its pond on Del Prado.  Had expected that the duck would have been drawn northward to seek a mate. I suppose it is possible that it has bonded with a resident Mottled Duck, which are not migratory.  I did check the pond last Monday and found it in the company of several mottled ducks, mallard-mottled duck hybrids and several pekin ducks. A Pied-billed Grebe was also on-site. Maybe the wigeon will stay the summer.

Pekin Ducks located on Wigeon Pond

Tuesday I birded Babcock-Webb in Charlotte County. I quickly located the Big Three - Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Bachman's Sparrow and Brown-headed Nuthatch.  Other interesting sightings included Eastern Bluebirds with their fledglings, a Sandhill Crane with a colt and a late Eastern Kingbird.

After visiting Babcock-Webb I elected to retry for the Tropical Kingbird at St Armand's Circle in Sarasota County. Seems that it frequents the parking lot area mat Adams and Monroe Streets. Here we have another vagrant in the tropical kingbird, who seems uninterested in migrating to its normal breeding range. It has been posited that this individual has been on-site here since back in 2013.

Tropical Kingbird at St Armands