Birding From Home

 Saturday March 11th

A Short-tailed Hawk showed up in my yard,
 were it made a meal of a dove.

At my home, in Fort Myers there is a huge ficus tree. iNaturalist identifies it as a Chinese Banyan and
it's been dropping ripening fruit for the past couple of weeks. This can be quite messy, but this year all this fruit has attracted a lot birds. Large flocks of Cedar Waxwings, plus American Robins and Gray Catbirds, Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Northern Flickers, a one day only visiting Summer Tanager was seen, dozens and dozens of yellow-rumped Warblers were actively eating the fruit, as were Starlings and Fish Crows

Other birds attracted to the feeders are Brown-headed Cowbirds, Northern Cardinals, Common Grackles, Muscovy Ducks, Morning, White-wing, Eurasian and Common Ground Doves, Blue Jays, Painted Buntings and a Indigo Bunting.

Additional we had Northern Parulas, Palm Warblers, a Yellow-throated Warbler, Great Crested Flycatcher a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, White Ibis, Red-shouldered Hawk and a Crested Caracara roosting in a neighbor's tree.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Even had a Short-tailed Hawk grab a dove in my yard. Not a bad couple of weeks.  The fruit is about spent, so most of these species will start departing to other interesting places and will be heading north soon on the Spring Migration

Short-tailed Hawk

Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher

Cedar Waxwing

Northern Flicker

Northern Flicker

Gray Catbird

American Robin

Mourning Dove

Yellow-rumped Warbler

American Robin

Blue Jay

Muscovy Duck

Common Grackle

Yellow-rumped Warbler

European Starling with a fig

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Brown-headed Cowbird

Palm Warbler

Myakka River State Park

 Friday December 30th

Spent the morning today visiting Myakka River State Park in Sarasota County. Water levels remain high and some damage from Hurricane Ian is still present.  Was hoping to observe a nice variety of waterfowl, but only came across Mottled Ducks, some Blue-winged Teal and a few Green-winged Teal.  Wild Turkeys, Greater Yellowlegs, Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Black-necked Stilts and Eastern Phoebes were numerous. Other sightings included American Robins, Pied-billed Grebes, Anhingas and Cormorants.

Red-shouldered Hawk

Wild Turkey

Greater Yellowlegs

American Robin

Green-winged Teal

Northern Mockingbird

Palm Warbler
Myakka River State Park

After catching lunch at the food truck, left the park for a quick run over to nearby Celery Fields.  Here, I checked out the butterfly garden and feeder location. Lots of Nanday Parakeets, Brown-headed Cowbirds and Grackles. 

Yellow-rumped Warbler
The Celery Fields

Northern Cardinal
The Celery Field

Boat-tailed Grackle
The Celery Fields

So, as the year ends, I hadn't grown a very large year list.  With the covid stuff, gas prices and rising inflationary costs, and not forget the havoc with Hurricane Ian, I didn't do as much birding as I normally would have.  But currently I'm making plans to be more aggressive in the new year.

Rollins Savanna Forest Preserve in Grayslake, Illinois

 Tuesday, July 20th

Trumpeter Swans at Rollins Savanna

On my recent visit with family in Illinois, I spent some of my time birding and doing some nature photography. Always enjoy spending time at Rollins Savanna which is a considered to be an outstanding  birding location.

The popular trails circle the oak savannas and wetlands at this preserve. Lots of joggers, walkers, bicycle riders, dog walkers and nature lovers. lots of birds and wildflowers too.

Great Blue Heron

Canada Geese

Meadow Anemone

BIRD LIST - Canada Geese, Tundra Swans, Blue-winged Teal, Mallards, Hooded Mergansers, Mourning Dove, Virginia Rail, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Ring-billed Gull, Double-Crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Kingbird, Tree Swallows, European Starlings, American Robins, House Sparrow, American Goldfinches, Song Sparrow, Bobolinks, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Common Grackles, Common Yellowthroat and Dickcissel.

Foxglove Beardtongue

Dickcissel

Brown-headed Cowbird

Hoary Vervain

Wild Quinine

American Robin in the Dogwoods

Compass Plant

Honeysuckle

Pale Cone Flower

Baby Mallard

Wild Bergamot

Prairie Coreopsis