A Few Pics

Friday, March 1st

Did a little local birding the past couple of days

A somewhat downy and sleepy 

Great Horned Owlet

Seems that springtime is carrying on.  Many nesting birds.  Observed a Snail Kite, yesterday, carrying nesting materials, while some birds like Bald Eagles and Great Horned Owl babies will be fledging soon.

Wildflowers are blooming and butterflies and dragonflies are evident as they flutter and zoom about on these warming days.

Pearl Crescent Butterfly

Appears to be a Krider's Red-tailed Hawk seen along Blumberg Road in Hendry County

Brown Cuban Anole

An invasive and dominate species

replacing the native green anole

Another Brown Cuban Anole.  My first inclination was to identify it as another invasive lizard, the Brown Basilisk, because of the crests, which I learned are called a roach.

 I don't recall seeing a specimen displaying such a large roach

Prairie Warbler. 

Warblers have been a very difficult birds to photo as they don't tend to pose. 

House Sparrow. A while ago we called them English Sparrows. Not sure why the name change.  

They brought over here from England

Monk Parakeets can be found at the baseball fields on Pelican Boulevard in Cape Coral

Palm Warbler. Some are starting to show more of their breeding colors

 as spring migration approaches

A Lee County Blitz

Monday, January 2nd

Started a long day at day break from the parking area at Harn's Marsh Preserve.  Its a new year. A time for renewal.  A time to start a new list. Today will be a Lee County Blitz or a Big Day, to count as many bird species as possible in a day.  I did mine solo, which probably cost me a few ticks.

 

Ring-necked Duck

But at Harns Marsh, I ran into Meg Rouse, China Bont and Dick the photographer and together we had some good sightings. Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, Purple Gallinules, Gray-headed Swamphens, Swamp Sparrow.

 

Florida Scrub Jay

From here I left the group and sought out the Florida Scrub Jays that can be found at 47th Street West in Lehigh Acres.

Then onto the pond on Homestead Road in Lehigh, were I added a Crested Caracara, Roseate Spoonbill, Least Sandpipers a Greater and a Lesser Yellowlegs.

Next was the Red-headed Woodpecker colony on Wellington Road in Lehigh, but I haven't spotted any of the woodpeckers here for some time. But I did find a  Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Sharp-Shinned Hawk

The White's feeders in Alva can be a great spot to find buntings, goldfinches and White-winged Doves. But not for me today. And the nearby Red-headed Woodpecker colony on Parkinson Road only revealed an American Kestrel.  No woodpeckers.

Maybe at the Caloosahatchee Regional Park there'll be a Red-headed Woodpecker or maybe a White-eyed Vireo.  Nope.  Moving on

Then I tried the Caloosahatchee Creek Park and again no woodpeckers or any thing else.

Finally at Pop Ash Creek Preserve there was a Red-headed Woodpecker.  Not much else.

Onto Cape Coral were I made a stop to see Bald Eagles at the Famous Pritchett Eagles Nest, as seen on the national news. Then to the Great Horned Owls nest on SW 22th Ct and the Monk Parakeet nests at the ball fields on Pelican Boulevard. But all through Cape Coral I never spotted a Burrowing Owl, which is unusual.

Great Horned Owl

Onto Ft Myers and found several Nanday Parakeets on Tufts Street. Then onto a spot along the river to look for any scaups. No ducks though.

Its starting to get late and I've missed the low tide, but headed over to Bunche Beach anyway.  The place was packed with folks enjoying a holiday outing. No point in even trying this venue. Missed a lot of birds by being late here.

Wrapped up the day with a walk on the board walk at Six-mileCypress Slough Preserve.  Again not many birds on hand. A long trying day with too many miles on the car. Looks like I hit on 79 birds. Short of the 100 count goal for the day.  My friends Dave and Eary were far more aggressive and managed a Lee County Big Day count of 134 species.

 

Nanday Parakeets

Day's Bird List (79) -

Black-crowned Night-heron

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Muscovy Duck, Wood Duck, Mottled Duck, Mallard x Mottled Duck (hybrid), Blue-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, Wood Stork,  Magnificent Frigatebird, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Brown Pelican, Least Bittern, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, Black-crowned Night-Heron, White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Black Vulture,  Turkey Vulture,  Osprey,  Snail Kite,  Northern Harrier,  Sharp-shinned Hawk,  Bald Eagle,  Red-shouldered Hawk,  Purple Gallinule,  Gray-headed Swamphen,   Common Gallinule, American Coot, Limpkin, Sandhill Crane,  Killdeer, Least Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Laughing Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Great Horned Owl, Belted Kingfisher, Red-headed Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Crested Caracara, American Kestrel, Monk Parakeet, Nanday Parakeet, Eastern Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrike, Blue Jay, Florida Scrub-Jay, American Crow, Fish Crow, Tree Swallow,  Carolina Wren,  Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, American Robin, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Common Yellowthroat, Palm Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Savannah Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Common Grackle, Boat-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird and House Sparrow

Ft DeSoto Park

Tuesday April 12th

Ft DeSoto Park, in April, is very popular with birders, because it is an important migrant magnet for neotropical birds crossing the Gulf of Mexico to reach the Florida peninsula.

A view of Tampa Bay

Today Bob Pelkey and I traveled up to Tampa Bay to visit Ft DeSoto. Not a tremendous number of birds but a very nice variety. At the mulberry trees we found lots of Cedar Waxwings, plus Gray Catbirds, a Wood Thrush, Summer Tanagers, a Scarlet Tanager, Orchard Orioles, Indigo Buntings and even Fish Crows dining on the berries.

In the woods we had mostly single counts of Prairie, Blackpoll, Prothonotary, Tennessee and Hooded Warblers.  We also had multiple counts on Palm, Black-and-White and American Redstart Warblers. Ospreys are nesting throughout the park and we were able to see a lone Great Horned Owl.

A Wood Thrush seen beneath a Mulberry Tree

Summer Tanager

Mulberries were popular with the tanagers

White-eyed Vireo

Great Horned Owl

Throughout the park the sounds of shrieking Nanday Parakeets could be heard.

Romance is in the Air

Common Loon

On the beaches we saw several Common Loons, a Reddish Egret and a lone Red-breasted Merganser.  There were also large numbers of shorebirds including Willets, Black-bellied Plovers, Semipalmated Plovers, Short-billed Dowitchers, Dunlins, Least Sandpipers, a Killdeer, a Piping Plover, Black Skimmers, Ruddy Turnstones and a Marbled Godwit.

Reddish Egret

Dunlin

Least Sandpiper

Laughing Gull

Piping Plover

A Scrum of Short-billed Dowitchers

Brewer's Blackbird - Birding Central Florida

Wednesday February 15th

Brewer's Blackbird

Wednesday was the start of a three day birding holiday through central Florida looking special birds not found near home. This first day was basically a travel day up to Gainesville with scheduled stops along the way.

Wood Stork at Jenkins Creek

Found Canada Geese in Pasco County, dipped on the budgerigars at Hernando Beach, but easily found the Brewer's Blackbird at Jenkins Creek Park. What helped with the brewer's was a retired couple feeding the Boat-tailed Grackles, Wood Storks and the blackbird. LIFER!! Stopped at the nearby Bayport Park and added Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Palm Warblers, Ring-billed Gull and Cormorants. Could see the potiental for clapper rail, but not today.

Great Blue Heron at Bayport

Next was a drive away from the Gulf of Mexico to Lake Apopka to refind the Say's Phoebe at Astutla. This phoebe, a western bird, has returned to this same pasture for several winter seasons now. Other birds seen at this site included Sandhill Crane, Killdeers, Eastern Bluebirds, American Robins and Palm Warblers. As it was near dusk I headed over to the parking lot at the North Shore Lake Apopka Restoration Area. Last year I had a bobcat pop up here. Today just got a Great Horned Owl. 

Bayport

Other birds sighted today included Lesser Scaup, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Red-tailed Hawk, Osprey, Limpkin, House Finch, Pied-billed Grebe and Wood Stork. 
Mammal of the day was a Bottle-Nosed Dolphin.

Brewer's Blackbird

Lark Sparrow at Ft DeSoto

Thursday, February 2nd

Lark Sparrow at Ft DeSoto

Royal Tern

Headed back to Ft DeSoto to look for the Lark Sparrow and rose-breasted grosbeak reported there. Made a quick stop in Sarasota and checked out Ackerman Park (mostly Northern Shovelers) and Founders Club ponds.  The Common Goldeneye was easily seen at the Flounders Club and can add Lesser Scaup, Ring-billed Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, Blue-winged Teal and Mottled Duck.  Also had a couple dozen Black-bellied Whistling Ducks on a pond at Tadum and Fruitville Roads

Red-breasted Merganser

Spent four hour at Ft DeSoto enjoying a beautiful day.  A group of birders but me onto the Lark Sparrow and they had successfully sighted the rose-breasted grosbeak earlier in the day.  However I was not so lucky on the grosbeak. Did observe several Common Loons and Red-breasted Mergansers off the beaches and a Horned Grebe at the East Beach turnaround. Also saw most the expected shorebirds and gulls including about 25 Red Knots.  Did come across a Great Horned Owl and a small group of warblers - Pine, Palm, Northern Parula and Yellow-rumps. Had a flock of seventeen Nanday Parakeets show up at the bay pier parking lot.

Great Horned Owl

On the way home I rechecked on the Fork-tailed Flycatcher near Cockroach Bay and was rewarded to see that it was still present

It was a good day

Ring-billed Gull

Fork-tailed Flycatcher

Day's List - (81)

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Mottled Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Loon, Pied-billed Grebe, Horned Grebe, Wood Stork,  Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, American White Pelican, Brown Pelican, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Cattle Egret, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, American Coot, Sandhill Crane,  Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Piping Plover, Willet,  Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Sanderling, Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitcher, Laughing Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Forster's Tern, Royal Tern, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collard-Dove, Mourning Dove, Common Ground-Dove, Nanday Parakeet, Great Horned Owl,  Belted Kingfisher, Fish Crow,  Red-bellied Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Loggerhead Shrike, Tree Swallow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Northern Parula, Palm Warbler, Pine Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Lark Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Boat-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird

A Search for Great Horned Owls

Tuesday December 6th
Cape Coral, Florida

Photographer and blogger, Bob Pelkey, had been keeping me informed this past week on the birds he's encountered on his birding vacation. I was unable to join with him till today and the quest was a Great Horned Owl that has been sitting in a nest near the Florida Scrub Jay location in northern Cape Coral. He and his British friends, the Bakers, had seen the owl twice and were familiar were it would be at sundown.

So the plan was to stake-out the site before sunset to try for some photo shots. I arrived at about 2 pm.  Bob was already there, following a morning visitation to Ding Darling on Sanibel. We got some good pics of three of the resident scrub jays who were very tolerant of our presence. I was informed that these birds would take a peanut right from someones hand.

We then got some pics of a resident Burrowing Owl.  Bob reported that just yesterday he witnessed an attack on what was probably this bird's mate, by a coopers hawk.  Apparently the hawk grabbed the owl as it was in-flight between nest holes.  After it had dispatched the owl, it carried it away for its meal. Very sad.  The bird we were watching today spent a lot of time scanning the sky.  It did disappear when a Red-tailed Hawk soared over head.

As for the the Great Horned Owl, the top of its head could be seen from the right angle as it rested in the nest.  As the sun set a second owl, which we had heard earlier, sat silhouetted by the pinkish hue of the setting sun atop a pine tree at a distance from us. Then, after waiting patiently for the first owl to descend to its usual perch, it flew low away from us to another tree, were it was momentarily mobbed an American Kestrel. Our photo-op was missed. Guess we were too obvious. But it was a good day.  Other sightings included Savannah Sparrow, Palm Warbler, Eastern Meadowlark, a flock of four noisy Monk Parakeets, Loggerhead Shrikes, Mockingbirds and Tree Swallows

Ruddy Turnstones - A Visit to Bunche Beach

Saturday November 27th

Headed back to Bunche Beach early Saturday morning with the idea of finding any American White Pelicans an a very foggy morning. The tide was low and falling. Very birdy as well. Walked both endsof the beach, finding the usual hundreds of resting Black Skimmers and all the usual shore birds and waders. Did find a FOS first winter Herring Gull among the many Laughing Gulls.  No ring-billed gulls this morning. Only saw a lone Royal Tern a few Sandwich Terns and Forster's Terns.  The fog reduced visibility but an occasional pelican could be seen flying by, but only Brown Pelicans today. Found several Ruddy Turnstones some of which were well camouflaged in the leaf litter they were probing for breakfast.

A foggy morning at Bunche Beach

Piping Plover

Black-bellied Plover

Yellow-Crowned Nightheron on the hunt

Sanderling

Sanderlings

Great Blue Heron

Can you see the Ruddy Turnstone

My Bunche Beach list - ( 30)

Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Reddish Egret, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Osprey, Black-bellied Plover, Wilson's Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Piping Plover, Spotted Sandpiper, Willet, Marbled Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Sanderling, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitcher, Laughing Gull, Herring Gull, Forster's Tern, Royal Tern, Sandwich Tern, Black Skimmer, Eastern Phoebe

Other sightings over the Thanksgiving weekend included the Monk Parakeets and a Burrowing Owl in Cape Coral at the Pelican Boulevard ballfields. Sighted a Whip-poor-will on a fence post as I was heading into work on Thursday night. Its eye-shine gave it away as my car's head lights caught sight of it. On the way home Friday morning sighted a Great Horned Hawk being harassed by a Red-Shouldered Hawk as it was perched atop a pile of dead timber, awaiting kindling, at the recently cleared construction sight along Airport-Haul Road. I don't have a consistent place in Lee County to find these owls, so they are always welcomed when ever I can come across them. I have also been consistently locating a trio of Redhead duck, over the weekend, hanging with a flock of American Coots at the ponds on Domestic Street. These are my first sighting of Redheads in Lee County. Lesser Scaups, Ring-necked Ducks, Mottled Ducks and a Pied-billed Grebe are seen here too.