Spring Migration is Winding Down

Wednesday May 7th

Black-bellied Plover molting into summer colors

We are the point were the spring migration is winding down. Many of our wintering shore birds are heading north to there breeding grounds are far north as the arctic. Our piping plovers, based on the banded birds we've seen, are heading back to the Midwestern states to breed along the Lake Michigan shoreline and along the Missouri River. Many of the shore birds still here are sported their breeding colors, which is a nice improvement over their drab winter molts

Dunlin at Bunch Beach

Sanderling in breeding splendor

Some shore birds are still passing through our area from, South America, on the way to breed. Such as an unexpected sighting of Upland Sandpipers. We don't usually encounter the species locally, but just yesterday Dr Padilla reported  resighting an uplands, first seen by Keith Laakkonen on Monday on Big Hickory Island near Lovers Key State Park in Bonita Beach. I twitched after it and dipped, but it was seen by several birders.

Upland Sandpiper - photo posted by Keith Laakkonen

Another migrant I dipped on were bobolinks.  For the past three years they could be found at Harns Marsh in Lehigh Acres on or about May 1st. This year I visited the marsh eight days in a row in search of the birds. But they were a total no-show. A few were seen earlier at Ding Darling on Sanibel Island.  Reports on ebird noted that the Celery Fields up in Sarasota was the place to seek them out this year. Just as my records showed May 1st as a good date, they also show that on or around September 30th they should be passing us on there way south to Argentina. Will have to try again later.

Scarlet Tanager seen at Six-Mile

A few neotropical migrants are still passing through. Found a Scarlet Tanager at Six-mile Cypress Preserve the other day. A couple of days ago I found a trio of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds frequenting the butterfly garden at Bowman Park on Ft Myers Beach along with a having a Yellow-billed Cuckoo pop-up.There is still time to find a few more migrants at our local hotspots.  But the action is definitely shifting to the north. 

Northern Rough-winged Swallows have arrived

Great Crested Flycatchers have become very numerous these days

Spring Migration Hotspot - Ft DeSoto Park



Last Monday, the 21st, I joined with nine other local birders - Dr Jose Padilla, Vince McGrath, Stan Damen, Dr Ken & Ruth Parks, Dave & Tammy  McQuade, Ruth Woodall and Sheryl - to make a return visit to Ft DeSoto Park in Pinellas County to enjoy the migration activity at this hotspot.

Our group arrived at Ft DeSoto at 8 am and headed straight to the mulberry trees at the rangers' residence. Dave and Tammy already had several great sightings as we approached including a Worm-eating Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Baltimore Orioles.



Rose-breasted Grosbeaks were easily found feeding in the mulberry trees

The rest of us quickly added on with more Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, plus Indigo Buntings, Painted Buntings, Blue Grosbeaks, Cedar Waxwings, Orchard Orioles, more Baltimore Orioles, Summer T, Scarlet tanagers, Yellow-throated Vireos, Red-eyed Vireos, White-eyed Vireos, many Gray Catbirds, Black-throated Blue Warblers, Black-throated Green Warbler, Merlin, Gray Kingbird and Cape May Warbler. I had a suspect dickcissel, and young Common Loon was still to be found at the near-by pier.







Baltimore Oriole



After an hour or so we relocated to the East Woods Picnic Area with the expectation of finding lots of great warblers.  However this proved not to be the case. We did find some warblers, but not lots. We had a few Hooded and Palm Warblers, but the group help put me onto one of my nemesis birds in a Kentucky Warbler. Apparently he had been spending a lot of time with a Hooded Warbler feeding underneath a large mulberry tree. We also got to observe a nesting pair of Nanday Parakeets.

Common Loon

As the action was slow we headed to the North Woods Picnic Area for some lunch. Which was interrupted several times with the arrival of forging warblers.  Here we added Blackpoll, Cape May, Yellow, American Redstarts, Palm, Black-and-White Warblers, and Northern Waterthrush.  The nearby lagoon added American Oystercatcher, Willet, Marbled Godwit, Reddish Egret, Short-billed Dowitcher, Sanderlings, Dunlin, Herring Gull, Laughing Gull, Foster's Tern, Royal Term, Least Tern, Cormorants, Brown Pelicans, Piping Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Black-bellied Plovers, Ruddy Turnstones and FOS Semipalmated Sandpiper. Dipped on any whimbrel or long-billed curlew.

Next we made a return visit to the Mulberry Grove were found the action was still going strong.  We added a Prothonotary, Ruby-throated Hummingbird and Eastern Wood-Pewee.

From here our group left the park to bird the Cockroach Bay Preserve near Ruskin. The goal was to relocate a reported Lincoln's sparrow. We didn't find any sparrows, but have a few surprises. Dave was hopeful to add a Solitary Sandpiper. Well we found  him fourteen.  An added bonus was Jose locating a pair of Wilson's Snipes. We also added Mottled Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Redhead, Black-necked Stilt, Lesser Yellowlegs, Coots, Moorhens, Eastern Towhee, Roseate Spoonbills, White and Glossy Ibis, Ospreys, another Semipalmated Sandpiper, Least Sandpipers, a lone Black Skimmer, a Least Tern, Blue Grosbeak, Downy Woodpecker, Merlin and all the expected waders.

In all it was a great day with the group totaling well over 110 species. Surprisingly we dipped on few expected species like sandhill crane, red-tailed hawk and swallow-tailed kite. Again it was a great day.



More Observations from the Sanibel Lighthouse

Saturday April 19th


Migration observations at the Sanibel Lighthouse have continued to be very fruitful. Dr Padilla called me about 3 in the afternoon to advice me as to a black-billed cuckoo being seen at the lighthouse. This bird is very uncommon in our parts and a chance to see one was compelling.

Within an hour I have meet Dr Padilla at the lighthouse and we begin looking.  The numbers of migrating birds present have dwindled a bit but we were able to find a few. I got my FOS Blackpoll Warbler busy feeding in a fig tree.  The tree was popular as we found several Palm Warblers, a beautiful Cape May, a stunning Prothonotary, as will as Northern Parula, Prairie Warbler and Indigo Buntings.

 But what about the cuckoo?

It had been observed by several birders in the morning and our friend Ruth Parks told us that she had just seen it near the restrooms. We staked out the area, but we could not relocate the bird on this afternoon. I could not return the next day, which happened to be Easter Sunday, but many birders did chase after the bird and it seems that everyone, besides myself got good looks. Please the this link to the Stokes blog page with photographs of the Black-billed Cuckoo.  It is ironic that a couple of years age we also a a fuss about a black-billed cuckoo that stayed several days at the lighthouse. I also dipped on the bird on that occasion, Next time!!

Another great blog, with pics of many of the great migrants that stopped here is by Hunting Digital Plumes in the US and Beyond with his posting

Springtime at Point Ybel Lighthouse

Tuesday, April 15th

Our local hot spot, in Lee County, for Spring Migration, is the Sanibel Lighthouse. The location is on the southern point, Point Ybel, of Sanibel Island at the lighthouse park. Weather conditions determine how active the location can be for migrant observations. Blocking weather conditions can provide us with rewarding opportunities to see some interesting species. However, the optimum weather conditions, such as a strong tail winds, for the birds will push them past us as they rush to be on territory first.

So far we have had a few good days here to observe at least a sampling of species are passing through. The most productive observations seem to be Eastern Kingbirds and Orchard Orioles. Gray Kingbirds are starting to show up along with Indigo Buntings and Blue Grosbeaks. We're seeing a few Western Kingbirds and a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher as well.

As for warblers, the wintering Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers have thinned out considerably. One of the most popular migrant warblers showing up are the beautiful Hooded and Prothonotary Warblers. Kentucky, Blue-winged, Worm-eating, Blackpoll, Black-and-white, Prairie, Cape May and Tennessee are being seen. More variety of warblers should increase as the spring season progresses.

It is possible to find Yellow-throated, Red-eyed, White-eyed and Blue-headed Vireos all in a single visit. Black-whiskered Vireo is a real possibility as well. Nearby Ding Darling NWR usually have a few pairs every summer. Other species being seen include Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Summer Tanager, Cliff Swallow, Baltimore Oriole, Painted Bunting, Chimney Swift and Wood Thrush.

Some expected species include Swanson's Thrush, American Red Starts, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Magnolia Warblers, Eastern Wood-pewee and others. It can be a crap-shoot as to wither the birds will show or not.  But is fun when they do.

Spring Migration - Looking for Early Warblers

Tuesday April First

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.

A Review for February

Sunday March 2nd

February was a very active month for me as I traveled to several birding locations in search of as many species as possible.

Visited  Wakodahatchee Wetlands and Storm Water Treatment 1W in Palm Beach County where I had Purple Swamphens and a Purple Gallinule. Also King Rail, Swamp Sparrows, Savannah Sparrows, Painted Buntings, American White Pelicans,  Ruddy Ducks, Blue-winged Teal and lots of American Coots and Common Gallinules. Went to Wakodahatchee to find the neo-tropical cormorants nesting there. Dipped on the neo-tropical, but saw the many nesting. Double-crested Cormorants, Anhingas and Great Blue Herons. Large iguanas were seen in several places.

On Presidents Day I attended a guided tour at Storm Water Treatment #5 south of Clewiston. On an earlier date a stop at the Okeechobee Dike Park located in Clewiston, I located a trio of Bronzed Cowbirds mixed in with feeding flocks of Starlings and Brown headed Cowbirds.

Bronzed Cowbird

At STA 5 we started with some nice sparrow sightings including several Savannah and Swamp Sparrows, but was able to add a Grasshopper Sparrow among the many Palm Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers and Red-winged Blackbirds. We also added all the expected waders. One sora was heard, several Purple Swamphens and Purple Gallinule were seen. Long-billed Dowitchers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and Black-necked Stilts were seen as well. The most commonly seen birds included American Coots and Common Gallinules. Snail Kites were very common, Northern Harriers, American Kestrels, Peregrine Falcons and Red-shouldered Hawks were found. Many Caspian Terns were found and a few Forster's Terns and

Black Skimmer

 Black Skimmers.  A wintering Tropical Kingbird was a star attraction. Western Kingbirds and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers occupied roosts just outside of the venue. A cassin's  and a gray kingbird were sometimes seen at the kingbird roost. Waterfowl included a many American White Pelicans, Blue-wing Teal, Northern Shovelers, Ring-necked Ducks and a few American Wigeons, Green-wing Teal, a Ruddy Duck and another star attraction in a male Cinnamon Teal.  A surprisingly low count of only two Fulvous Whistling Ducks were seen and zero Black-bellied Whistling Ducks.

On a trip up to Gainesville, made a stop at Four Mile Grade Road west of Arcadia to relocate a wintering Say's Phoebe. At another stop at Jenkins's Creek Park in Hernando County to locate the reported female Brewer's Blackbird, But missed budgies at Hernando Beach. There is speculation the they maybe extirpated there. Possible pressure from House Sparrows, House Finches and Starlings probably is the cause for there disappearance.

At Gainesville I stopped at the Magnolia Park, Gainesville-Hawthorn Trail and the LaChua Trail. Went early to Magnolia Park in hopes for lifer in a Rusty Blackbird. Found the blackbirds. The next stop offered Cedar Waxwings, Robins, Tufted Titmice, Carolina Chickadees, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, White-eyed Vireos but no sparrows.  However At the LaChua Trail at Payne's Prairie sparrows were seen including Savannah, Chipping, White-crowned,

Florida Scrub Jay

White-throated, Swamp, Field and Lincoln's. Other species included Sora, Mottled Duck, Blue-winged Duck, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Wood Stork, many Great Blue Herons, American Bitterns, Barred Owl, Northern Harrier, Ospreys, Eastern Towhee and White and Glossy Ibis. Dipped on white-faced ibis, yellow-breasted chat, purple gallinule and vermilion flycatchers. Stopped at Chapman's Pond on the way home for Bonaparte's Gulls

Locally, in and around the Ft Myers area, we had lots of nice birding. On Church Road off of sr-82 we had a lot of success with Wild Turkey, Crested Caracara, Lark Sparrows, a Field Sparrow and Savannah Sparrows. Also seen here were Eastern Towhees, Swallow-tailed Kites, Painted Buntings, Northern Rough-winged Swallows, Trees Swallows, Western Kingbirds and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers. At nearby Lehigh Acres we had

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

White-winged doves, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Cooper's Hawk, a Merlin, American Kestrels, Eastern Towhees and Eastern Bluebirds. Also in Lehigh Acres is Harns Marsh were we located Snail Kites, Limpkins and Northern Harriers. A Dickcissel has been a star attraction at the bird feeders at the home of master birder Vince McGrath. Vince was also responsible for locating a Salt Marsh Sparrow at the Bunche Beach Salt Flats. In Cape Coral we have a family of Florida Scrub Jays, a colony of Monk Parakeets and many Burrowing Owls. Plus a wintering Eurasian Wigeon hanging-out with a flock of Mottled and Muscovy Ducks. A good sized flock of Nanday Parakeets can be found in Ft Myers. Down in Naples I located a reported pair of nesting Rose-ringed Parakeets. At the Sanibel Causeway another star attraction has been a wintering female Common Eider. Other wintering birds there included Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Loon, Black Scoters, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Great Black-backed Gulls and Magnificent Frigatebirds. In a search for Northern Gannets I visited Turner Beach on Captiva Island were I was lucky in located four birds busy fishing along side Brown Pelicans and Double-crested Cormorants.

It was a busy month and I got to see a lot of birds. E-bird buts my count at 175.

lack-bellied Whistling-Duck
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Muscovy Duck
Eurasian Wigeon
American Wigeon
Mallard (Domestic type)
Mottled Duck
Mallard x Mottled Duck (hybrid)
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Common Eider
Black Scoter
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Northern Bobwhite
Wild Turkey
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Wood Stork
Magnificent Frigatebird
Northern Gannet
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
American White Pelican
Brown Pelican
American Bittern
Least Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Reddish Egret
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Swallow-tailed Kite
Snail Kite
Northern Harrier
Cooper's Hawk
Bald Eagle
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
King Rail
Sora
Purple Swamphen
Purple Gallinule
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Limpkin
Sandhill Crane
Black-necked Stilt
Black-bellied Plover
Wilson's Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Piping Plover
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Marbled Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Dunlin
Least Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Bonaparte's Gull
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Caspian Tern
Forster's Tern
Royal Tern
Sandwich Tern
Black Skimmer
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Great Horned Owl
Burrowing Owl
Barred Owl
Eastern Whip-poor-will
Belted Kingfisher
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Rose-ringed Parakeet
Monk Parakeet
Eastern Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Western Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
Florida Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Brown-headed Nuthatch
House Wren
Sedge Wren
Marsh Wren
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Northern Waterthrush
Black-and-white Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Bachman's Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
Saltmarsh Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Painted Bunting
Dickcissel
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Rusty Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Monk Parakeet

Lark Sparrows

Monday February 17th

Lark Sparrow - Photo courtesy of Bob Pelkey

On January 24th, Thomas Wymelenberg, posted on a local birding site concerning a reliable site to find Western Kingbirds. Several of us have now made numerous trips to Church Road in Hendry County and have found it to be a birding hot spot. Not just the western kingbirds, but Scissor-tailed Flycatchers too. We have also tally many Crested Caracaras ( I had 15 on this road on my first visit ), American Kestrels, Painted Buntings, Eastern Towhees, Wild Turkeys, American Robins, Northern Waterthrush, Wood Storks, American White Pelicans ( fly over ), Northern Rough-winged Swallows. Off special note were a pair of Lark Sparrows, first located here by Vince McGrath and Photographed by Bob Pelkey. I was lucky to relocate the lark sparrows, plus Savannah Sparrows and an unexpected Field Sparrow.