Piping Plover - Bunche Beach

Piping Plover - Bunche Beach
August 11th

Headed over to Bunche Beach this morning to see if the current weather over the Gulf of Mexico had pushed any pelagics to the coast.  Figured that it was a shot in the dark, but if you don't look, you don't find.  I think that the odds would have been better further south near Naples or Marco Island.  So I was not too disappointed that I didn't find any sooty terns or such.

However there was very good distribution of shorebirds and terns on hand. Found three Piping Plovers including one with bands and flags. My photos of the bird were not too good and it is hard to clearly see the orientation of the banding. If I can figure it out I'll report it.

My List - Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Reddish Egret, Roseate Spoonbill, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Black-bellied Plover, Wilson's Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Piping Plover, Willet, Marbled Godwit, Sanderling, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Least Tern, Royal Tern, Sandwich Tern, Black Skimmer, Common Ground-Dove

A distraction this morning was a couple who may have thought that this was a nude beach.  It is well posted that nudity was not permitted here, and they did not stay long as they had set up right at the favored birding point at the north end. You never know what you will find when birding

Black Terns - Cockroach Bay Road

Black Terns - Cockroach Bay Road
August 9th

Only had a small window of opportunity today to do some birding outside my neighborhood. Elected to make a return, 120 mile, trip to Cockroach Bay Road, which is nearby to Ruskin, Florida. Last month I had good sitings of Gull-billed Terns, Black-bellied Ducks, Black-necked Stilts and such. Besides the ponds the area also has a couple of sod farms, so hopefully migrating shore birds could be present.

Started the day with siting a Cooper's Hawk flying across Us 41 near home as I was heading to a nine o'clock appointment.

Arrived at Cockroach Bay Road just before noon and noticed that I had left my camera at home, but what I really noticed were the dozens of Black Terns working the retention ponds. Most were still in their alternative, black, plumage. This was a pleasant surprise. Watched them feed for about twenty minutes until the flock flew off. I was also able to observe four Gull-billed Terns. Two in alternate plumage. Only found a couple of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks this time.  Had four Black-necked Stilts, several Snowy and Great Egrets.  Several Moorhens, a couple of Osprey, a lone Great Blue Heron.


Moved down the road to check out the sod farms, which only held large numbers of Laughing Gulls, White and Glossy Ibises. Didn't find any shore birds. Checked the numerous doves on the wires for any white-winged doves, but all were Mourning or Ground Doves. Did find a pair of Gray Kingbirds though.
Brown Pelicans and Laughing Gulls were numerous at the boat ramp at the end of road. Turned around and headed backed home, rechecking all the spots for anything missed. At the ponds, found that the black terns had returned or were being replaced by another flock.


On the way home I elected to make a short diversion over to Siesta Key, off of I-75 and was rewarded with locating a lone Nanday Parakeet or Black-hooded Parakeet sitting on the wire down by the beach.  Aways enjoy finding any parrots when birding.


Made another brief stop at Domestic Street in the south Ft Myers area near my home, to see if any burrowing owls or swallows were present, No owls were seen, but a beautiful Red-tail Hawk was seen as were a rapidly moving flock of swallows.  The only swallow I was able to ID before they disappeared was a Bank Swallow, but barn swallows were probably among them as well.

My List for the day - Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Mottled Duck, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Great Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Common Moorhen, Sandhill Crane, Black-necked Stilt, Laughing Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Black Tern, Mourning Dove, Common Ground-Dove, Rock Pigeon, Gray Kingbird, Loggerhead Shrike, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Nanday Parakeet, Red-tailed Hawk and Bank Swallow.

Least Sandpipers - Sanibel Island Causaway

Saturday August 7th

   Was able to get a few photos of Least Sandpipers, Ruddy Turnstones, Semipalmated Plovers and Laughing Gulls along the Sanibel Island Causeway. The American Oystercatchers and Willets were not so cooperative.  Other species active along the causeway included Brown Pelicans, Double-Crested Cormorants, Sandwich Terns and Fish Crows.

Least Sandpiper

 

 

Snowy Plovers - Ft Myers Beach

Tuesday August 3rd

Checked out Little Estero Lagoon this mourning on Ft Myers Beach. Little Estero Lagoon is a treasure in Lee County for the birding to found there. Today was a good example. To try to avoid the August heat I got there early, but I got cooking by 9 am.  I don't understand why people enjoy getting broiled on the beach.

Snowy Plover

Snowy Plover

American Oystercatcher

American Oystercatcher

Ghost Crab

Great Egret

Ruddy Turnstone

Sanderling

A roped-off sea turtle's nest. Plastic sheeting used to corral the hatchings to the water and to hide any artificial light from them so that they don't get lost because of a 'false horizon'.

The birding was very good with the several Snowy Plovers being located. Had good numbers Semipalmated and Wilson's Plovers, Ruddy Turnstones, Sanderlings and Western Sandpipers on hand. Found only a couple of Least Sandpipers, a couple of Short-billed Dowitchers a couple dozen Willets and six Marbled Godwits. Counted six Ospreys and five Magnificent Frigatebirds. Brown Pelicans, Double-creasted Cormorants, Least Terns, Royal Terns, and Sandwich Terns were very active. A dozen Roseate Spoonbills were present along with a dozen Great Egrets and many of the other common waders.

My List - (39) Mottled Duck, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Magnificent Frigatebird, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Green Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Osprey, Black-bellied Plover, Snowy Plover, Wilson's Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Spotted Sandpiper, Willet, Marbled Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Laughing Gull, Least Tern, Royal Tern, Sandwich Tern, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Common Ground-Dove, Gray Kingbird, Loggerhead Shrike, Fish Crow, Barn Swallow, European Starling, Northern Cardinal, House Sparrow

Some Notes on the Migration
In the past week I have been lucky to find a few of the early migrants here in in Florida. We've seen that the shorebirds have already been arriving for a few weeks now. But now we see that the the small birds are arriving and I have already seen several Yellow-Throated Warblers, A Black-and White Warbler, an American Redstart, a Red-Eyed Vireo and a female Orchard Oriole. I'm looking forward to expanding my list as the migration heats-up.

Short-billed Dowitcher

After leaving work, I headed over to Bunche Beach again to try to add to my July List in this final day.  Not far from the work a 200 plus acre property was being denuded to prep it for a new research park by Florida Gulf Coast University. It is ironic that all this forest was being destroyed to create a research center dedicated to advancing GREEN technology. The property was infested with mealaluca trees, which is a serious pest in south Florida, yet I have seen many white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, bobcats and wild hogs use the property over the almost ten years I have been using this road.  The developers did remove mealaluca and Brazilian pepper from wetlands that could not be developed. But there is a plus, though only temporary. The now muddied fields have the potential as an attraction for migrating shorebirds like pectoral sandpipers, yellowlegs and peeps. A check this morning reveled the usual Killdeers and Boat-tailed Grackles, plus a Spotted Sandpiper. Hopefully we can see more activity later.

At the beach the tide was just right and the beach was active with large numbers of feeding Sanderlings, Semipalmated Plovers, Wilson's Plovers and Short-billed Dowitchers..  All the usual waders are on-hand, plus a couple of American Oystercatchers, several Marbled Godwits, Willets. Also seen were several Western and Least Sandpipers and first-of-season, unbanded Piping Plover. Had several Laughing Gulls, Sandwich Terns, Royal Terns, Least Terns a sole Black Skimmer.  Saw only one Brown Pelican and a single DC Cormorant. A beautiful Bald Eagle soared overhead and a lone Roseate Spoonbill was feeding in the south channel. The mud flats to the north were also loaded with many more avian, but a scope was needed.

I plan on returning tomorrow morning to start my August list.  Also planning on a return trip to the Everglades Ag Area in mid-August to seek out the upland sandpiper.

American Oystercatchers

Wilson's and Semipalmated Plovers

 

My July List -

1 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

2 Muscovy Duck

3 Wood Duck

4 Mottled Duck

5 Northern Bobwhite

6 Pied-billed Grebe

7 Brown Pelican

8 Double-crested Cormorant

9 Anhinga

10 Magnificent Frigatebird

11 Great Blue Heron

12 Great Egret

13 Snowy Egret

14 Little Blue Heron

15 Tricolored Heron

16 Reddish Egret

17 Cattle Egret

18 Green Heron

19 Black-crowned Night-Heron

20 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

21 White Ibis

22 Glossy Ibis

23 Roseate Spoonbill

24 Wood Stork

25 Black Vulture

26 Turkey Vulture

27 Osprey

28 Swallow-tailed Kite

29 Snail Kite

30 Bald Eagle

31 Red-shouldered Hawk

32 Short-tailed Hawk

33 Red-tailed Hawk

34 Crested Caracara

35 Common Moorhen

36 Limpkin

37 Sandhill Crane

38 Black-bellied Plover

39 Wilson's Plover

40 Semipalmated Plover

41 Piping Plover

42 Killdeer

43 American Oystercatcher

44 Black-necked Stilt

45 Spotted Sandpiper

46 Greater Yellowlegs

47 Willet

48 Lesser Yellowlegs

49 Long-billed Curlew

50 Marbled Godwit

51 Ruddy Turnstone

52 Sanderling

53 Western Sandpiper

54 Least Sandpiper 5

5 Short-billed Dowitcher

56 Laughing Gull

57 Least Tern

58 Gull-billed Tern

59 Black Tern

60 Forster's Tern

61 Royal Tern

62 Sandwich Tern

63 Black Skimmer

64 Rock Pigeon

65 Eurasian Collared-Dove

66 White-winged Dove

67 Mourning Dove

68 Common Ground-Dove

69 Monk Parakeet

70 Burrowing Owl

71 Barred Owl

72 Common Nighthawk

73 Chimney Swift

74 Belted Kingfisher

75 Red-headed Woodpecker

76 Red-bellied Woodpecker

77 Downy Woodpecker

78 Hairy Woodpecker

79 Red-cockaded Woodpecker

80 Northern Flicker

81 Pileated Woodpecker

82 Great Crested Flycatcher

83 Gray Kingbird

84 Loggerhead Shrike

85 White-eyed Vireo

86 Blue Jay

87 American Crow

88 Fish Crow

89 Purple Martin

90 Bank Swallow

91 Barn Swallow

92 Tufted Titmouse

93 Carolina Wren

94 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

95 Eastern Bluebird

96 Northern Mockingbird

97 European Starling

98 Northern Parula

99 Pine Warbler

100 Prairie Warbler

101 Black-and-white Warbler

102 American Redstart

103 Prothonotary Warbler

104 Common Yellowthroat

105 Eastern Towhee

106 Bachman's Sparrow

107 Northern Cardinal

108 Red-winged Blackbird

109 Eastern Meadowlark

110 Common Grackle

111 Boat-tailed Grackle

112 Brown-headed Cowbird

113 House Sparrow

Prothonatary Warbler

Wednesday, July 28th

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail at Six-Mile Cypress

   At the conclusion of a safety meeting for work, I was heading for home, but made a brief stop at Six-Mile Cypress Slough boardwalk.  Arrived about 8:30am with the idea to seek out the black-and-white warbler and red-eyed vireo that was located here last Sunday. It was not very birdy and I did not find the warbler or the vireo.  But I was a bit surprised to find a lone female American Redstart in the company of a pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers.  Seemed a bit early for redstarts, but a few do winter in the very south end of Florida. As I was trying to relocate the redstart a flash of gold fly past me and landed on a branch just a few feet from me.  Sitting in plain sight was a beautiful male Prothonatary Warbler. 

   That was about the extent of the birds here for my day.  Did have a have a Hairy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker and heard a Pileated Woodpecker. Also seen and heard were Carolina Wrens.

But the warblers were a great addition to the summers scant list of warbler species seen so far.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Bank Swallows - Brown's Farm Road

Tuesday, July 27th

  Tuesday morning, my daughter and I headed out at day break to check a new area for us. We were going over toward Palm Beach County and the Everglades Agricultural Area south of Belle Glade and South Bay, to look for newly arriving shorebirds, terns and swallows.

   Late summer is the time to check the flooded fields and sod farms. It was a little early yet, but reports were starting to show up on the message boards. Our goal was Brown's farm Road south of Belle Glade. The one problem with venturing to a new area, cold so to speak, is that you can waste a lot of time and energy, that those experienced on the site would avoid.  So for us that was the case.  A good day but not too much that I could not have found near home. No doubt our inexperience, here, was our problem. we missed on almost all of the species we were looking for.

   We started with a quick stop in Alva and got Wood Duck, Red-headed Woodpecker, Loggerhead Shrike, Northern Mockingbird, Eastern Meadowlark, all because I already knew were to look. Next I wanted to check out a good site off US29 in Gladys County to look for scrub jays and wild turkeys. But the US29 bridge over the Caloosahatchee River was closed for repairs.  Took an alternative route which added time. A waste of time. No jays or turkeys.  Did get Black Vulture, Swallow-tailed Kite, Red-shouldered Hawk, Crested Caracara, Sandhill Crane, American Crow, Eastern Towhee, and Eastern Meadowlark. Found  two caracaras with one being harassed by a towhee. Had four swallow-tailed kites.  The crows appeared very scruffy as they were experiencing a molt.

   Continued on eastward on Rt 80/US27 toward Clewiston. Between Moore Haven and Clewiston, had to have seen sixty swallow-tailed kites including a kettle of about twenty birds.

Common Nighthawks

   Next checked out Griffin Road west of Clewiston were we found several Common Nighthawks resting on the wires, plus a pair of Gray Kingbirds and a lone Barn Swallow. Later at the picnic area were bronzed cowbirds were found last winter, by the Lake Okeechobee boat ramp we found a couple of Cormorants, Laughing Gulls and a lot of Boat-tailed Grackles. Was hoping to find the eastern kingbirds I found here a few weeks ago, but not today. In town were the usual Rock Pigeons and House Sparrows.

   There is a cypress stand located off of US27 and along the Miami Canal on RT827 that is noted for roosting barn owls. This is one of my nemeses birds and that status was maintained, after driving this narrow lane miles through the sugar cane fields to the location. Did spot several more resting nighthawks, soaring swallow-tailed kites and wading birds in the adjacent ditches, but we did not see any owls.  They were probably there, I just could not spot any birds at all in the stand.

   From here we found the Brown's Farm Road and traveled south 14 miles till it turned to a gravel road and as it was already past our time to head back home. We turned around here. Needed to arrive earlier to more thoroughly explore the area as we obviously missed the reported flooded fields.  We did find small flocks of resting Purple Martins and Bank Swallows, and at a flooded area along some high-power lines we found a few Black-necked Stilts and a few waders. But not the long list of reported sandpipers, dowitchers and whistling ducks. Nor any black or gull-billed terns at the sod farms along US27.

   Thought I had king rail out in the open, but it was really a juvenile Green Heron in a hunkered down postion. Also had a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. Did find a large number of Wood Storks, White Ibis, Great Egrets and such concentrating on a particular ditch in one of the sod farms.  Had to have been a close to a hundred birds.

My List - (41) Wood Duck, Double-crested Cormorant, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Anhinga, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Green Heron, White Ibis, Wood Stork, Swallow-tailed Kite, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Crested Caracara, Laughing Gull, Black-necked Stilt, Sandhill Crane, Mourning Dove, Common Ground-Dove, Common Nighthawk, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Red-headed Woodpecker,  Loggerhead Shrike, Northern Mockingbird, Purple Martin, Barn Swallow, Bank Swallow, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Common Nighthawk, Gray Kingbird, Fish Crow, American Crow, Eastern Towhee, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Boat-tailed Grackle, Eastern Meadowlard, House Sparrow