Hooded Warblers - A Look at March

Put a few miles on the car and several hours in, in search of birds. Had a bit of  luck in twitching after rarities, but seemed to have missed out on most.  Missed the smooth-billed ani, twice in the Everglades, and the laSagre Flycatcher at Key Biscayne.  My best find was the Harlequin Duck that had wintered in Sebastian Inlet.

The beginning of March is a time to seek out the wintering specialties here in Florida and at the conclusion of the month begins the spring migration. Gone are the large numbers of Yellow-Rumped Warblers, American Robins and most of the wintering ducks. And was exciting to see the arrival of the beautiful Swallow-tailed Kites

American Coot at Green Cay

Just last week, at Sanibel Lighthouse, we were able to find several Northern Parula, Hooded Warblers and even a Worm-eating Warbler. So the migration has begun. We even found very large numbers of exhausted Purple martins and Barn Swallows.

Monk Parakeet at Cape Coral

Other fun sitings included the Cedar Waxwings in my neighbors tree, the Swamphens and Purple Gallinules at several of our wetlands, and the different kinds of parrots I can locate. The best siting for the month was noted as I was crossing the Sanible causeway on my way home last Monday after checking the lighthouse. It was extremely windy and I could see a large flock of shorebirds circling and circling as they tried to fight against the wind. They would finally give up and settled onto the water. They were to far out for a good photo, but with my binoculars I was am to identify them as American Avocets, most in breeding plumage. It is also cool to locate avocets, but the count I got off of the photo, I did managae to take, numbered around 85 birds. That was the most unusal part of the scene. You just never know what you will Find



Harlequin Duck at Sebastion Inlet



Yellow-Throated Warbler at Corkscrew Swamp



Red-Cockaded Woodpecker colony site at Babcock-Webb



A Gray Catbird on a chilly morning at Six-Mile Cypress Slough

A Mourning Dove at Six-Mile Cypress Slough

Exhausted Purple Martins at rest upon arrival at Sanibel Lighthouse

My List for March - (163)

1. Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
2. Muscovy Duck (Domestic type)
3. Wood Duck  
4. Mottled Duck
5. Blue-winged Teal
6. Northern Shoveler
7. Green-winged Teal
8. Ring-necked Duck
9. Lesser Scaup
10. Harlequin Duck - a lifer
11. Hooded Merganser
12. Red-breasted Merganser
13. Ruddy Duck
14. Wild Turkey
15. Common Loon
16. Pied-billed Grebe
17. Northern Gannet
18. American White Pelican
19. Brown Pelican
20. Double-crested Cormorant
21. Anhinga
22. Great Blue Heron
23. Great Egret
24. Snowy Egret
25. Little Blue Heron
26. Tricolored Heron
27. Reddish Egret
28. Cattle Egret
29. Green Heron
30. Black-crowned Night-Heron
31. Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
32. White Ibis
33. Glossy Ibis
34. Roseate Spoonbill
35. Wood Stork
36. Black Vulture
37. Turkey Vulture
38. Osprey
39. Swallow-tailed Kite
40. Snail Kite
41. Bald Eagle
42. Northern Harrier
43. Cooper's Hawk
44. Red-shouldered Hawk
45. Broad-winged Hawk
46. Short-tailed Hawk
47. Red-tailed Hawk
48. Crested Caracara
49. American Kestrel
50. Merlin
51. Peregrine Falcon
52. Sora
53. Purple Swamphen
54. Purple Gallinule
55. Common Moorhen
56. American Coot
57. Limpkin
58. Sandhill Crane
59. Black-bellied Plover
60. Wilson's Plover
61. Semipalmated Plover
62. Piping Plover
63. Killdeer
64. American Oystercatcher
65. Black-necked Stilt
66. American Avocet
67. Spotted Sandpiper
68. Solitary Sandpiper
69. Greater Yellowlegs
70. Willet
71. Lesser Yellowlegs
72. Marbled Godwit
73. Ruddy Turnstone
74. Sanderling
75. Semipalmated Sandpiper
76. Western Sandpiper
77. Least Sandpiper
78. Dunlin
79. Short-billed Dowitcher
80. Wilson's Snipe
81. Laughing Gull
82. Ring-billed Gull
83. Herring Gull
84. Caspian Tern
85. Common Tern
86. Forster's Tern
87. Royal Tern
88. Sandwich Tern
89. Black Skimmer
90. Rock Pigeon
91. Eurasian Collared-Dove
92. White-winged Dove
93. Mourning Dove
94. Common Ground-Dove
95. Black-hooded Parakeet
96. Monk Parakeet
97. Mitred Parakeet 
98. Red-masked Parakeet
99. Great Horned Owl 
100. Burrowing Owl
101. Whip-poor-will
102. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
103. Belted Kingfisher
104. Red-headed Woodpecker
105. Red-bellied Woodpecker
106. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
107. Downy Woodpecker
108. Hairy Woodpecker
109. Red-cockaded Woodpecker
110. Northern Flicker
111. Pileated Woodpecker
112. Eastern Phoebe
113. Great Crested Flycatcher
114. Eastern Kingbird
115. Loggerhead Shrike
116. White-eyed Vireo
117. Blue-headed Vireo
118. Blue Jay
119. American Crow
120. Fish Crow
121. Purple Martin
122. Tree Swallow
123. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
124. Barn Swallow
125. Tufted Titmouse
126. Carolina Wren
127. House Wren
128. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
129. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
130. Eastern Bluebird
131. American Robin
132. Gray Catbird
133. Northern Mockingbird
134. Brown Thrasher
135. European Starling
136. Common Myna
137. Cedar Waxwing
138. Northern Parula
139. Yellow-rumped Warbler
140. Black-throated Green Warbler
141. Yellow-throated Warbler
142. Pine Warbler
143. Prairie Warbler
144. Palm Warbler
145. Black-and-white Warbler
146. American Redstart
147. Worm-eating Warbler
148. Ovenbird
149. Common Yellowthroat
150. Hooded Warbler
151. Savannah Sparrow
152. Northern Cardinal
153. Indigo Bunting
154. Painted Bunting
155. Red-winged Blackbird
156. Eastern Meadowlark
157. Common Grackle
158. Boat-tailed Grackle
159. Shiny Cowbird
160. Brown-headed Cowbird
161. Orchard Oriole
162. American Goldfinch
163. House Sparrow