Peeps - Bunche Beach

Reddish Egret

Peeps - Bunche Beach

July 24th - 26th

This weekend I headed over to Bunche Beach three times.  My visits on Friday and Saturday were spurred on by the possible appearances of pelagics due to Tropical Storm Bonnie passing close by as it entered the Gulf Of Mexico. The good news was that the storm was really a dud as far as tropical weather is concerned, so zero damage, but we needed the rain fall.  The bad news was that the storm was a dud and no pelagics.

On Friday evening as the rain was petering out as I headed out to the beach. I was greeted at the north end of John Morris Road with a brief fly-by of a FOS Belted Kingfisher.  The tide was rising and lots of  birds were still present. We had a lot of Short-billed Dowitchers many still in alternate plumage, plus Sanderlings and Willets.  The migration is on.  Also present were a handful of Least Terns, which will be heading out to sea soon, a lone Royal Tern and a couple of Sandwich Terns. First-of-season Barn Swallows were working the beach. A pair of Spotted Sandpipers, still in alternate plumage, were working the east end of the beach. Saw no plovers at all.

Willet

   Earlier that morning I checked out the Monk Parakeets and Burrowing Owls at Pelican Boulevard Ballfields in Cape Coral. Also found a lone Swallow-tailed Kite soaring over Ft Myers. Haven't seen many of the kites this season.

My list on Friday -Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Reddish Egret, White Ibis, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Spotted Sandpiper, Willet, Sanderling, Short-billed Dowitcher, Laughing Gull, Least Tern, Royal Tern, Sandwich Tern, Common Ground-Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Fish Crow, Barn Swallow, Northern Cardinal, Swallow-tailed Kite, Monk Parakeet, Burrowing Owls

Burrowing Owl doesn't like the rain

On Saturday morning returned for another try for pelagics. Had a repeat of Friday's visit. No pelagics, but a beautiful Forester's Tern flew in, in its alternate plumage. The only plover seen was a Black-Bellied Plover.

My Saturday List - Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Magnificent Frigatebird, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Reddish Egret, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Black-bellied Plover, Willet, Marbled Godwit, Sanderling,

Short-billed Dowitcher, Laughing Gull, Least Tern, Forster's Tern, Royal Tern, Sandwich Tern, Fish Crow, Barn Swallow, Northern Cardinal

 Sunday evening, at 6pm, was the Lee County Bird Patrol Bunche Beach Bird Walk. We had about fourteen participates and a very low tide. A very good variety and a scope was very handy as the birds get spread out across the mud flats. Finally had plovers on hand - Wilson's, Semipalmated and Black-Bellied. Still missing are piping plovers.  One of our co-leaders today was Charley Ewell, who was quite knowledgeable on shorebirds. He gave excellent lessons on identification and life-cycles for many of the birds present. He spotted and identified the first Western and Least Sandpipers we've seen this season. And instead of finding barn swallows we had a small flock of Purple Martins. The hundreds of fiddler crabs busy on the beach by the mangroves were very popular with many of the participants. You did have to watch your steps. It was a very good event today.

Juvenile Laughing Gull

   Earlier in mourning I checked the I-75 rest stop area for any shorebirds and came up with nothing, but did run into Bob Pelkey, who was looking to photograph any of the Black-Necked Stilts I had previously reported on. Before I left, I pointed Bob to the best area to look for the stilts, which he later reported that he was able to photograph. He had ten stilts later in the morning.

Sundays List - Brown Pelican, Magnificent Frigatebird, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Reddish Egret, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Osprey, Black-bellied Plover, Wilson's Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Willet, Marbled Godwit, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Laughing Gull, Least Tern, Royal Tern, Sandwich Tern, Mourning Dove, Fish Crow, Purple Martin