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| 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. |
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American Oystercatchers   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 |
Astounding species list, Tom.
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