Tuesday, July 29th
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Mississippi Kite seen at Power Line Road, July 2013
Photo courtesy of Bob Pelkey |
Bob Pelkey, of
swfloridabirder.blogspot.com, invited me to join him on a trip up to Payne's
Prairie
State Park's LaChua Trail.
Its a four hour drive and Bob likes to arrive
early, so we left Ft Myers very early at about
3:30
am.
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| Snail Kite |
Our goal was to find Mississippi
Kites and for me getting that tick would nail down all four kite species that
are found in Florida for this year. I was lucky to have see a White-tailed Kite in
Everglades National
Park back in early January. Snail Kites are easily found locally, year
round. And the Swallow-tailed Kite is a
popular sight here from late February till the end of July. So this just leaves
finding a Mississippi Kite which should be found around Gainesville
and the Payne's Prairie Park
this time of year.
This was a repeat visit for us as
we had successfully found the kites here last year. So today we arrived as the park opened at 8 am, and started the day by birding the
parking lot. Here White-eyed Vireos and Carolina
Wrens dominate. Pushing-on we began hearing numerous Eastern Towhees and
spotted four Indigo Buntings darting into the brush. A male Blue Grosbeak was singing atop a shrub
near the La Chua Sink boardwalk and was briefly joined by a female Orchard
Oriole.
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| Horse Barn at Payne's Prairie |
 |
| Blue Grosbeak |
Water levels were highest I have
ever seen here. Right up to both sides of the Trail. The flooded fields were rich with Pink Lotus,
Water Lilies, Purple Hyacinths and Arrowroot.
Along the trail Green Herons were very common and we were able to add a
lone Least Bittern, a Purple Gallinule, several Common Gallinules, a couple of
Black-crowned Night-herons, dozens of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, a lone
Mottled Duck and a young King Rail.
But what about the Kites. They,
like the vultures, usually don't take to air till around 9:30 as the air warms up.. So right on cue a pair of
Mississippi Kites made their appearance near the Sink as they hunted for
dragonflies. With the high humidity and rising temperatures it was time to
move on. But was a successfully visit.
On the trip home we elected to
make one more stop, at Power Line, which actually divides Pasco
County from Hernando
County. It was also a place were Swallow-tailed Kites
and few Mississippi Kite would congregate before migration. This year the
Mississippi Kites haven't been seen here very often and today we didn't locate
any and only saw on Swallow-tailed Kite. Other sighting did includes a pair of
Southeastern American Kestrels, a Red-headed Woodpecker and a beautiful
Red-tail Hawk.
So from here we headed back to Ft Myers.
Today's Species - 51
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Muscovy Duck, Mottled
Duck, Northern Bobwhite, Pied-billed Grebe, Anhinga, Least Bittern, Great Blue
Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Cattle
Egret, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Black
Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Swallow-tailed Kite, Mississippi Kite, Red-shouldered
Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Laughing Gull, King/Aztec Rail, Purple Gallinule, Common
Gallinule, Sandhill Crane, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Chimney Swift, Red-headed
Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, American Kestrel, Great
Crested Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Fish Crow, Barn
Swallow, Carolina Wren, Eastern Towhee, Northern Cardinal, Blue Grosbeak, Indigo
Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Boat-tailed Grackle and Orchard
Oriole.
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| Swallow-tailed Kite |
