Groove-billed Anis

Monday December 5th

 Today was a travel day. Heading up to Gainesville for a couple of days of birding.  Try to get there two or three times a year. The winter months sometimes can offer varieties of birds that normally don't venture into south Florida.

 Made a few stops on the way, with best avian sighting being the pair of Groove-billed Anis found near the observation tower on the Clay Island Trail at the Lake Apopka North Shore venue.

Groove-billed Ani

Northern Shovelers at Ackerman Park

Other good sightings on the Clay Island Trail included hearing calling Soras and a King Rail. On the nearby North Shore Trail  had a Peregrine Falcon fly by.

Groove-billed Ani

A stop at Ackerman Park in Sarasota, added Blue-wing Teal. Northern Shovelers and a Northern Harrier.  Auton Road near Dade City can be very good for sparrows, but I didn't see any today.  Did find Hooded Mergansers, Ring-necked Ducks and a couple of calling American Pipits

American Kestrel seen on the Clay Island Trail

Today's Birds (56)

Blue-winged Teal, Mottled Duck, Northern Shoveler, Hooded Merganser, Ring-necked Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Cattle Egret, White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Wood Stork, Sandhill Crane, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Northern Harrier, Red-shouldered Hawk, Bald Eagle, King Rail, Sora, Common Gallinule, American Coot, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Rock Pigeon, Groove-billed Ani, Belted Kingfisher, American Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Eastern Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrike, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Jay,  American Crow, Fish Crow, House Wren, Marsh Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, American Pipit, Common Yellowthroat, Palm Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Northern Cardinal, European Starling, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Boat-tailed Grackle