Spent the morning explorering the roads at Babcock-Webb looking for interesting birds. I arrived just at dawn, as usual, to wait on the red-cockaded woodpeckers emergence from their nest holes.
Waiting on the morning egress and the evening entrances at their nest holes can be the most reliable option for getting to spot these birds. The RCW colonies are well mapped and nest trees have been marked with a white band. I have had good success with this method with staking out the closest colony on Oil Well Grade. But on my past two visits I had dipped. In fact a few weeks ago, I did have woodpeckers emerge, but they were Red-bellied Woodpeckers. So this morning, I visited the colony at the junction of Tram Grade and Oil Well Grade and was rewarded with a pair of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers. A plus here was hearing a calling King Rail from a nearby marshy area.
The Red-Cockaded Woodpecker is an endangered species and no form of harassment is permitted including play-backs.
Other woodpeckers today included Downy and Northern Flickers. Some of the expected species common here like Eastern Towhee, Eastern Meadowlark and Eastern Bluebird were uncommon sights today. Found a an American Bittern skulking in the reeds and had a Purple Gallinule amongst some Pond Flag. Lots of Pine, Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers, plus a couple of Common Yellow-throats. Plenty of waders on hand and a couple of Swamp Sparrows too. Raptors include American Kestrel, Northern Harrier, Red-shouldered Hawk and Bald Eagle. Some misses included brown-headed nuthatch and limpkins.
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| Swamp Sparrow |
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| Green Heron |
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