Visiting an Oasis

Monday November 11th

The Vermilion Flycatcher is such a vibrant bird and always a pleasure to find. They are very uncommon, as winter visitors to Florida. I've traveled to the Panhandle and down to the Everglades in the past to see one.  St Mark's NWR, in the Panhandle, as been very reliable in the past as a host and currently has a pair wintering there today. But recently another flycatcher has shown up in Collier County.

Mountain Bluebird at the Oasis Visitor Center 

on November 17, 2015

Florida Gar

This bird is hanging out at the parking lot at the Oasis Visitors Center in the Big Cypress National Preserve along the Tamiami Trail. Today I went down there to catch up with this young male.  Many of my friends have already made the trip and I was glad to have able to get down there today.

Made a point of sharing the unusual sighting with the tour guide from an Eco Tour group, but they weren't much interested.  Seems this group was made up of European tourist who found the alligators seen from the board walk a bigger draw. Lots of gators, a few cormorants, anhingas and herons as well. Plus lots of fish were also  gathered in the canal. Gars, bass, oscars, cichlids and sail backed catfish.

Four years ago this location also hosted a much more uncommon bird to visit Florida. A  species from the far West, a Mountain Bird, which spent a couple weeks in this same parking lot.

Cichlid