Lake Apopka

Friday January 17th

Heading home today from the Panhandle. Did make a side trip to Lake Apopka to check out the North Shore Wildlife Drive. Had visited last month and had some good sightings like the Ash-throated flycatcher.

Ring-necked duck and American Coot

But today, a great many people have also arrived to enjoy the day, the birds and photography.  Its much more crowded  on the drive than last month. The first the first mile or so was very busy.

At one point I stopped and asked some ladies what they were doing with a Muscovy Duck. Muscovy ducks are not commonly seen here and the ladies were concerned that the bird was a lost pet.  Especially as was kept approaching. No doubt it was used to being feed. They were trying to capture the it because they believed that it wasn't going to survive in the wild. My advise was to leave it alone.  It'll be alright.  Don't know what became of the situation after I left.

Fulvous Whistling Duck

American Coot

Lots of ducks today, but like at St Marks, the counts seemed lower. Fulvous Whistling Ducks, Blue-winged Teal, Ring-necked Ducks, Lesser Scaup and a Northern Shoveler.  Lots of American Coots, Pied-billed Coots, Anhingas, Common Gallinules, Cormorants, White & Glossy Ibis and the expected waders.  Ospreys, Northern Harriers, Red-shouldered Hawks and a Peregrine Falcon too.

Made a short visit. Still had three hours of driving to get home and the crowds were annoying.

Blue-winged Teal

Best Look I had of this Northern Shoveler

Pied-billed Grebe

Ring-necked Duck

Common Gallinule

gator

Florida Brown Water Snakes

Saturday February 2nd

Florida Brown Water Snake

 Arrived about 7:30 this morning at Harns Marsh in Lehigh Acres.to look for interesting birds. Walked the four plus miles around the perimeter of the main cell, collecting counts for my monthly  birding report for the Lee County Bird Patrol, a volunteer group of birders working for Lee County Parks and Recs.

The water levels had risen significantly due to recent rains. Any changes in water levels does effect what you will see at the marsh. Started out this morning  with the call of a Green Heron. His bird has been doing a cackle that is very similar to a King Rail. The rail, sora, least bittern, hooded mergansers and purple gallinule were not seen or heard today but I did manage a long list.

 Ron Bishop, who I ran into toward the conclusion of the walk, put me onto an American Bittern. He also had spotted a nest of Florida Brown Snakes sunning on the stone works at the water control works south of the parking area. The species is new to me but Ron correctly identified the water snakes in the field

Nesting Sandhill Crane

Lots of Sandhill Cranes.  One flock of these birds were being quite fussy with each others.  The feathers were actually flying. At least two Sandhill nests were seen.  

Perhaps the higher water level, creating more open water in the marsh, was attractive to the pair of Snail Kites seen. Dark-phased Short-tailed Kites were soaring above Harns today as well.

Male Snail Kite

Ring-necked, Muscovy and Mottled Ducks were seen, plus Blue winged Teal, Common Gallinules, American Coots, Limpkins, Swamphens, Anhingas and a few White & Glossy Ibis. The usual Waders were here - Great Blue Herons, Little Blue Herons, Great Egrets, a couple of Snowy Egrets, Cattle Egrets and Tricolored Herons

Loggerhead Shrike

Glossy Ibis

Tricolored Heron

American Coot

Sandhill Crane

Great Egret

Eastern Phoebe

A Bird Blitz

Friday December 1st

Start of a new month and I was going to make a day of it. A birding blitz to visit as many venues as I can to see as many species as possible.

Eastern Phoebe at Gunners Trail

After checking the tide charts, I elected to start the day at Bunche Beach at sunrise. Walked to both ends, partly in the company of Wes . That's about two miles of coverage. Not terribly birdy. Missed a few expected species. Some sightings included Caspian Tern, American White Pelican, Reddish Egret, Piping Plover, Marbled Godwit, Fosters Terns and Wood Storks.

Red-shouldered Hawk at Gunners Trail

Next stop was the Gunners' Trail at Wild Turkey Strand in Lehigh Acres. Again the venue wasn't as birdy as expected. Encountered Blue-winged Teal, Mottled Ducks, Snail Kite, Red-shouldered Hawks, Tree Swallows, Common Gallinules, House Wrens, Catbirds, Eastern Phoebes, Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers. Dipped on purple gallinules, swamp sparrows  and black-belled whistling ducks.

Bee Hive seen along the Gunners Trail

Traveled further east to the orange groves on Church Road. Dipped on the expected caracara and white-winged doves,  Did find Wild Turkey, more Wood Storks, and American Kestrel.

Gray -headed Swamphen at Harns Marsh

At Harns Marsh, in Lehigh Acres, the low bird activity continues. Only ducks seen were a pair of Blue-winged Teal. Gray-headed Swamphens were easily seen. Only a single pair of Sandhill Cranes. Did get a Northern Harrier, Red-shouldered Hawk and a Red-tailed Hawk being mobbed by a crow. And only heard a single Limpkin. Weird . Dipped on purple gallinule, snail kite, ring-necked ducks and sparrows.

Sandhill Crane at Harns Marsh

Continuing on to other locations in Lehigh Acres - known for scrub jays and red-headed woodpeckers, but came up empty. Then to the White's Feeders in Alva. Only a Red-bellied Woodpecker. On my previous visits here in November I have seen  a ruby -throated hummingbird and an ovenbird. Strange too has been an absence of any white-winged doves so far this season. The Greater White-breasted Goose was still seen on North River Road.

American Coot at Harns Marsh

Did finally see a Red-headed Woodpecker at Caloosahatchee Creeks Preserve. And then the Bald Eagles at the famous Pritchett Eagle Nest in North Ft Myers. At the Festive Park site in north Cape Coral I dipped on the Florida scrub jays. Did add American Kestrel, Burrowing Owl and Loggerhead Shrike.

Wrapped up the day at the Pelican Boulevard Baseball Fields in Cape Coral. Besides the Burrowing Owls, I added a single Monk Parakeet and an Osprey.

Spent eight hours, walked about six mile and drove way too miles more. Had initially targeted a hundred bird day, but came up way short. Finished with only seventy.

Day List  -  Greater White-fronted Goose, Muscovy Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Mottled Duck, Wild Turkey, Pied-billed Grebe, Wood Stork, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, American White Pelican, Brown Pelican, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Reddish Egret, Cattle Egret, White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Snail Kite, Northern Harrier, Bald Eagle, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Gray-headed Swamphen, Common Gallinule,  American Coot, Limpkin,  Sandhill Crane, Black-bellied Plover, Piping Plover, Marbled Godwit, Sanderling, Dunlin, Least Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Willet, Laughing Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Caspian Tern, Forster's Tern, Royal Tern, Black Skimmer, Mourning Dove, Burrowing Owl, Belted Kingfisher, Red-headed Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, American Kestrel, Monk Parakeet, Eastern Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrike, Fish Crow, Tree Swallow, House Wren, Carolina Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Common Yellowthroat, Palm Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Common Grackle and Boat-tailed Grackle

Greater Scaup - Day 3 Central Florida Trip

Friday, February 17th



OK!!  Follow Me!!

Spent several hours friday morning exploring Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Traveled the Blackpoint Wildlife Drive and Bio Lab Road. The mourning started out with a nice Peregrine Falcon perched rigt along the road. Quickly added Coots, Hooded Mergansers, Blue-wing Teal, American White Pelicans, Wilson's Snipe, both Yellowlegs and Reddish Egrets. The duck population offered Greater and Lesser Scaup, Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintails, Mottled Ducks and Northern Shovelers.

American Avocet

Also could add a conga-line of American Avocets, at least 80, marching in line as they feed. Found several Roseate Spoonbills, Black-bellied Plovers, Dowitchers, Sanderlings, Ruddy Turnovers, Caspian Terns, Dunlin, Least Sandpipers, Forsters Terns, Royal Terns, Belted Kingfishers, and Killdeers. In the lagoon along Bio Lab Road I could add Common Loon, Horned grebe, a pair of male Buffleheads a a lone female Red-breasted Merganser. I had really hoped to encounter rails, but didn't see or hear any today.  Also dipped on the American and Eurasian Wigeons.

Blue-winged Teals

Northern Pintail

Greater Scaup

American Coot

From Merritt Island I headed down to Joe Overstreet Road east of Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Park for a shot at finding a Whooping Crane. Florida's resident whooping crane population is part of an attempt to create a migratory and a non-migratory flocks apart from the wild birds that migrate between Texas and Canada. Dipped on the whoopers, but did find a few Sandhill Cranes, Wild Turkeys, Eastern Meadowlarks, Bald Eagles, Ring-billed Gulls, Glossy Ibis, Cattle Egrets and Fish Crows.  from here the trip was ending and it was time to head for home.

List for the three days totaled (113 )

Canada Goose, Muscovy Duck, Mottled Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail,  Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Wild Turkey, Common Loon, Pied-billed Grebe,  Horned Grebe, Wood Stork, Northern Gannet,  Double-crested Cormorant, American White Pelican,  Brown Pelican,  Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Reddish Egret,  Cattle Egret, Limpkin, White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel,  Peregrine Falcon, Common Gallinule,

American Coot, Sandhill Crane, Black-bellied Plover, Killdeer, American Avocet, Greater Yellowlegs, Willet, Lesser Yellowlegs, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling,  Least Sandpiper,  Dunlin, Long-billed Dowitcher, Short-billed Dowitcher, Wilson's Snipe, Bonaparte's Gull, Laughing Gull,  Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Glaucous Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Caspian Tern, Forster's Tern, Royal Tern, Black Skimmer, Parasitic Jaeger, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Great Horned Owl, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker,  Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Say's Phoebe, Great Crested Flycatcher, Loggerhead Shrike, White-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Fish Crow, Tree Swallow, Carolina Chickadee,  Tufted Titmouse, House Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Common Yellowthroat, Palm Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Eastern Towhee, Chipping Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Brewer's Blackbird, Boat-tailed Grackle, House Finch, House Sparrow.

Cassin's Kingbird

Cassin's Kingbirds
Stormwater Treatment Area 5 - Hendry County
February 15, 2010

South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) owns the Stormwater Treatment Area 5 (STA5), which is one of several huge properties used to filter surface water entering the Everglades. Hendry-Glades Audubon conducts monthly birding tours here on a reservation basis as SFWMD restricts access for safety and other concerns. And in February, during the Great Backyard Count weekend, STA5 is opened for three days, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Last year I attended the Presidents' Day birding tour and had a good time. So I was anxious for a repeat visit. My daughter, Katie and I arrived shortly before the 8:30 start time which kicked-off with great views of Fulvous Whistling-Ducks, Black-necked Stilts and a Purple Gallinule. From this start we traveled by caravan atop the levees surrounding the various cells. In the course of the four hours we had hits on Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, American Wigeon, a Eurasian Wigeon (a very good hit) and several other waterfowl, including thousands of American Coots. Most of the wading birds were represented including Wood Storks, Roseate Spoonbills, Limpkins and an American Bittern. Hundreds of American White Pelicans were present. We saw four Crested Caracara before reaching the property and had observed several Snail Kites on the tour. Most of the non-local birders enjoyed the snail kites as well as great close-up looks at active Black Skimmers. We had hundreds of Tree Swallows and found a lone Swamp Sparrow. For me the best sighting was a lifer with sighting of a wintering resident Cassin's Kingbird ( rare to Florida ) in the company of a Western Kingbird.

Cassin's Kingbird

Photo courtesy of

Ken Schneider

Blog

Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/rosyfinch

 

American White Pelicans at STA5

American Coots are everywhere at STA5

 Bronzed Cowbird at Clewiston

Western Kingbird along CR835 -

Had a total of eight along this streach of road

We also found several Purple Swamphens which are exotics that had begun to gain a threshold in the Everglades after several escaped captivity during Hurricane Andrew. Wildlife management had tried to eradicate the exploding population over several years and has finally given up as a lost cause and the swamphens will probably be expected as ABA countable soon. Another escaped exotic, the sacred ibis, had also recently began to breed in the wild, but looks like wildlife management had been more successful with eradication of this species.

Following the tour we drove the twenty miles up to Clewiston in search of Bronzed Cowbirds and common mynas. found the a couple of the cowbirds at the Lake Okeechobee dike, but dipped on the mynas. On the way home watched the fences and wires along CR835 for any swallow-tailed flycatchers or Western Kingbirds. No flycatchers, but found eight of the kingbirds spreadout on the wires along the road

Black-necked Stilts at STA5

Roseate Spoonbills at STA5

My List - Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Fulvous Whistling-Duck, Eurasian Wigeon, American Wigeon, Mottled Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Pied-billed Grebe, American White Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, American Bittern, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Cattle Egret, Green Heron, White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Wood Stork, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Snail Kite, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Crested Caracara, American Kestrel, Sora, Purple Gallinule, Common Moorhen, American Coot, Limpkin, Killdeer, Black-necked Stilt, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitcher, Caspian Tern, Black Skimmer, Belted Kingfisher, Cassin's Kingbird, Western Kingbird, Tree Swallow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Northern Mockingbird, Palm Warbler, Swamp Sparrow, Ring-billed Gull, Common Grackle, Boat-tailed Grackle, Bronzed Cowbird, Brown-headed Cowbird