Some Yard Birds

 Sunday, June 11th

Some recent yard bird photos

Brown Thrasher

Brown Thrasher

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

Muscovy Duck

European Starling

Fledgling Starling

Blue Jay

Blue Jay

Cardinal

Cardinal

Common Grackle

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

Black-bellied Whistling Duck

Black-bellied Whistling Duck

White-winged Dove

Mourning Dove

The Muscovy getting too comfortable.

Somebody Lost Thier Pet Budgie

Some Pics for July

Monday July 25th

Northern Bobwhite
seen in Lehigh Acres

Cattle Egret
begging at the drive through at McDonalds

 

Showy Milkwort
at Lehigh Acres

Earthstar mushrooms
see in Lehigh Acres

Gray Squirrel
loves my bird feeders

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks
have become common in the area

Feral Pigeon

Monk Parakeet
at the Pelican Boulevard ballfields in Cape Coral

Reddish Egret
at Fort Myers Beach

Atala
seen on Fort Myers Beach

Beach Morning Glory
Fort Myers Beach

Reddish Egret
Fort Myers Beach

Brown Thrasher

Bronzed Cowbird
Eagle Lakes Park - Naples, Florida

Florida Rainbow
Mussel shells collected at Babcock-Webb

Panaeolus antillarum
mushrooms that like to grow on cow dung

White-winged Doves
there numbers are growing at Babcock-Webb

Crested Caracara

Wednesday January 9th

Made a run out to Church Road near Felda in Hendry County, in search of any Wild Turkeys and to check on the scissor-tailed flycatcher/ western kingbird spot.

This stretch of road from State Road 82 in northeastern Collier County to State Road 29 in Hendry County, is roughly about an eight miles of rural settings featuring orange groves, pastures and a regional solid waste dump site.

Several Crested caracaras were spotted along the road, 

attracted to the carcass of dead possum,

A pair of scissor-tailed flycatchers seen along Church Road 

in November 2018

The location noted as 1881 Church Road became a popular birding spot after reports of Western Kingbirds and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers back January of 2014. It is a very reliable location for Crested Caracaras and Wild Turkeys. The turkeys sometimes can be seen in abundance or, like today, not at all.  As for the caracaras the winter months can sometimes find concentrations of the birds, especially near road kills.




From Bob Pelkey's Blog -  March 2014 and January 2015  and February 2014 featuring an excellent review of the birds of Church Road

Tom Obrock with Hemant Kishon birding 

1881 Church Road in Feb 2014

Photo by Bob Pelkey

Brown Thrasher

Lately the flycatchers and kingbirds don't seem to be using this site.  I was lucky to spot a pair of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers back on November 3rd.  But seems no one has relocated any to date. 

 Other special sightings here include an almost bi-annual appearance of Lark Sparrows, during fall migration. Vince McGrath had first located a pair back in February 2014. Painted Buntings, Eastern Towhees, White-winged Doves and Short-tailed Hawks have been seen.

Seven Islands State Birding Park

Friday September 29th

Monarch Butterflies are everywhere

Seven Islands State Birding Park

On my second day birding in Eastern Tennessee I had to stop at a venue named as a State Birding Park. Seven Islands is located in Kodak, just east of Knoxville. 

The fields are planted in native warm season grasses and were ablaze in wildflowers. Blooming flowers are everywhere as are the  Monarch and other butterflies that rely on these plants.

Field Sparrow

Brown Thrasher 

Walked about five and a half miles of the trails and saw dozens of Indigo Buntings, American Goldfinches, Field Sparrows. Plus American Kestrels, Eastern Phoebes, Cooper's Hawk, Turkeys, Chimney Swifts, Eastern Bluebirds, Tufted Titmice, Carolina Chickadees, Brown Thrashers, House Wrens, Gray Catbirds, Mockingbirds, Blue Grosbeak,  Common Yellow-throats, American Redstarts, and a lone Magnolia Warblers.

Again, for the second day in a row, migrants were not very evident.  But the birds, butterflies and wildflowers made for a enjoyable mornings walk.

Some of the Wildflowers at Seven Island