Birding From Home

 Saturday March 11th

A Short-tailed Hawk showed up in my yard,
 were it made a meal of a dove.

At my home, in Fort Myers there is a huge ficus tree. iNaturalist identifies it as a Chinese Banyan and
it's been dropping ripening fruit for the past couple of weeks. This can be quite messy, but this year all this fruit has attracted a lot birds. Large flocks of Cedar Waxwings, plus American Robins and Gray Catbirds, Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Northern Flickers, a one day only visiting Summer Tanager was seen, dozens and dozens of yellow-rumped Warblers were actively eating the fruit, as were Starlings and Fish Crows

Other birds attracted to the feeders are Brown-headed Cowbirds, Northern Cardinals, Common Grackles, Muscovy Ducks, Morning, White-wing, Eurasian and Common Ground Doves, Blue Jays, Painted Buntings and a Indigo Bunting.

Additional we had Northern Parulas, Palm Warblers, a Yellow-throated Warbler, Great Crested Flycatcher a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, White Ibis, Red-shouldered Hawk and a Crested Caracara roosting in a neighbor's tree.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Even had a Short-tailed Hawk grab a dove in my yard. Not a bad couple of weeks.  The fruit is about spent, so most of these species will start departing to other interesting places and will be heading north soon on the Spring Migration

Short-tailed Hawk

Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher

Cedar Waxwing

Northern Flicker

Northern Flicker

Gray Catbird

American Robin

Mourning Dove

Yellow-rumped Warbler

American Robin

Blue Jay

Muscovy Duck

Common Grackle

Yellow-rumped Warbler

European Starling with a fig

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Brown-headed Cowbird

Palm Warbler

Cedar Waxwings

 Thursday April 7th

Got a few decent pics of cedar waxwings at Rotary Park in Cape Coral. These are such glorious birds. The best time to encounter waxwings in Southwest Florida tends to be in late March and into April.  They are taking advantage of the emerging buds and fruit to fatten up for their trip north.

Some Birds in March

Friday March 30th

Thought I'd share some of my better birding pics for March


GALLARY

Yellow-throated Vireo seen at Six-Mile Cypress Slough

Ovenbird seen at Six-Mile Cypress Slough

Piping Plover sporting fresh breeding plumage.

Should be heading north in the next few weeks

March and early April tends to be the best time for sighting

Cedar Waxwings in this area

Limpkins have moved into the Six-Mile Cypress Slough,

were they are now actively breeding

Prairie Warblers are resident birds here,

their population will increase during migration

Tufted Titmice also are common residents at Six-Mile Cypress Slough

Common Yellowthroats -  a winter residents at Six-Mile Cypress Slough

A few Scissor-tailed Flycatchers will winter in Florida,

but will be heading back toward Texas soon

A pair of Barred Owls are currently nesting close by the boardwalk at Six-Mile Cypress Slough Preserve.  That section of the boardwalk is now closed to protect the birds from any stress.

Several pairs of Sandhill Cranes are currently nesting at Harns Marsh

Snail Kites were formerly an easy find at Harns Marsh, but recently the population has declined. Speculation is that changes to water levels at the marsh have made finding apple snails more difficult for them.  Probable have been relocating to areas with better habitat

Black-and-White Warblers are often seen throughout the area at this time of year

Blue-headed Vireos winter here,

but will soon be heading north to nest

Road Trip - Tallahassee

Saturday January 20th

Canada Goose at Biltmore Pond

We get a few Snow Geese wintering in Florida every year, but the Ross's Goose is quite uncommon. Several have been reported at the Biltmore Avenue - North Pond in southeastern Tallahassee. A couple of years ago, Bob Pelkey and I had visited the venue to look for the Whooping Crane that had been wintering there over several years. The crane hasn't been around lately,( last reported in Feb 2016 ) but Snow Geese, Canada Geese, the Ross's Geese and a lone Greater White-fronted Goose have been using the site lately.

So, on this road trip it was onto the Biltmore Avenue hotspot on Friday afternoon after leaving Gainesville. Luckily the Snow Geese and the Ross's Geese were on the pond in a fenced in pasture when I arrived, no other waterfowl were present though.

Blue-morphed Snow Goose

Didn't really get a chance for much photography on the geese. Because the cows kept blocking the view.

Then it happened!!!

The geese all flew off. Why? 

Because a DRONE was hovering over the pond. Not the first time this has happened to me.

The Ross's Geese haven't been reported from Tallahassee since.  David and Tammy tried on three different visits to the venue without success. They got the Greater White-fronted Goose, which I dipped on.

The Ross's Geese with a Blue-morphed Snow Goose

Cedar Waxwing

One last stop before nightfall. Lake Henrietta Park is close by and occasionally rusty blackbirds can be found there. Walked the path around the lake and spotted lots of good birds we may not see in Ft Myers. Like a White-throated Sparrow, Cedar Waxwings, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, my FOS Redheads and Canvasback.  Other birds included Barred Owl, Lesser Scaup, Rudy Duck, Wood Duck, Buffleheads, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Limpkin and American Robins. No rusty blackbirds today.

Tomorrow I'll be birding at St Marks NWR with the McQuades.

Birding in Early April

Sunday April 10th

Eastern Screech Owl seen at Six-Mile Cypress Slough

So far birding in early April hasn't been very exciting. We're seeing a smattering of migration activity at local hotspots, such as at Sanibel Lighthouse and Six-Mile Cypress Slough Preserve. 

So far I've been able to see FOS Gray Kingbird, Least Terns, Scarlet Tanager, Worm-eating Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler and Red-eyed Vireos.  Other sightings have included Swallow-tailed Kites, Northern Parulas, Yellow-throated Vireo, Blue-headed Vireos, Magnolia Warblers.

Other migrants being reported, but are yet to be in my line-of-sight include Cliff and Cave Swallows, Chimney Swifts, Eastern Kingbirds, Hooded Warblers, Swainson's Warbler, Blue Grosbeak. Many wintering species have definitely pulled-out already including Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers, American Kestrels, Belted Kingfishers and Eastern Phoebes. Any day now, Common Nighthawks will show-up for the summer as well.

Cedar Waxwing 

Currently, a flock of Cedar Waxwings are being seen daily just outside my door. They will probably hang around for a couple more weeks, till they begin to follow Spring as it expands northward.