Cinnamon Teal at the Celery Fields

Wednesday January 18th

Today was a hunt for a lifer. The elusive cinnamon teal at The Celery Fields in Sarasota had been seen several times.  I had visited a week or so ago and missed on it, but I heard were several folks including Stan Damen and Vince McGrath had recently seen it. Had to try again.

First stopped at Akerman's Park, hoping for some ruddy ducks.  Just lots of Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler and Lesser Scaup. Plus Great Blue Herons, Anhingas, Double-crested Cormorants, Common Gallinules, Ring-billed Gulls, Cattle Egrets and White Ibis.  Had flock of about twelve Monk Parakeets fly in.

Monk Parakeets at Ackermans Park

At The Celery Fields the Cinnamon Teal was very easy to find because a dozen birders were already on it. Met John Whitehead and his neighbor Bill along with a group lead by a very knowledgeable leader named Owen.  Sure enough we had great views of the teal.  A Lifer!!!  Other birds here included Hooded Mergansers, Blue-winged Teal, Pied-billed Grebes, a Wilson's Snipe, lots of cormorants and Anhings.  Had a chance to watch a young Bald Eagle harass an Osprey for its freshly caught fish. Can add a Belted Kingfisher, Red-winged Blackbirds, Wood Storks, Glossy Ibis, White Ibis, a Northern Harrier, Cattle Egrets, Boat-tailed Grackles and Tree Swallows. Spent some time looked for a reported purple gallinule, but missed on it.

Great Egret at Ft DeSoto

Next checked out a pond, I heard about, at a nursery at Fruitville and Tatum Roads were several Black-bellied Whistling Ducks were found.  Then onto the ponds at The Founders Club were I was joined By John and Bill.  Here we successfully located the Common Goldeneye wintering here, but did not see its bufflehead partner.  Other birds here included Hooded Mergansers, Lesser Scaup, Ring-billed Ducks, Grebes, Mottled Ducks and Blue-winged Teal.

Redheads and Lesser Scaups at Tierra Verde ponds

Moved onto Ft DeSoto in Tampa Bay to look for a lark sparrow. But first stopped at the ponds at Tierra Verde were a greater scaup had been reported. There were thousands of birds, mostly Redheads. Picked out Lesser Scaups, Northern Shoveler and floating gulls including a first year Herring Gull.

Spent some time at the fishing pier at Ft DeSoto, were several seabirds including a pair of Forster's Terns, Herring Gulls, Laughing Gulls, Cormorants, Ring-billed Gulls, Brown Pelicans, Red-breasted Mergansers and a Common Loon. Also had a small flock of Nanday Parakeets, large flocks of Brown-headed Cowbirds and European Starlings and a half dozen House Sparrows. Then moved onto the Gulf Pier to look for the lark sparrow, but lightening changed these plans.  So headed for home.

Herring Gull



Brown Pelican

Forster's Tern

Laughing Gull

Nanday Parakeets

Purple Gallinule - The Celery Fields

Thursday, October 27th

Arrived at The Celery Fields in Sarasota about 10 o'clock where I met John Whitehead.  John put me onto several birds including a juvenile Purple Gallinule. Arrived too late for the sandhill cranes and the other waders weren't too numerous. We did have at least eight Limpkins, a Great Blue Heron, a couple each of Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Little Blue Herons and Tricolored Herons. Did not have any white ibis at the time, but there were six Glossy Ibis and six more Cattle Egrets on the grassy berm with Common and Boat-tailed Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds, Palm Warblers a small flock of newly arriving Savannah Sparrows.

I was interested in shore birds and had a pair of Lesser Yellowlegs fly in as did a flock of a dozen or so Dowitchers.  We also had Western and Least Sandpipers plus a trio of Killdeer and a Wilson's Snipe. Noted a Mallard x Mottled Duck hybrid fly in plus a few Blue-winged Teal and Mottled Ducks were present. John had seen a couple of black-bellied whistling ducks, but I dipped on them. Other birds seen included Wood Stork, Common Coot, Common Gallinule, a Caspian Tern, a Kestrel, a pair of Osprey, a Bald Eagle and eight Anhingas.

Next stopped at Cockroach Bay Road near Ruskin.  A Northern Harrier was patrolling the waste water mitigation ponds.  Had all the same waders as at The Celery Fields, but I could add a single Roseate Spoonbill. The shore birds were limited to a Greater Yellowlegs, two Lesser Yellowlegs and a Killdeer. Osprey are very common here and I counted six American Kestrels on the wires. The rafts of American Coots are back and had a count of over a hundred birds.  Had a dozen Blue-winged Teal which were keeping the company of a lone female Redhead. Other sightings include Common Gallinule, Tree Swallows, a Loggerhead Shrike, a House Wren and Pied-billed Grebes.

Ft DeSoto Park

Red Knots

Lastly stopped at Ft Desoto Park in Tampa Bay.  Had a few Redheads at the Terra Verde ponds along with a huge number of Double-crested Cormorants. A check for any migrants lingering in the park produced very little.  I was interested in finding the reported ash-throated flycatcher and any snow plovers.  dipped on both. Did find a couple of Red Knots and ten American Oystercatchers.  Other shorebirds included Willets, Ruddy Turnstones, Sanderlings, a Dunlin, a Piping Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Black-bellied Plover and Least Sandpipers. Other birds of the shore included Laughing Gulls, Royal Terns, Forster's Terns, Sandwich Terns, Ospreys, Magnificent Frigatebirds and Black Skimmers.  Birds of the woods included a couple of American Redstarts, a dozen Palm Warblers, a lone Pine Warbler, a pair of Eastern Phoebe, House Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Mockingbirds, Catbirds and Starlings. My purpose for this day's trip was to try to reach a goal of 160 birds for the month which I did accomplish.

Groove-billed Ani - Boyd Hill Preserve

Tuesday, April 5th

The day was spent in hopes of a fall-out of spring migrants and a chase after three reported Florida rarities.

The weather for the day was a strong, rainy cold front to sweep down the state, which can result in migrants being forced to land and wait out the winds. So I was heading to Ft DeSoto Park in Tampa Bay.  But first were stops at Cockroach Bay Road, near Ruskin for reported upland plover and white-faced ibis and then to Boyd Hill Preserve in St Petersburg for a reported Grooved-billed Ani.

Cockroach Bay Road

Arrived about 8:30 just before the rains and spent a couple of hours in searching through the sod fields for the upland plover and sorting through the Glossy Ibis for a white-faced ibis. Didn't locate either of these birds but find a trio of Gull-billed Terns working over the mitigation ponds and six Forster's Terns at rest in the sod fields along with hundred Laughing Gulls, a few Ring-billed Gulls, several Ospreys, a dozen Black-bellied Plovers and lone Dunlin. The ponds held about twenty Black-necked Stilts, Long-billed Dowitchers, Solitary Sandpiper, Coots, Moorhens, a couple of Redhead ducks, dozens of Blue-wing Teal and Lesser Scaups. Plus a half a dozen Black-bellied Whistling Ducks Also had all of the waders - Roseate Spoonbills, Great Blue Herons, Tricolored Herons, White Ibis etc. A large Red-tailed hawk was hunting the fields and Bald Eagle was observed toting some kind of recent kill.

An Armadillo sculpture at Boyd Hill Preserve

Boyd Hill Preserve -
St Petersburg

I had never been to this location before, but it is becoming very popular for spot for birders in search of the Grooved-billed Ani. The bird is a lifer for me and the possibility of finding one so close to home was an opportunity I could not pass up. Arrived about 10:45 as the rain was letting up. Paid my entrance fee and received directions and maps to the ani's favorite spot. The preserve was very quite. But managed to locate a Black-crowned Night-heron hiding along the lake shore. Had several Anhingas, lots of Ospreys and a trio of Nanday Parakeets. By eleven o'clock I had arrived at the spot and after about five minutes of scouting the area the ani flew right to my feet. Seems the bird is fearless of people and uses the opportunity to feed on the insects stirred up by our shoes. Got great looks. Hope it sticks around.

Fort DeSoto County Park

After lunch with my daughter and son-in-law headed over to Fort DeSoto. After seeing little evidence of any kind of migration action at Boyd Hill I did not expect much at Fort DeSoto, which is a migrant magnet. First stopped at the ponds in Tierra Verde to see if any ducks were still around. Was surprised to find two pair of Ruddy Ducks with several Lesser Scaups  still on hand. One of the adults Bald Eagles could be seen in the nest tree. On the causeway to the park I was able to spott acouple of FOS Least Terns

Red-breasted Merganser out for a stroll

Willet in breeding plumage

Reddish Egret

Forster's Terns

Marbled Godwit



My camera is not fast enough to capture the wing action on this hummingbird



Ruby-throated Hummingbird at rest

Western Sandpiper

At Fort DeSoto, the East Beach area was very birdy with shore birds including Forster's Terns, Western and Least Sandpipers, Black-bellied Plovers, Short-billed Dowitchers, Willets, Dunlins and a Marbled Godwit. Several Red-breasted Mergansers were seen off-shore and a resting merganser was located on the shore. Here I ran into John Mangold and joined him in checking out the Privit Trail.  There we met with Dan Irizarry.  I had ran into John previously at Merritt Island and Six-mile Cypress Slough and I had seen Dan's postings and photos many times on Birdbrains.

Next we moved on to the mulberry trees near the pier, which can been a very good location for birds. It was here that I had my lifer in a blackburian warbler last spring. Today we only had hits on a male Hooded Warbler, several Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and a White-eyed and Blue-headed Vireos.  Plus another trio of Nanday Parakeets.  From here I joined John with checking out the North Beach area. and could only add a lone Herring Gull and a beautiful male Orchard Oriole. Seems the migration hasn't hit its stide yet.

Days List (78) - Black-belled Whistling Ducks, Mottled Ducks, Blue-winged Teal, Redhead, Lesser Scaup, Red-breasted Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, Wood Stork, Double-crested Cormorant. Anhinga, Brown Pelican, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Reddish Egret, Cattle Egret, Black-crowned Night-heron, White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Black Vulture, Osprey, Bald eagle, Cooper's Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Common Moorhen, American Coot, Sandhill Crane, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Black-necked Stilt, Solitary sandpiper, Willet, Lesser Yellowlegs, Marbled Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitcher, Long-billed Dowitcher, Laughing Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Least Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Forster's Tern, Royal Tern, Black Skimmer, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mouring Dove, Common Ground-Dove, Nanday parakeet, Groove-billed Ani, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Loggerhead Shrike, White-eyed Vireo, Blue-headed Vireo, Blue Jay, Fish Crow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Purple Martin, Barn Swallow, House Wren, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Hooded Warbler, Savannah Sparrow, Northern cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Boat-tailed Grackle, Orchard Oriole.

Carolina Chickadees - Pinellas County

Carolina Chickadees - Pinellas County
Monday, August 30th

As it was nearing the end of the month and my list of warblers was very modest, I elected to chase the migrants being reported up in Pinellas County (St Petersburg) area. A weather 'low' had grounded migrants  for several days and reports of some really good vireo and warblers lists, for this time of year, were turning up on the birding message boards.  On the down side was the fact that I could not get up there till yesterday, a day or to late, as the weather had cleared up.

I first checked the Tierra Verde neighborhood as I was nearing the Ft DeSoto County Park. The most interesting birds here was a trio of Nanday Parakeets busy preening each other. Also seen were several Wood Storks, A lone Roseate Spoonbill, several White Ibis, Brown Pelicans, Laughing Gulls and Double-crested Cormorants. The usual wire birds were on hand Mourning Doves, Fish Crows, Rock Pigeons, Grackles and a lone Brown-headed Cowbird. On the Tierre Verde ponds only a couple of Pied-billed Grebes.

White Ibis at Ft DeSoto

Lots of spider webs but few birds

Ft DeSoto County Park - I was too late for the warblers. Could not find a single one. Just a lone Eastern Wood-Pewee, several Northern Cardinals, a single Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher.  There were several  Osprey, a few White Ibis, and Mourning Doves. The beaches had a few Black-bellied Plovers, Wilson's Plovers, Semipalmated Plovers and a Piping Plover. Lots of Laughing Gulls, Brown Pelicans, Double-crested Cormorants, Black Skimmers, Willets, Sanderlings, Ruddy Turnstones and Short-billed Dowitchers were also present. I was looking for the hundreds of Red knots reported but did not spot any. Same with the common terns. Did find Royal, Least, Sandwich and Forster's Terns. Was also hoping for Caspian terns and the long-billed curlew, but missed them too.  Ran out of time here as I had a lunch appointment with my daughter, who had recently moved to the bay area.

Blue Jay

Gray Squirrel

Boardwalk at John Chestnut

John H Chestnut County Park - Continued birding in Pinellas County following lunch. I checked out a new location for me called John Chestnut Park in Palm Harbor. The birding was much better but still lacked the many of the more interesting migrant warblers. Quickly found a mixed flock of warblers and vireos consisting of mostly local common warblers - Black-and-Whites, Northern Parulas, Yellow and Yellow-throated Warblers. Had also found a Red-eyed Vireo and several Yellow-throated Vireos. There were Moorhens and a Least Tern on the lake and Blue Jays and begging gray squirrels on the boardwalk. Seems to me that someone is feeding the animals here. On the boardwalk were more parula, Carolina Wren, several more cardinals, a pair of Red-Shouldered Hawks and Tufted Titmice.  Back out in the live oaks was a tree loaded with Carolina Chickadees, a first for the year for me, more yellow, parulas and yellow-throated warblers and more titmice.  Here popped up a Pileated Woodpecker, plus a Red-bellied and a Downy Woodpeckers.

Northern Cardinal

Northern Cardinal

On the way out of the park I was surprised to find a couple of pair of white-tailed deer. This ended a good birding visit here. Absent for the day were swallows. Only say a couple of Barn Swallows at Chestnut for the whole day.

White-tailed Deer in the park

Small buck in velvet

Florida White-tailed Deer

My List for today (49)

Pied-billed Grebe, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Roseate Spoonbill, Wood Stork, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, White Ibis, Osprey, Red-shouldered Hawk, Common Moorhen, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Piping Plover, Killdeer, Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Short-billed Dowitcher, Laughing Gull, Least Tern, Royal Tern, Sandwich Tern, Black Skimmer, Mourning Dove, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Eastern Kingbird, Gray Kingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Yellow-throated Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Barn Swallow, Fish Crow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Northern Cardinal, European Starling, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird

My August List - (128)

1. Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
2. Muscovy Duck
3. Mottled Duck
4. Wild Turkey
5. Northern Bobwhite
6. Pied-billed Grebe
7. Brown Pelican
8. Double-crested Cormorant
9. Anhinga
10. Magnificent Frigatebird
11. Great Blue Heron
12. Great Egret
13. Snowy Egret
14. Little Blue Heron
15. Tricolored Heron
16. Reddish Egret
17. Cattle Egret
18. Green Heron
19. Black-crowned Night-Heron
20. Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
21. White Ibis
22. Glossy Ibis
23. Roseate Spoonbill
24. Wood Stork
25. Black Vulture
26. Turkey Vulture
27. Osprey
28. Swallow-tailed Kite
29. Snail Kite
30. Bald Eagle
31. Cooper's Hawk
32. Red-shouldered Hawk
33. Red-tailed Hawk
34. Crested Caracara
35. King Rail
36. Common Moorhen
37. Limpkin
38. Sandhill Crane
39. Black-bellied Plover
40. Snowy Plover
41. Wilson's Plover
42. Semipalmated Plover
43. Piping Plover
44. Killdeer
45. American Oystercatcher
46. Black-necked Stilt
47. American Avocet
48. Spotted Sandpiper
49. Solitary Sandpiper
50. Greater Yellowlegs
51. Willet
52. Lesser Yellowlegs
53. Upland Sandpiper
54. Marbled Godwit
55. Ruddy Turnstone
56. Sanderling
57. Western Sandpiper
58. Least Sandpiper
59. Pectoral Sandpiper
60. Short-billed Dowitcher
61. Long-billed Dowitcher
62. Laughing Gull
63. Least Tern
64. Gull-billed Tern
65. Black Tern
66. Forster's Tern
67. Royal Tern
68. Sandwich Tern
69. Black Skimmer
70. Rock Pigeon
71. Eurasian Collared-Dove
72. White-winged Dove
73. Mourning Dove
74. Common Ground-Dove
75. Monk Parakeet
76. Nanday Parakeet
77. Burrowing Owl
78. Barred Owl
79. Common Nighthawk
80. Chimney Swift
81. Belted Kingfisher
82. Red-headed Woodpecker
83. Red-bellied Woodpecker
84. Downy Woodpecker
85. Hairy Woodpecker
86. Red-cockaded Woodpecker
87. Northern Flicker
88. Pileated Woodpecker
89. Eastern Wood-Pewee
90. Great Crested Flycatcher
91. Eastern Kingbird
92. Gray Kingbird
93. Loggerhead Shrike
94. White-eyed Vireo
95. Yellow-throated Vireo
96. Red-eyed Vireo
97. Blue Jay
98. Florida Scrub-Jay
99. American Crow
100. Fish Crow
101. Purple Martin
102. Bank Swallow
103. Barn Swallow
104. Carolina Chickadee
105. Tufted Titmouse
106. Brown-headed Nuthatch
107. Carolina Wren
108. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
109. Eastern Bluebird
110. Northern Mockingbird
111. European Starling
112. Northern Parula
113. Yellow Warbler
114. Yellow-throated Warbler
115. Pine Warbler
116. Black-and-white Warbler
117. American Redstart
118. Prothonotary Warbler
119. Eastern Towhee
120. Bachman's Sparrow
121. Northern Cardinal
122. Red-winged Blackbird
123. Eastern Meadowlark
124. Common Grackle
125. Boat-tailed Grackle
126. Brown-headed Cowbird
127. Orchard Oriole
128. House Sparrow
129. Scarlet Ibis x White Ibis hybrid

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blackburian Warbler - Ft DeSoto Park

Ft DeSoto Park
Monday April 26th

  Following this morning thundershowers my daughters and I headed to Ft DeSoto Park hoping for some increase in migrant activity. These kind of storm fronts can bring down migrating birds needing to find safe haven and DeSoto may have been impacted. The word was that the park has been slow on migrant activity most of the month, but we did find a good variety with this weather event.  No fall-out but a good day for birding.

Sky Bridge

 









Did not get on scene till 12:30 pm, with the first stop at the East Beach turn-around.  A good variety of shorebirds were around including Common Terns, Royal Terns, Sandwich Terns, Least Terns, Willets, Short-Billed Dowitchers, Dunlins, Black-Bellied Plovers, Semipalmated Plovers, Sanderlings, Laughing Gulls, Brown Pelicans, Barn Swallows, Ruddy Turnstune and a lone Least sandpiper.

Black-Bellied Plover

Sanderling

Short-Billed Dowitcher

Dunlin

  We headed then to the East Beach Woods which was fairly busy with migrants and birders. We quickly found Black-and-White Warblers, a beautiful male Chestnut-Sided Warbler and a female American Redstart. Several Rose-Brested Grosbeaks were busy at a small mulberry tree and several Summer Tanagers, a Scarlet Tanger and Blue-Headed Vireo present as well. Several birders came in off the Privet Trail telling about ovenbirds, kentucky warbler and a bay-brested warbler that were seen.  Also several people were commenting on a reported warbling vireo and a blue-wing warbler. Dipped on all of these.

  

Summer Tanager

   Katie and I entered the Privet Trail, were Katie immediately spotted a beautiful male Indigo Bunting. we also found more Summer Tanagers and a Northern Waterthrush exploring water puddles. Several small brown birds were a bit difficult to id, but I believe that they are female Indigo Buntings.                 

Female Indigo Buntings

  We moved onto the Mulberry Grove were only a Gray Catbird was seen, however another birder put me onto a beautiful male Black-Throated Green Warbler and a pair of Yellow warblers in a live oak inside the ranger resident's yard. As we were watching, a male Blackburian Warbler joined in with the other warblers in the tree. As I have never seen a blackburian warbler before I had a LIFER.  

Great Horned Owl

Next Katie and I checked out the nesting Great Honed Owl at the North Beach Woods.  The parent owl gave great views and the owlet could be seen but it did not stand up.

  Before heading for home we rechecked the East Beach Woods. Ran into three members of the Caloosa Bird Club, whom I had gone on a birding trip back on March first. They had a great list for the day including the blue-winged wabler and swainsen's warbler. We reentered the Privet Trail with very little to add, but several Eastern Kingbirds and what I believe is an Eastern Wood Pewee. There was some questioning that the bird was a willow flycatcher.  As we were exiting, another birder told us about locating the blue-winged, a bay-brested warbler and a  pale, female cerulean warbler, just around on the adjacent trail. Too tempting. We set out, but I had to get back to car before the search was ended. So I said fairwell and we headed for home.  I am cureous if the bird club folks located the cerulean.

  On trip up to the park we had spotted a Roseate Spoonbill, Magnificent Frigatebird and a couple of Swallow-Tailed Kites. Some hoped for birds we can add to the dip-list included any baltimore orioles, blackpoll warblers, cape may warblers, black-hooded parrots and gray kingbird.

My List (58) - Mottled Duck, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Magnificent Frigatebird, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Osprey, Swallow-tailed Kite, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Least Sandpiper, Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitcher, Laughing Gull, Least Tern, Common Tern, Royal Tern, Sandwich Tern, Black Skimmer, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Common Ground-Dove, Great Horned Owl, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Eastern Kingbird, Loggerhead Shrike, Blue-headed Vireo, Blue Jay, Fish Crow, Barn Swallow, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Palm Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Waterthrush, Summer Tanager, Scarlet Tanager, Northern Cardinal, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Boat-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird

Great Horned Owls - Ft DeSoto Park

It's spring migration time and sometimes birding can be fun. It's just a matter of right place at the right time. One good spot is Ft DeSoto Park in Tampa Bay. Headed up there on Monday arriving about 8:30am.  Could only stay for a couple of hours.

The resent news was about the hundreds of Hooded Warblers that had descended on the island. Other visitors included Worm-eating warblers, Prothonotary Warblers and a Blue-winged Warbler among the reported sightings. A brown-crested flycatcher had been reported regularly for about the past two weeks. But with the nice weather, I had already figured the migration counts would have shrunk. And so it was. 

Still found several Hooded Warblers, plus a couple of Palm Warblers, a Prairie Warbler, a Black-and-White Warbler, a lone Northern Parula and had great looks at a Prothonotary Warbler. A nice male Summer Tanager was in the Ranger's yard.  Lots of Cedar Waxwings. Several White-eyed vireos and a single Blue-headed vireo were busy too. A flotilla of 28 American White Pelicans came in off the bay, probably heading north to Montana. Was able to look at the Great Horned Owl and her chick in there nest, and I also got a brief look at the Long-billed Curlew before it flew off. Not bad for a couple of hours. Missed on the brown-crested flycatcher though. I'll be back in a couple of weeks
Checking the Terra Vierde ponds showed that almost all of the ducks are gone.  Just a few Ruddy Ducks, Lesser Scaups and a few Coots. Had fly-overs of Black-hooded Parakeets at the ponds and twice within the park. Don't know if it was single flock following me around or several flocks.

My List - American White Pelican, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Reddish Egret, White Ibis, Wood Stork, Black Vulture, Osprey, Black-bellied Plover, Killdeer, American Oystercatcher, Willet, Long-billed Curlew, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Least Sandpiper, Dunlin, Laughing Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Forster's Tern, Sandwich Tern, Mourning Dove, Common Ground-Dove, Great Horned Owl, White-eyed Vireo, Fish Crow, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Northern Parula, Prairie Warbler, Palm Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Summer Tanager, Northern Cardinal, Boat-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Black-hooded Parakeets, Lesser Scaup, Ruddy Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, American Coot