Myakka River State Park

Monday December 2nd

Myakka River State Parks hosts lots of large American Alligators

Snow Goose

Snow Geese are a common bird. But not in south Florida.  A few Snow Geese may migrate as far south as Florida, so now a young Snow Goose has been found near Sarasota at Myakka River State Park. 

Today was windy as a cold front was moving in. And no waterfowl were out on the water, except for a few Black-bellied Whistling Ducks seen from the bridge and the Snow Goose.  I found in the exact location, near the weir, as other birders had already reported. This same location was also hosting numbers of Rosette Spoonbills, Black-necked Stilts, White Ibis, Limpkins, Yellowlegs, vultures and some rather large alligators.

Glossy Ibis

Black-necked Stilt

Snow Goose

Other sightings included White-tailed Deer, feral Hogs, Wild Turkeys,

 Cormorants, Anhingas, 

American Robins, American Avocets, 

Long-billed Dowitchers, Least Sandpipers, American White Pelicans, Glossy Ibis and 

Wood Storks.

Least Bittern at Celery Fields

After visiting Myakka River, made a quick stop at nearby Celery Fields.  Didn't expect much due to the time of day and the winds. No waterfowl here either, but was treated to a cooperative Least Bittern and a Purple Gallinule.

Lesser Scaup at Akerman Park

Did eventually find a few ducks a Akerman Park. Some Mottled Ducks and a pair of Lesser Scaups. 

Plus some Pied-billed Grebes and a few 

Starlings, 

Brown-headed Cowbirds and Laughing Gulls

Wilson's Phalarope - A Visit to the Everglades Ag Area

A flooded field off cr-880

Wednesday, August 3rd

This is the time of year that concentrations of migrating shorebirds show up in the sod fields and flooded crop fields in Palm Beach County.  This is an area known as the Everglades Agricultural Area. So with reports coming in that the birds are already present I choose to make the 350 mile round trip on Wednesday. My targets for the day included Upland Sandpipers, Wilson's Phalaropes and Barn Owls.



Common Nighthawks are easily located on the wires

 Arrived at Bolles Canal which runs east-west alongside of cr-827, about 9:30 AM. The county road ends at the Miami Canal, which is a location that has been a popular roosting spot for barn owls. Well the barn owl is one of my nemesis birds and again I failed to find any.  I had been advised to check the back sides of the pumping stations located along this stretch of road to find owls. The first station was under repair and the second came up empty. Another bird I would have liked to have seen was a king rail and last year I did have one standing in the middle of this road. No owl or rail this time, but did have a Least Bittern fly up and disappear into the sugar cane.

Black-necked Stilts in flight

Got to cr-880/ Brown Farm Road area about 10:30 am and did find several good spots (all as reported on the TAS message board).  I don't own a spotting scope, which is a must for birding the area. Almost all of the properties are on private, posted land, so you must bird from the shoulder of the road. But even with just using my binoculars I was able to identify many of the species present.  I dipped on the upland sandpiper, american avocet and was unable to clearly ID many of the peeps present. But I did get my LIFER in a  couple of Wilson's Phalaropes doing there whirly gig spins. Also had several dowitchers which I never heard call, so I am assuming that they are Long-billed dowitchers based on there location.  Had a few Greater Yellowlegs and lots of Lesser Yellowlegs, Stilt Sandpipers, Pectoral Sandpipers and Black-necked Stilts.  Managed to spot a Least Sandpiper out of the crowd. Also present were several Black Terns hawking for a meal at the water's surface.


Lots of waders and at one dry field, which appeared to being prepped for flooding were at least a hundred Wood Storks, dozens of Roseate Spoonbills and a smattering of other waders, plus several Laughing Gulls were lined up along the trough water was filling from a nearby opened water control gate.  Must be a lot of food present   Even had a few Black-necked Stilts fly in to that area to see what all the fuss was about.  .  

This link is to photos taken the same day by Trey Mitchell and posted on the TAS message board

The wires along the road offered dozens of sleeping Common Nighthawks plus lots of Barn Swallows, Bank Swallows, Northern Rough-winged Swallows and a lone Purple Martin. A flock of some forty birds I had inticially thought to be starling turned out to Brown-headed Cowbirds.  Checked them for any shiny or bronzed cowbirds, but only noticed BHCs.

A stretch of Brown Farm Road

As for raptors, only noticed a couple of Red-shouldered Hawks. And as I earlier noted I had a drove of 350 miles across the state and found absolutely zero swallow-tailed kites. Could they all be gone already?






Least Bittern

Least Bittern
Babcock-Webb WMA - Charlotte County
June 15th

I try to get to Babcock-Webb about every month and today seemed to be a good day for a visit. To increase the likelihood of locating a Red-Cockaded woodpecker, I try to be on site at the colony on Oilwell Road as they exit their nest holes at dawn. But today I found that I was a bit late, arriving at 6:35am, as I came across a single Red-Cockaded  Woodpecker actively feeding along the roadside before arriving at the colony site. So my timing was a bit late but it all worked out as I had the subject bird within five minutes upon arrival, but I also had Common Nighthawks, Northern Bobwhites, Wood Storks, Great Egrets, Eastern Meadowlarks, Brown Thrashers, Eastern Towhee, Doves and Mockingbirds before even finding the woodpecker. A pretty good start.

The next three hours I spent looking for bachman's sparrow, which I failed to locate today, but I did locate several Brown-Headed Nuthatches, including a noisy juvenile, a roosting Great Horned Owl being harassed by a Northern Mockingbird, twice came across Yellow-Shafted Northern Flickers and a trio of Least Terns that were flitting about the boat ramp at Webb Lake.

The best sighting was my third ever look at a Least Bittern. As I was stopped on a section of road I had not traveled before, the least bittern fly right in front of me. Cool!  The most unusual sighting occurred as I was trying to photograph the least terns at the boat ramp. I heard a commotion at the open passenger-side window were a pair of cardinals had landed.  They seemed agitated and were easily encouraged to move along. Very strange.

Also encounterd a lone deer, three rabbits, plus a Florida Garter Snake and a Black Racer.

Eastern Bluebird

My List (36) - Northern Bobwhite, Least Bittern, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Green Heron, White Ibis, Wood Stork, Turkey Vulture, Swallow-tailed Kite, Killdeer, Least Tern, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Common Ground-Dove, Great Horned Owl, Common Nighthawk, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Loggerhead Shrike, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Pine Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Eastern Towhee, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Boat-tailed Grackle

Least Tern at Webb Lake