October

Friday, November 2nd

American Avocets at Bunche Beach

Cooler weather has arrived and the Snowbirds are arriving as well to beautiful Southwest Florida. Both the avian and human snowbirds. 

Pine Warbler

October can be a very fun time here for birders. We have the migration of  neo-tropic birds passing through from points to the North heading to points far to the South, But we do see some familiar migrating birds who'll stay with us for most of the Winter. So we have the best of the waning summer species, the migrants passing through and the incoming wintering bird populations. A good time of year

It is enjoyable to chase after these migrating birds who may only be stopping off for a day or two. Some are fairly common to find like the Summer Tanagers and Yellow-throated Vireos. Some are far more uncommon to find in Florida in the fall migration like Canada Warblers and Golden-winged Warblers.  I was lucky to find a Golden-winged Warbler this year, but the Canada Warbler was an evasive  sighting for me though.. I did have a few holes in my list this year like the Gray-cheeked Thrush and Kentucky and Blue winged Warblers.  I've dipped on the Blue winged Warbler for a few years now.

A Golden winged Warbler

 seen at Caloosahatchee Creeks Preserve

Some of birds we have seen passing through included Acadian Flycatchers, Least Flycatcher plus Blackburnian, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Ovenbirds, Tennessee, Hooded and other Warblers. Rose breasted Grosbeaks, Eastern Wood-pewees, Swainson's Thrushes, Bobolinks, Yellow-billed Cuckoos. Pectoral Sandpipers, Solitary Sandpipers and more. 

Our wintering arrivals will continue making there here in the coming weeks, But recently we have seen many Gray Catbirds, House Wrens, Eastern Phoebes, Wilson's Snipes, American Bitterns, Northern Harries, Belted Kingfishers, American Kestrels, American White Pelicans, Yellowlegs, Peregrine Falcons, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers,  Palm Warblers and Savannah Sparrows. 

American Red Starts were a common migrant this fall, but a hard bird to photograph

Yellow throated Warblers have become numerous

Still expecting the later arriving waterfowl. Blue wing Teal are early arrivals and I did see my first of the season Ring neck Ducks today. Other species of ducks will arrive soon, plus Common Loons and Horned Grebes. Can also add Painted buntings, Red-crowned Kinglets, Blue-headed Vireos, Black-throated Green Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Swamp and Grasshopper Sparrows and more.

It appears that it may be harder to find Painted and Indigo Buntings and American Goldfinches this season as the famous feeders we have all enjoyed at the Whites' residence in Alva are probably no more. As their property has been sold. 

Great Crested Flycatcher

Gray Catbird

Our wintering Shorebirds have already arrived from their breeding grounds. Short-billed Dowitchers, Willets, Marbled Godwits, Red Knots, Black-bellied Plovers, Sanderlings, Semipalmated Plovers, Piping Plovers, Spotted Sandpipers, American Avocets. Plus the wintering gulls should be arriving in about a month. So enjoy the cooler weather and all these birds.

Red Knot. This fellow has lost its left foot.

Saw this scruffy Lark Sparrow out on Church Road

American White Pelican are returning

Bald Eagles are returning too

As are Double crested Cormorants

The Catbirds have Returned

Monday October 8th

Erect Dayflower

These warblers and other small birds can be very difficult  

for my photography skills. But wildflowers can be encouraged to pose

Finally, having a little fun with the Fall Migration as we move into October.

Numbers of migrants passing through on their way South have increased and many of our wintering visitors are showing.

 Heard my first of the season House Wren today and growing numbers of  Gray Catbirds have  arrived. Won't be long and our wintering Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers will everywhere. Along with Eastern Phoebes, American Kestrels, Blue headed Vireos and Savannah Sparrows.

The annual Sanibel Lighthouse Hawk Watch is scheduled for Sunday the 14th. Some years can be awesome, some have been a dud. I'm expecting good things this years with lots of Kestrels, Merlins, Peregrine Falcons and maybe some Broad-winged Hawks or Sharp-shinned Hawks.  Sadly, due to my work schedule I wont be able to attend.

American Redstarts, as well as, Black-and-White Warblers

 have been frequently seen migrants

Yellow-throated Warbler seen at Rotary Park

Some recent personal firsts for the season included Tennessee Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Bay Breasted and Chestnut sided Warblers, Eastern Wood-pewee, Summer Tanagers, Least Flycatcher, Acadian Flycatcher, Yellow-throated Vireo and Yellow billed Cuckoo.  Still lots of holes in my Fall Migration wish list like  a Blackburnian or a Canada Warbler.

Sawgrass Lake

Tuesday, September 6th

Blackburnian Warbler

Joined with Bob Pelkey to visit a venue neither of us had ever visited. Reports of some hard to find, migrating warblers in SW Florida were intriguing, so we arrived at Sawgrass Lake Park in St Petersburg about 7:15 AM to do some birding.

 Canada, Cerulean, Blue-winged and Golden-winged Warblers were among migrates seen here just yesterday.  Bob and I managed to see a brief view of a female Cerulean Warbler, but we dipped on the rest today. Just the same we had twelve warbler species - Worm-Eating, Black-and-White, Prothonotary, Hooded, American Redstart, Cerulean, Northern Parula, Blackburnian, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Yellow-throated and Prairie Warblers. Other interesting birds today included a Limpkin, White Ibis, Red-shouldered Hawks, 

Chimney Swifts, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Summer Tanager and  Nanday Parakeets.

Yellow-throated Warbler

Yellow-throated Warbler

Worm-eating Warbler

Worm-eating Warbler

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Blackburnian Warbler

Common Gallinule

Limpkin

Florida Gar

Water Primrose

Migration

Monday, August 3rd

A FOS Yellow-throated Warbler
seen at Bunche Beach Preserve

Neotropical bird migration is slowly rolling into Southwest Florida. 

Today I feel lucky with seeing my first-of-season Hooded Warbler at Six-mile Cypress Slough Preserve. Master Birder Vince McGrath spotted the hoody for our group.

Last week I had seen my FOS Black-and-White Warblers at Six-mile and other birders have seen prothonotary warblers, American red-starts and red-eyed vireos as well. All of these early migrants do nest in northern Florida and easily arrive here first.

A couple of Short-tailed Hawks have also returned to the Six-Mile Slough Preserve from central Florida.

Shorebirds have already been migrating for a few weeks now and I elected visit to Bunche Beach Preserve yesterday. I arrived on a low tide and found hundreds of shorebirds working the mud-flats and shallows for a meal. There were hundreds of Short-billed Dowitchers present fresh from the Arctic. Marbled Godwits, Sanderlings, Least Sandpipers, Semipalmated Plovers and a FOS sighting of a Piping Plover had also arrived. A couple of Barn Swallows flew in. Prairie Warbler and a FOS Yellow-throated Warbler were also seen here. Other birds seen included a flock of twenty Rosette Spoonbills, lots of waders, a couple of Spotted Sandpipers, a Least Yellowlegs, Willets, Ruddy Turnstones, Black Skimmers, Least Terns, Bald Eagle and Osprey.

Semipalmated Plover sporting his breeding colors

Earlier in the day I had my FOS Belted Kingfisher sitting on the a power line. Soon we'll be hosting many more species

FOS Piping Plover

Reddish Egret. A White-morphed Reddish Egret was also seen at Bunche 

White Ibis

Osprey breed at Bunche Beach

Least Sandpiper at rest

Wilson's Plover are a year-round residents

Hundreds of Short-billed Dowitchers have arrived

Wilson's Plover

A few Red Knots were present

This Fiddler Crab thought it was well hidden

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