Red-Eyed Vireo - Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

Tuesday April 20th

  After taking care of some business I headed over to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Collier County to see if there was any interesting warbler activity. Could not get there till 10:30 am and found the number of visitors to be way down since my last visit. Reason being that so many snowbirds have already headed back north.

  At the butterfly garden, at the entrance to Blair House, I was informed that I had just missed a hummingbird. After a short wait, I can always try again when later, on the hummer I went inside to pay. Here I was rewarded with a male painted bunting at the feeders behind the building. Grackles and Red-bellied Woodpeckers soon took over and ran it off.  Waited at the feeder for a reappearance of the pair of Shiny Cowbirds, that I had just missed. Pushed on,  as I could try again on my way out, for the cowbirds.
   At the feeders I met up with Jeff, an ex-patriot Brit and snow-birder from New Jersey, whom I had walked with on a prior visit. Later on we were joined by a lady from Michigan, who had just flown-in to search for property in Cape Coral (residential property here are at fire sale values with the collapse of the local housing market). She was a very experienced birder and had plans to attend a birding festival at the migrant trap at McGee Marsh in Ohio in a couple of weeks.

Gray Catbirds were very abundant

 We found the water level to be very high today, so few waders were to be expected.  Had hoped for some nightherons, but only a sole Little Blue Heron and a sole Great Egret were seen. Noisy and soaring Red-Shouldered Hawks were very evident as were calling Gray Catbirds, White-eyed Vireos and Carolina Wrens.  A scope was set up at a Blue Gray Gnatcatchers nest for visitors to use and where we were able watch the gnatcatcher harrass a Red-Bellied Woodpecker that was much to close for the vigilant gnatcatcher. A couple of Great Crested Flycatchers were seen and heard. As for the warblers they were found high up in the canopy of these ancient cypress trees.  Heard several Northern Parulas and actually could only locate a beautiful singing male as the emerging foliage did make the birding more challenging. One warbler we found as Black-throated Green Warbler.  We were able to add a Black-and White Warbler and a calling Pine Warbler. A suspected tennessee warbler, only seen from directly below, I am now convinced was the similarly looking Red-Eyed Vireo. Several FOY Chimney Swifts were seen and heard. It was a good day with a few interesting birds, but not a great variety of warblers. One very interesting observation was a white-tailed fawn and doe grazing right next to the boardwalk.  They were very tolerant of the walkers. Left at 2PM without the shiny cowbirds or hummer, but was satisfied with an enjoyable walk in great weather. Won't be long till the daily 90+ degree temps, high humidity and afternoon showers reappear.

 

The Fawn

 

The Doe

My List - Great Egret, Little Blue Heron, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Chimney Swift, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Great Crested Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Carolina Wren, Tufted Titmouse, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Gray Catbird, Northern Parula, Black-throated Green Warbler, Pine Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Painted Bunting, Boat-tailed Grackle

Great Crested Flycatcher

Babcock-Webb

April 13th

Headed over early to Babcock -Webb Wildlife Management Area for the trifecta - Red-Cockaded Woodpecker, Backman's Sparrow and Brown-Headed Nuthatch. The woodpeckers were very cooperative at the first colony on Oil Well Road.  Had three active woodpeckers included a young bird picking throuh the gravel on the road. Also had a Bachman's Sparrow present by the colony. Found a a singing male later on that morning. The Brown-Headed Nuthatch has much harder to locate.  Several other birders I talked with were also dipping on the nuthatch. But I managed to locate one shortly before heading to home.  For some reason this little bird was stalking a Red-Bellied Woodpecker.  Following him from limb to limb. Eastern Towhees and Great-Crested Flycatchers were plentifull. A young Bald Eagle was observed setting in a snag. Missed on any warblers and northern bobwhites.

Great Crester Flycatcher at Babcock-Webb

My List - Anhinga, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, White Ibis, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Common Moorhen, Sandhill Crane, Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Loggerhead Shrike, Blue Jay, Fish Crow, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Eastern Towhee, Bachman's Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Common Grackle, Boat-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird

Willets - Bunche Beach and 6-Mile Slough

Saturday - April 10th
Bunche Beach

Hooked-up with the Lee County Bird Patrol event this morning at Bunche Beach.  These walks are very informative and with Charlie Ewell leading the group you will learn your shorebirds.  I know that I did.

Beach at low tide

The tide was low and the air was a bit chilly. However, the bird density was very light for low tide.  Obviously much of our shore birds have headed north. We still had some variety though. A lone American White Pelican made a flow over as did a couple of Roseate Spoonbills. Dozens of Brown Pelican were in a feeding frenzy at the south end of the beach when we started out.  A few Double-crested Cormorants were busy diving for breakfast.  The loons and red-breasted mergansers were already gone for the season. A couple of spotted sandpipers of worked the sandy area at the north inlet. The usual waders were all present included White Ibis, Reddish Egrets, Great Egrets, etc.  Further north on the exposed mud flats were a good sized flock of Black Skimmers. A few Laughing Gulls and  lone Ring-billed Gull were flying as were three Least Terns, new arrivals for the season, plus a couple of Royal Terns and  a one Sandwich Tern. A few Black-bellied Plovers and Semipalmated Plovers were present.  Sanderlings were probably the most numerous shorebirds on hand.

Eastern or Western Willet ?

 But the time was spent concentrating on the Willets.  Both Eastern and Western Willets. Charlie enjoys teaching on the subject. This time of the year Eastern Willets are showing up as the Western Willets are moving on to their breeding grounds out west. So both breeds are present and can be confusing to separate, especially as they are in various stages of molt.



The following link is to a blog called SHOREBIRDER by Nick Bonomo, with his description on the difference between eastern and western willets. Western Willet vs. Eastern Willet

Six-Mile Cypress Slough
Sunday & Monday

Revisited the I-75 rest-stop to see if the Black-Necked Stilts were stll there

After work on Sunday headed over to Six-Mile Cypress to look for any migrants.  But first checked out the rest stop on daniels road and I-75 for Black-Necked Stilts any other waders. Did find a few a few stilts presents but no ther waders were there this morning.

The parking lot at  Six-Mile was empty of people and birds.  As for the weather we were in-between morning rain showers. The boardwalk had lots of Northern Cardinals and Gray Catbirds. A couple of Carolina Wrens were very vocal as was a busy Pileated Woodpecker. As for migrants I was lucky to get excellent looks at a male Black-Throated Blue Warbler and a very brief look at a Chestnut-sided Warbler. I have not really heard of chestnut-sided warblers traveling through here before, but I am pretty confident that it an accurate siting.

Gray Squirrels are very abundent

Came back on Monday to try and relocate the black-throated blue warbler and chestnut-sided warbler. Spent a couple of hours on the boardwalk, but the only warbler seen today was a sole Black-and-White Warbler. Other observations included the resident Red-shouldered Hawks seem to be nesting, lots of Gray Catbirds are still present and a Barred Owl became very vocal.

Peregrine Falcon - Little Estero Lagoon

White-Morphed Reddish Egret at Little Estero Lagoon on Ft Myers Beach

As a county employee, I was required to take a furlough day, which is today. So I chose to visit Ft Myers Beach's Little Estero Lagoon to seek out snowy plovers. Arrived early to avoid the day's heat and the spring break crowds. The birding started out slowly. Just a few waders and no shorebirds. As I reached about midway the numbers increased, but still not very birdy. The skies were clear and only a few gulls and terns were about.  A pair of Ospreys kept busy hunting for breakfast. Had about six, high flying, but noisy Least Terns. These were the first that I had come across this season.  The beach was already prepped with demarcated zones for nesting seabirds including the least tern, snowy plovers and Wilson's plovers. So several hundred least terns should be arriving soon.

Found Sanderlings, Semipalmateed Plovers, Wilson's Plovers, Black-bellied Plovers and about six Piping Ploves.  But no snowy plovers today. Had been hearing a serinadeing Prairie Warbler and a couple of Palm Warblers were active. 

I have wondered if sedge wrens were found here. Seems that there is some suitable habitate, but I am no expert on this subject.  I have never found one to date.

The reason for the title to this article was that the Peregrine was my last siting before heading for home. Another birder had it spotted high up on the ledge of one tall condo buildings that line shore.

My List - Mottled Duck, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Reddish Egret, White Ibis, Osprey, Peregrine Falcon, Black-bellied Plover, Wilson's Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Piping Plover, Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Least Sandpiper, Dunlin, Laughing Gull, Least Tern, Royal Tern, Mourning Dove, Common Ground-Dove, Loggerhead Shrike, Blue Jay, European Starling, Prairie Warbler, Palm Warbler, Northern Cardinal, House Sparrow

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

Hooded Warblers - A Look at March

Put a few miles on the car and several hours in, in search of birds. Had a bit of  luck in twitching after rarities, but seemed to have missed out on most.  Missed the smooth-billed ani, twice in the Everglades, and the laSagre Flycatcher at Key Biscayne.  My best find was the Harlequin Duck that had wintered in Sebastian Inlet.

The beginning of March is a time to seek out the wintering specialties here in Florida and at the conclusion of the month begins the spring migration. Gone are the large numbers of Yellow-Rumped Warblers, American Robins and most of the wintering ducks. And was exciting to see the arrival of the beautiful Swallow-tailed Kites

American Coot at Green Cay

Just last week, at Sanibel Lighthouse, we were able to find several Northern Parula, Hooded Warblers and even a Worm-eating Warbler. So the migration has begun. We even found very large numbers of exhausted Purple martins and Barn Swallows.

Monk Parakeet at Cape Coral

Other fun sitings included the Cedar Waxwings in my neighbors tree, the Swamphens and Purple Gallinules at several of our wetlands, and the different kinds of parrots I can locate. The best siting for the month was noted as I was crossing the Sanible causeway on my way home last Monday after checking the lighthouse. It was extremely windy and I could see a large flock of shorebirds circling and circling as they tried to fight against the wind. They would finally give up and settled onto the water. They were to far out for a good photo, but with my binoculars I was am to identify them as American Avocets, most in breeding plumage. It is also cool to locate avocets, but the count I got off of the photo, I did managae to take, numbered around 85 birds. That was the most unusal part of the scene. You just never know what you will Find



Harlequin Duck at Sebastion Inlet



Yellow-Throated Warbler at Corkscrew Swamp



Red-Cockaded Woodpecker colony site at Babcock-Webb



A Gray Catbird on a chilly morning at Six-Mile Cypress Slough

A Mourning Dove at Six-Mile Cypress Slough

Exhausted Purple Martins at rest upon arrival at Sanibel Lighthouse

My List for March - (163)

1. Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
2. Muscovy Duck (Domestic type)
3. Wood Duck  
4. Mottled Duck
5. Blue-winged Teal
6. Northern Shoveler
7. Green-winged Teal
8. Ring-necked Duck
9. Lesser Scaup
10. Harlequin Duck - a lifer
11. Hooded Merganser
12. Red-breasted Merganser
13. Ruddy Duck
14. Wild Turkey
15. Common Loon
16. Pied-billed Grebe
17. Northern Gannet
18. American White Pelican
19. Brown Pelican
20. Double-crested Cormorant
21. Anhinga
22. Great Blue Heron
23. Great Egret
24. Snowy Egret
25. Little Blue Heron
26. Tricolored Heron
27. Reddish Egret
28. Cattle Egret
29. Green Heron
30. Black-crowned Night-Heron
31. Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
32. White Ibis
33. Glossy Ibis
34. Roseate Spoonbill
35. Wood Stork
36. Black Vulture
37. Turkey Vulture
38. Osprey
39. Swallow-tailed Kite
40. Snail Kite
41. Bald Eagle
42. Northern Harrier
43. Cooper's Hawk
44. Red-shouldered Hawk
45. Broad-winged Hawk
46. Short-tailed Hawk
47. Red-tailed Hawk
48. Crested Caracara
49. American Kestrel
50. Merlin
51. Peregrine Falcon
52. Sora
53. Purple Swamphen
54. Purple Gallinule
55. Common Moorhen
56. American Coot
57. Limpkin
58. Sandhill Crane
59. Black-bellied Plover
60. Wilson's Plover
61. Semipalmated Plover
62. Piping Plover
63. Killdeer
64. American Oystercatcher
65. Black-necked Stilt
66. American Avocet
67. Spotted Sandpiper
68. Solitary Sandpiper
69. Greater Yellowlegs
70. Willet
71. Lesser Yellowlegs
72. Marbled Godwit
73. Ruddy Turnstone
74. Sanderling
75. Semipalmated Sandpiper
76. Western Sandpiper
77. Least Sandpiper
78. Dunlin
79. Short-billed Dowitcher
80. Wilson's Snipe
81. Laughing Gull
82. Ring-billed Gull
83. Herring Gull
84. Caspian Tern
85. Common Tern
86. Forster's Tern
87. Royal Tern
88. Sandwich Tern
89. Black Skimmer
90. Rock Pigeon
91. Eurasian Collared-Dove
92. White-winged Dove
93. Mourning Dove
94. Common Ground-Dove
95. Black-hooded Parakeet
96. Monk Parakeet
97. Mitred Parakeet 
98. Red-masked Parakeet
99. Great Horned Owl 
100. Burrowing Owl
101. Whip-poor-will
102. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
103. Belted Kingfisher
104. Red-headed Woodpecker
105. Red-bellied Woodpecker
106. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
107. Downy Woodpecker
108. Hairy Woodpecker
109. Red-cockaded Woodpecker
110. Northern Flicker
111. Pileated Woodpecker
112. Eastern Phoebe
113. Great Crested Flycatcher
114. Eastern Kingbird
115. Loggerhead Shrike
116. White-eyed Vireo
117. Blue-headed Vireo
118. Blue Jay
119. American Crow
120. Fish Crow
121. Purple Martin
122. Tree Swallow
123. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
124. Barn Swallow
125. Tufted Titmouse
126. Carolina Wren
127. House Wren
128. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
129. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
130. Eastern Bluebird
131. American Robin
132. Gray Catbird
133. Northern Mockingbird
134. Brown Thrasher
135. European Starling
136. Common Myna
137. Cedar Waxwing
138. Northern Parula
139. Yellow-rumped Warbler
140. Black-throated Green Warbler
141. Yellow-throated Warbler
142. Pine Warbler
143. Prairie Warbler
144. Palm Warbler
145. Black-and-white Warbler
146. American Redstart
147. Worm-eating Warbler
148. Ovenbird
149. Common Yellowthroat
150. Hooded Warbler
151. Savannah Sparrow
152. Northern Cardinal
153. Indigo Bunting
154. Painted Bunting
155. Red-winged Blackbird
156. Eastern Meadowlark
157. Common Grackle
158. Boat-tailed Grackle
159. Shiny Cowbird
160. Brown-headed Cowbird
161. Orchard Oriole
162. American Goldfinch
163. House Sparrow

Rapters in Migration

Came across a couple of interesting sites while reading through the Illinois Brding messge board.

* Hawk Migration Association of North America  Much valuable information on the identification and distribution of raptures in North American. Check out thier rapture identification presentation.

* A live video cam on Molly, a nesting Barn Owl. Her eggs have hatched. Very cool!!!