Birding Mail - FLORIDABIRDS-L - [FLORIDABIRDS-L] Collier County Birding 02/09/2012

I ventured out this morning in search of my Bird-A-Day. I started out
on Greenway Rd. in East Naples where several Eastern Bluebirds greeted
me from the telephone lines. There was nothing of note on Fritchey Rd.
save for an American Kestrel and Eastern Phoebe. At the Powderpuff
Tree on Laredo St., across from the remote-controlled airplane field,
at least two Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were present. Try as I might,
I could not turn any of them into Black-chinned Hummingbirds. From
there, I went to the Marsh Trail in the Ten Thousand Islands NWR.
About 200 yards from the observation platform, an adult light morph
Short-tailed Hawk sat in a Slash Pine. I watched it for 30 minutes
through my scope. It's not every day I see STHAs sitting in trees for
that length of time. Many (all?) passersby were oblivious to this
bird, intent, instead, on seeing alligators. The best birds seen from
the observation platform were conservatively 1,000,000 (yes, ONE
MILLION!) Tree Swallows which filled the horizon from north to south
for as far as the eye could see! Amazing sight. A banded Roseate
Spoonbill came into the marsh along with 25 or so of its friends.
Unfortunately, other than the color of the band (reddish-orange + the
bare metal USFW band on the other leg), I could not make out the
numbers due to the distance of the bird and its rapid feeding
behavior. A juvenile Reddish Egret, another uncommon sight, was also
feeding in the marsh. 100+ American White Pelicans sailed by in air
force formation. Two adult Bald Eagles were carrying nesting material,
perhaps the same BAEAs from the nearby Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk at
the Fakahatchee Strand State Park Preserve? A few yellowlegs, Lessers
by the call, were also present as were the other usual waders with
Little Blue Herons, both adults and many juveniles, being the most
prevalent. A few Northern Harriers were also seen along with flyby
Mottled Ducks & Blue-winged Teal as well as Belted Kingfishers &
Anhingas. Pied-billed Grebes, Double-crested Cormorants, Black-crowned
Night-Heron, Common Gallinules, both ibis, Wood Stork and a Sora
(heard) rounded out the other species for the most part. My last stop
of the morning was the new LASIP (Lely Area Stormwater Improvement
Project) Mitigation Park on Collier Blvd. aka SR951 in East Naples. I
had never been to this park so I walked the entire one-mile nature
trail. This park has potential! During my walk, I saw well over 50
Pine Warblers as can be expected in this upland pine ecosystem. Along
with those birds were one Yellow-throated Warbler, a few Palm
Warblers, Blue-headed Vireo, Downy & Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Blue-
gray Gnatcatcher. Both vultures and a flyover Wood Stork were also
present. A good few hours of birding in Collier County!

Vince

Vincent P. Lucas
Naples, FL
(email address filtered)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/leppyone/

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	(Steller's Sea Eagle by Pete Morris/Birdquest)