Walked around Stoney Bayou this morning to see what ducks had arrived (so far) for the winter. Nothing out the ordinary but varying numbers of the usual winter visitors including 1 Canvasback, 9 Redhead, 100+ Green-winged Teal, 25 Blue-winged Teal, 4 Gadwall, 6 American Wigeon, 46 Hooded Merganser, 3 Bufflehead, 2 Ruddy Duck, 7 Ring-necked Duck and 10 Lesser Scaup. The water levels are way up after Tropical Storm Fay so it looks like there will be good numbers at the refuge this winter. Other birds of note included 11 Sandhill Cranes (flying high SE), 6 Northern Harrier, 2 Pine Siskin, 13 Black-crowned Night Herons, 2 Sora's and many Marsh, Sedge and House Wrens. The only tyrant flycatchers were Eastern Phoebe's.

drake Canvasback Aythya valisineria

I headed to the coast and St. George Island this morning in the hope that the cold front that passed by in the night dropped something worth braving the freezing temperatures and icy breeze for. Yes, I am still in Florida! I didn't really get the rarity I had hoped for but compensation came in the form of 2 Pine Siskins, 5 Northern Harriers, 2 Orange-crowned Warblers, 1 Hermit Thrush, a small flock of American Robins, 3 White-throated Sparrows and the amazing number of Myrtle Warblers. I estimated there to be at least 6 to every tree and there are hundreds of trees at the youth camp. They were all over the place, I nearly stepped on one! It actually made it difficult to find anything else. The Hermit Thrush gave spectacular views for 5 seconds at a time, just not long enough for me to get a digiscoped image. I did manage some shots of other birds though.

Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos

Eastern Phoebe Sayornis phoebe

Yellow-rumped "Myrtle" Warbler Dendroica coronata

We spent an hour down at Shell Point this morning and found a small flock of Savannah Sparrows that were being accompanied by a single Vesper Sparrow; a.k.a the "poor man's longspur." Vesper Sparrows have bold streaks on the underbody and have warmer brown tones to the upperparts unlike the vaguely similar but colder grayer looking 1st winter Chesnut-collared Longspur. Smith's Longspurs have warm upper and underpart tones but they also lack the bold streaking on the underbody and they lack a distinctive white eye-ring, which is the first obvious feature I note on a Vesper Sparrow. This individual obliged a close approach so I could get some reasonable digiscope pictures.

Vesper Sparrow Pooecetes gramineus

I went on a digiscoping mission with a couple of friends today and we bumped into an Ash-throated Fly down at Bald Point. One had been found there on sunday so I presume it's the same bird. It obliged all of us for some digiscope pictures, sitting very still for long periods. If only all birds were so cooperative.

Ash-throated Flycatcher Myiarchus cinerascens

There wasn't much else at the park. We searched carefully through the Chipping Sparrows but could not find a Clay-colored. We had Northern Harrier, many Myrtle Warblers, Gray Catbirds and several Eastern Phoebes. Decent numbers of Barn Swallows were still on the move and a single Cliff Swallow had the same idea. A flyover Common Loon and a few Savannah Sparrows were also spotted. Out at Alligator Point we found 3 Surf Scoters and a Black Scoter. The docks provided a roost site for many shorebirds, terns and larids.

American Oystercatcher Haematopus palliatus

Surf Scoter Melanitta perspicillata

At Bottoms Road a single Marbled Godwit was roosting with the Willets, Short-billed Dows and Greater Yellowlegs.

Marbled Godwit Limosa fedoa

I had the opportunity to spend a couple of hours birding this morning and headed to the north side of town and Lake Jackson. I spent most of my time at Faulk Drive landing because of the large number of sparrows encountered. I ended up with 7 sparrow spp, namely White-crowned, White-throated, Field, Song, Swamp, Savannah and Chipping. The White-crowned obliged for a few digiscope pictures but most of the others refused to sit still for more than a couple of seconds. Other species included Common Yellowthroat, Myrtle Warbler, Prairie Warbler, lots of Tree Swallows, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, a Baltimore Oriole, several House Wrens and Eastern Phoebes. I was hoping to search the edge of the lake for Le Conte's Sparrows but the trail was flooded.

I thought it interesting that this WCSP had a couple of adult median crown stripe feathers molting through already.

White-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys

Savannah Sparrow Passerculus sandwichensis

Spent the weekend attending a wedding at Navarre Beach in the Western Panhandle and paid a visit to a site good for plovers and other shorebirds. We got decent albeit distant looks at both Snowy and Piping Plovers. It's been a while since I've seen both of these endangered plovers almost side by side and I tried hard to get a digiscope pic with both species in it but couldn't. We also had pretty good looks at 3 Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrows, which were really hard to get decent digiscope pics of but one stayed still for 2 seconds while having a bath and I got a grainy but ok shot. The Piping Plover was color-banded.

Snowy Plover Charadrius alexandrinus

Piping Plover Charadrius melodus

Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow Ammodramus nelsoni

Had a brief visit to the refuge this morning with the baby to see if there was anything about. A group of ibis were feeding in the tall grass halfway down lighthouse road, one of which was a juvenile White-faced. When I first came to Florida almost 5 years ago this species was considered somewhat rare. It now seems to be a regular all-year round visitor to St Marks NWR. I have personally found 18 White-faced Ibis since January 2004 at the refuge.

White-faced Ibis Plegadis chihi (left) with Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus

Down at the lighthouse I came upon a very tame Savannah Sparrow who allowed me to get as close as 6 feet.

Savannah Sparrow Passerculus sandwichensis

I didn't see much else as it was very windy and quite cold (<50F). A late Barn Swallow flew by and I had 2 Vesper Sparrows by the side of the road near HQ Pond, 2 Northern Harriers and a few Palm Warblers.

Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias

Here are a few digiscope pictures of terns and gulls I took while on a recent trip to the Crystal River area of Florida. I arrived at a local beach at high tide so there were a lot of birds roosting, mostly Laughing Gulls and Black Skimmers but a few Royal and Sandwich Terns as well.

Black Skimmer Rynchops niger

Sandwich Tern Sterna sandvicensis

Royal Tern Sterna maxima

Laughing Gull Larus atricilla

A cold front arrived over our area from the NW early on Saturday morning bringing a fine drizzle and low cloud cover. I ventured out into our garden to refill the hummingbird feeders and it became very apparent that there were a lot of birds moving around in the trees and shrubs. I had an hour before going to work so made the most of it and tallied 6 species of warbler; Blackburnian, Tennessee, Hooded, Parula, Magnolia and Pine. Julie added an American Redstart and a female Common Yellowthroat to the list while I was at work. Other migrants included a young male Indigo Bunting, which I managed to get a poor picture of through the window, 2 male Baltimore Orioles, 2 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Eastern Wood-peewee and the usual assortment of backyard birds. Perhaps the most interesting (for us) sightings were two Red-headed Woodpeckers. They breed in our county and within the city limits but not in our neighborhood. The only records we have for the garden are of juveniles in October. Red-headed Woodpeckers are migratory, I once saw one fly in off the Gulf of Mexico in late fall 4 years ago. 2 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were also present.

Indigo Bunting Passerina cyanea

The next day (sunday) there was very little present and pretty much all of the migrants had bugged out the night before. After watching game 6 of the ALCS I listened at the living room window for a few minutes and heard several Swainson's Thrushes flying over as well as a couple of American Redstarts. Later in the day after I got home from work I spotted our first Hermit Thrush of the autumn dining on beauty berries in the back garden. Winter is almost here.

Spent the morning birding a few sites around the city today and had a good time with plenty of migrants. First stop was the local park where I managed a few warblers, namely...Black-and-white, Tennessee, Chesnut-sided, Northern Parula, Hooded, Prairie, Yellow and a smart looking Black-throated Green. Other migrants included a Red-eyed Vireo and lots of Gray Catbirds.

Black-and-white Warbler Mniotilta varia

From there I headed to the two sewage plants on the southside of town. The first one didn't produce much, a female Northern Shoveler was the only noteworthy species. The second plant however was very productive. The highlight was a Sanderling, a new bird for me for the county and presumably the same individual seen there recently by others. I also had a nice number of Pectoral Sandpipers, 32 all told, unfortunately I couldn't turn one into a Sharp-tailed. Other shorebirds noted included 3 Stilt Sandpipers, 8 Long-billed Dowitchers, 150+ Least Sandpipers, 4 Dunlin, 2 Semipalmated Plovers, 60 Lesser Yellowlegs, 4 Greater Yellowlegs, 2 Western Sandpipers, 15 Killdeer, 32 Blue-winged Teal, 1 Laughing Gull (with a broken wing), 3 Snowy Egrets, a lonely looking Barn Swallow, 10 Black Vultures and a single juvenile Bald Eagle.

Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes

Long-billed Dowitchers Limnodromus scolopaceus

Stilt Sandpipers Calidris himantopus (2 between Least Sandpiper and Lesser Yellowlegs)

Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos (juvenile)

Killdeer Charadrius vociferus