I chased the Western Spindalis today, and after a few hours I thought I
saw something look good fly by, but I could not get a good look at it
while it was perched. We lost the bird after that. Luckily,
later in the day the bird was found and I got good looks at it in the
north end of the cemetery.
A stop for Ani produced no Anis (0 for 2 this year)
The Eared Grebe was fairly easy to see at Green Cay. Year list is
at 246, and 250 well within reach by the end of the month.
I went up to Volusia County to add Glaucous Gull and Purple Sandpiper
to my year list. The Glaucous came in to the county landfill
around 7:40, but stayed for less than ten minutes. There were
many other gulls in the area, but no more white-winged types.
Since I was doing very well on time (I had planned to spend most of the
morning looking for this bird), I headed over to Ponce Inlet where I
met up with Michael Brothers to look for Purple Sandpiper. The
tide was very high, and waves were crashing over the jetty, but after
about 15 minutes of talking and scanning the ocean a fat shorebird flew
out of the rocks and into the sun. Luckily it turned back so I
could make sure it was one of the Purples that has been hanging out
here for a while. A scan of the beach revealed a few gulls, but
more importantly I got a phone call saying the Spindalis is still being
seen in Broward County. I will be there tomorrow.
I met up with Andy and a group of birders at St. Marks. Only one
Rusty Blackbird was seen at the bridges, and after a while we moved to
Stoney Bayou. A walk all the way around the back one (2?) gave me
my 240th bird of the year. Was it Ross's Goose? I wish. Maybe
Black Duck? Ha. 240 was Northern Pintail. Made it worth the
5 mile walk. A quick stop at Mounds 3 revealed a few Gadwalls
that really wanted to be Black Ducks. I left to make it to the
Brant in time to think about birding Merritt Island before the sun went
down. In Jefferson County I picked up another U turn after Andy
called to tell me about White-faced Ibis. I rushed back only to
find that the ibis were hiding. I waited for the flock of waders
to make their way out into the open, as I looked at more Gadwall hoping
for a Black Duck. One bird looked good for a while before it
flew. The ibis also flew, and I thought I could see red in one of
the birds eyes. When one bird (I think there were four in the
flock) kept moving out it would be a Glossy. The next one that
moved out was another Glossy. That left the two birds I saw fly
in to be the White-faced. One came out quickly and looked like it
might have had red in the eye. Finally, after what seemed like
forever, I got a good look at a red eye on a young White-faced
Ibis. I left the refuge after saying bye to Andy with slim hopes
of getting 2 more year birds to pull me up to 243. Lots of
thoughts came to mind on the drive down to the Brant spot, like how
much more exciting it was birding with others, but also how nice it was
not to have to stop for food even though my stomach was
complaining. Fort Island was packed with people. The Brant
was nowhere to be seen in the swimming area, so I went onto a pier to
scan the gulf. I found one sandbar with a large group of White
Pelicans, but could not make anything out other than Pelicans and a few
Cormorants. I did find another sandbar that was a little
closer. It was a lot easier to make out the shapes of the birds
on this island, and I was able to find the brant resting on the sand
bar sticking his long neck and short bill up giving it a different
shape than any other bird on the sandbar. I was too cheap to take
the Turnpike and Bee Line home, so I took SR 44 and SR 46 to Titusville
to eat at Dixie Crossroads before making it home. The year list stood
at 242
Horned Lark photo by Bob Wallace
Tall Timbers seemed like a good spot to be at dawn on my first day, so
I found myself up there a little before any sunlight was visible.
I waited on top of the hill for the sun listening to the
sparrows and other pineland birds wake up. I walked down to the
bird house, saw Wood Ducks, heard two species of Nuthatch wake up, got
a little bored and started heading back. On my way back I
remembered that Andy had told me about Fox Sparrows in this one
area. I walked up and down the lines cut out, and saw several
sparrows, including my year Henslow's, but no Foxes. The day was
getting better when I found a large flock of Chipping Sparrows which
was very impressive. Every step I took forced about 10-20 more to
fly up. I also ran into a large flock that consisted of Pine
Warblers, White-breasted Nuthatches, American
Goldfinches, Kinglets, a Yellow-throated Warbler, and a Pine
Siskin. I was still missing most of my targets, but Red-breasted
Nuthatch was the only one that I would probably not find anywhere
else. I easily picked up Brown-creeper at Indian Mounds near Lake
Jackson as well as hearing a White-breasted Nuthatch. I failed to
find the Canada Goose flock on Buck Lake Road that has a Snow in it,
but I was able to pick up my year Fox Sparrow after about an hour of
searching at the Greenway, as well as another Henslow's. I called
Paul and the Tropical Audubon group to let them know, and said we would
keep in touch for rarities found over the weekend. A quick lunch
at Burger King held me over for the rest of daylight, and I made
my way to Alligator Point afterwards. Once I got to the
points I wanted to check out the KOA, since it is the best place to
scan from on Alligator Point. There was one area that looked like
the KOA, but I kept on driving. After a while I found myself
at the end of the road, realizing that I had missed the KOA I made a U
turn and ran into Jill Gaetzi, who had also missed the campground which
is no longer there. I pulled off the road where I had gotten good
looks at Red-throated Loon before, and easily found another one off the
rocks a short ways. While birding around in the woods some I ran
into a guy somewhat interested in birds who gave me directions on how
to get to that point between Alligator and Bald Points. This area
looked good, and I was glad I got directions, because when I reached
the last waterfront house on Gulf Shores Blvd I found a White-winged
Scoter off the point. On my way over, there was a Western
Kingbird on the wires on Mardi Gras Way. When I made it to
Bald Point State Park the bay seemed fairly empty of ducks that
were not Buffleheads, Goldeneyes, or
Mergansers. It took a few scans to find a raft of about
15 scoters take flight, and it appeared there were a
few surfs mixed in. A little while later I was rewarded with
a flyby group of one Black and one Surf Scoter fairly close
in. On my way back to the car I ran into Michael
Hartley scoping the birds in the bay. We found a raft of about
100 scoters, but could not pick out anything
other than Blacks. While scanning a Western Kingbird flew
in. I left for Bottoms road to add Virginia Rail to my
year list. At the little parking area on the left hand side of
the road I saw what appeared to be a group of birders, so I made a
stop. Upon scanning the water I found an Oldsquaw (or Long-tailed
Duck as some like/or don't like to call it). The group of people
were birders from Northern Georgia, but did not have a scope out
at the moment, so they had not seen the duck yet. After
showing them the duck, they showed me a few Sharp-tailed Sparrows to
the west of the parking area. Since the sun
was going down we decided to hit the end of the road to
try for Virginia Rail. I missed the one the other
group heard, but I heard one later when I went back to show
Michael the Oldsquaw. I spent the night near Blountstown at
Travis MacClendon's place. The year list was at 234 I think,
something like that. Since I was running very low on energy, I
had probably the best slice of pizza I have ever had.
Ticked Black-bellied Whistling-duck on my way up to Talahassee (Year bird 217)
Today was rather uneventful. The
Brown-crested Flycatcher didn't want to come out for us.
Brown-headed Nuthatch at least called, but would not come out to give
the Ohio crowd their life looks. We ran into a large group of
birders at Lucky, but left to look for Shiny Cowbird. We missed
them at the Winery (although we might have seen some and misIDed them
as Brown-headed) and also at Larry's house. Ruby-throated
Hummingbird and Western Kingbird were interesting sights at Larry's
place. When we got back to Lucky we
were informed that we missed Bell's Vireo, Swainson's Hawk, and
Clay-colored Sparrow as well as the fact that Larry still needed the
kingbird for his yard. Of the birds the group had, only
Clay-colored Sparrow was relocated in the field opposite the hammock.
We headed home since it was getting late and found Bronzed Cowbirds on
Red Road for my 210th bird of the year. The only birding done
after we dropped Alex off the only birding done was another quick
failed stop for anis and I headed home. I went to Viera the next day to
pick up a few easy year birds, as well as one of three Cinnamon Teals
that have been hanging around.
Trying for Brown-crested Flycatacher
Peeking for Shiny Cowbird before we realized there was a gate
Practicing safe birding
I
woke up the next morning with the year list at 181 and 200 well within
reach. We missed Lesser Nighthawk on all 6 of our drives out
Research, but did hear a Common Nighthawk flying around out there and
my year Wilson's Snipe. King Rail and Whip-poor-will all made it
on my year list before I heard a Green Heron as year bird 186. On
our way to Lucky Hammock we found a Chuck-wills-widow which was a life
bird for Phil. We saw several more Whips, and Alex felt the need
to yell at every single one of them. The night birds were all
fairly easy and Screech was the only owl we were missing (or so we
thought) and we had three nightjars. I pointed out some good King
Rail habitat near the bridges on the way out of the park and we soon
found a rail on the road. It appeared to have been stunned, so we
had a little fun with it until it began to move around some and it
appeared perfectly healthy.
Alex with King Rail
Lucky Hammock had a lot of birds, most of which I probably
forgot. Least Flycatcher, Grasshopper Sparrow, and
Yellow-breasted Chat made appearances at the hammock, but the annex
held more birds. We birded the annex very heavily and turned up
Wilson's Warbler, Lincoln's Sparrow, Black-throated Blue Warbler,
Magnolia Warbler, Sandhill Crane, Great Crested Flycatchers as many
others. I never got my hands on a Bell's Vireo, which got me a
very upset. I quickly pulled out a kinfe and threatened to stab
the vireo, and Alex found a stick to beat it with.
Where was the Bell's Vireo?
A quick run through Flynn's produced nothing and the White-tailed Kite
was still in its area along with Cave Swallows. The good morning
at Lucky made me think we could hit the high 120s for the day.
Between Anhinga Trail, Gumbo Limbo, Research Road, and Mahogany Hammock
I think we had one interesting bird which was a Louisiana Waterthrush
on Anhinga Trail. Year Bird 199. We also gave an Anhinga a close look
before the rain started, and sent most of the tourists, as well as us,
running to the parking lot.
Me getting good looks at Anhinga
When we arrived at Snake Bight the day list stood at 94. As
we walked down the trail we wondered whether I would hit 200 year birds
before we hit 100 for the day. I don't know how many times I said
'I want 200 NOW!!!' down the trail, but it sure helped me get over
the boredom of the birdless trail. If you have never walked Snake
Bight before, it is very boring. Once we got out to the
end the day birds piled up, but no year birds were seen. The area
has gotten really overgrown and very few birds were visible. The
area where I have seen flamingo in the past is only visible by standing
on the hand rail of the boardwalk. While up there I could see a
large flock of Pelicans, but the only pink birds seen while out there
were flyover spoonbills. A calling Clapper Rail was rather
unusual, but I got to see one here in June of 2005. The trip back
produced 3 sapsuckers and a large cottonmouth, but it was still very
boring. We took a few pictures and just acted crazy to pass the
time we spent on this 2 mile death march.
This might be the only way to see Flamingo at Snake Bight
Ahh… the boredom of Snake Bight
Ooops
Before a stop for food I was still complaining about getting to 200
year birds so we made a quick stop for easy Scissor-tailed
Flycatchers. Couldn't find them. The Vermilion Flycatcher
in the campground seemed like an easy and cool 200th year bird.
Couldn't find it. Frustrated we drove back to the marina to get
some food. While the three others sat down to eat their meals, I
grabbed a few candy bars and got directions from the ranger on where
the flycatchers were and went over there. A Western Kingbird
finally broke the 3 or 4 hour yearbirdless streak I was on, and was
shortly followed by a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. When the rest of
the lazy crew arrived, they said they needed to eat, two Orchard
Orioles and an Indigo Bunting had joined the birdlife of the
area. Scissor-tail was a lifer for the Ohio kids, and after the
birds went away we made the short drive to the new Eco Pond that I had
never seen before.
The habitat at Eco Pond was really
interesting and had more shorebirds for the day list and Stilt
Sandpiper for the year list. A walk around the pond gave us new
ducks including the Greater Scaup that has been hanging out in the pond
for a while. The day list was growing, but we did not know by how
much. Due to our earlier miss, we called Paul Bithorn to get
better directions to the Vermilion Flycatcher, and Alex easily spotted
it at the northwest corner of the T loop of the campground. We
walked the West Lake Trail with our Hatian flag, but did not see any
new birds, except a Short-tailed Hawk. Alex was also able to spot a few
more Short-tailed Hawks on the road. Without anything really
left to do we played soccer until dusk before we could look for Lesser
Nighthawk. We later found out that a nearby trail held Dickcissel
and White-crowned Sparrow.
For when the birding is slow
While walking out to the C Loop where I got my first Lessers we were
informed that spotlights are not allowed in the park. The ranger
then proceeded to turn his golf cart around into a bush which gave us a
good laugh. We played a few games as it got almost too dark to
see, and we concluded that we couldn't find nighthawks. On the
way back to the car a bird flew up out of the marsh and I shouted out
owl. At first I thought I had made a mistake because it flew like
a harrier. After getting everybody on the bird we determined that
it was a female Short-eared Owl. We ended the day with 150 species.
The pictures from today, yesterday, and tomorrow were mostly taken by Ethan Kistler
Birding Cutler Wetlands
On the way there Alex did pick out a Short-tailed Hawk flying over the
road. Impressive at first, but after the first 10 or so finding
Short-tails was just getting too easy. We checked a few small
flocks of gulls for Franklin's without success. The only other
spot left to check for this tough year bird was Black Point Park.
The half mile hike got a little boring, until we ran into some gulls at
the end. The first five or so scans revealed nothing other than
the usual three and one Lesser Black-backed way out in the water.
Several more scans and a few jokes with a Laughing Gull skull later I
was able to pick out a little Franklin's Gull in the flock. I was
happy with this year bird, and we found a few warblers on the trip back
to the car.
The Laughing Gull head that gave us about 10 minutes of entertainment
I think we hit Denny's after this where we picked a table where
we could watch the mynas and watch another Short-tailed Hawk fly
over. Homestead didn't hold much, except for some white bird with
black shoulders kiting in a field near 312th Street and 217th
Ave. We concluded that it was a White-tailed Kite, and my
thoughts of swallows were proven wrong when a flock of about 20 Cave
Swallows flew over. The rest of the day was spent setting up the
tent and playing frisbee. While setting the tent up, I found out
that I had forgotten the poles at home. Instead of sleeping
outside with the bugs we decided to use our tripods to hold the tent
up, and hung a Hatian flag, which Alex had for no reason, around the
tent for good luck.
Who needs poles for a tent?
At night we found Barn, Burrowing and Screech Owls on Research Road,
Least Bittern in Taylor Slough, and Barred Owl near Pay-hay-okee.
We also saw a few snakes including a cottonmouth.
Cottonmouth in the Everglades
Phil and Alex getting Cottonmouth off the road
Alex and me clapping for King Rail in the Everglades
Even though I will be back up soon, I wanted to knock a few easy year
birds out of the way. My first was Rusy Blackbird. I needed
to be at the bridges at St. Marks NWR at 7:30. Since I had some
free time, I started down by the lighthouse where I saw plenty of
Buffleheads, Common Goldeneyes, Greater Scaup, Common Loons, Horned
Grebes etc. Marsh birds like Seaside, Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed, and
Song Sparrow, Marsh Wren, and Clapper Rail woke up before it was time
to hit the blackbirds. Unlike my previous trips, the robin
numbers were not as high, but I was still able to find a small flock of
5 or 6 Rusty Blackbirds before heading back out to do some more
birding. American Avocet, Gadwall, and several other easy ticks
were found before I headed back up into town for feeder birds.
On my way up a quick stop by Springhill produced American Pipit,
Bonaparte's Gull, Bufflehead, both Yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitcher,
Least Sandpiper, and a few other species. I made a quick stop by
the Calliope Hummingbird feeder to get my state bird. It stayed
at the feeder for a while before flying off. I never saw it again
in the 20 minutes I was there. The yard also held Baltimore
Oriole, House Finch, and Ruby-throated Hummingbird. My last stop
in the Tallahasee area was for Western Tanager. When I first
pulled up to the yard a Rufous Hummingbird made its presence well
known. In the hour or so I waited for the Western to come in I
added Black-chinned Hummingbird, White-breasted Nuthatch, Bullock's
Oriole, and Brown Thrasher to my year list. My long wait finally
payed off when the Tanager came near the feeder with a group of four
orioles. Even though it never came to the feeder, I was satisfied
with the looks of this bird which I have seen numerous times out
west.
I left Tallahassee around 1 in the afternoon, and eight hours later I
was down in Ft. Lauderdale ready to bird with several kids my own age
for the next few days. My year list stood at 164 with lots of
easy holes that would be filled in the next three days.