This past Saturday, Nov 20th I woke up with my alarm clock blaring at 1:13 AM. The Finch was nestled all snug in my bed, while visions of sugar-plums danced in my head…or maybe they were fig newtons? Anyways, I was able to shake-off any thoughts of fruit as thoughts of Greater Flamingos and Brown-crested Flycatchers soon took over as recent sightings had occurred for both of these species at the Everglades National Park within the past two weeks.

The idea of scoring either of these two possible life birds made the 4.5 hour drive a little easier, but it was still a tiring drive. I arrived near the entrance to the Everglades around sunrise where I was neither bright-eyed nor bushy-tailed. But my senses were revitalized by viewing the Vermilion Flycatcher that is once again wintering at the canal near the park. Lots of birds were calling, including a gang of Gray Catbirds and House Wrens, but not the hoped for Brown-crested Fly.

I next drove a bit down the road to check out Lucky Hammock, the local that hosted the sweet Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher just two weeks before. That bird had unfortunately moved on, but I was still able to get some nice birds such as Painted Buntings (both stunning males and the aesthically upstaged females), a Summer Tanager, a Brown Thrasher (world-class view) and a Grasshopper Sparrow (the Florida subspecies which is quite different looking that the Grasshoppers I used to watch up in Minnesota…the FL birds had very white stomachs…very much unlike the overall buffy look of the northern birds).

I finally got into the main park and was lucky enough to find a Limpkin hunting for Apple Snails about 5 feet from the road! I was able to pull my car practically right next to the bird and started taking pictures…

The Limpkin played it up for the camera a bit and continued to pull up apple snails left and right (well, mostly down actually, from the water)…and then proceed to bring it up to the shoreline to eat.

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Dateline: July 27th, 2004 Place: Coquina Key in St. Petersburg, Florida

For the background on this good…make that great…bird, check out this link:
http://listserv.admin.usf.edu/listserv/wa.exe?A2=ind0407&L=brdbrain&O=D&F=P&S=&P=10002
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Well, I finally had a weekend to laze around and catch up on some much needed sleep. The Zenaida Dove that I had dipped on the weekend before had not been refound, so that I had no real incentive to leave at 1:30 AM to drive off into the night.

So, I actually had a chance to sleep in, watch my Falcons beat up on the hometown Bucs, and also get out and hike around in the local area.

I checked out a nice little park in the town of Dunedin, Hammock Park, which is located just north of Clearwater, FL (about a half hour drive from my place in St. Petersburg). I was told by a co-worker that I had a chance to see an Eastern Indigo Snake, the largest native snake in Florida (Pythons are known to be living in the Everglades!) but they are also one of the most threatened species as well.

It was a rather cool day, only in the upper 70s (remember, this is Florida) so I was hoping to catch an Indigo warming itself out on the trail. But, it was not to be…but I got a decent consolation prizes in a set of Gopher Tortoises. Not only are these reptiles interesting, they are also easily approachable…as these pictures that I shot will display.

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Guess who’s back
Back Again
Finch is back
Tell a friend

Guess who’s back, guess who’s back, guess who’s back, guess who’s back
Ooooaaaaooooaaaoooaaooo

I better stop now before Eminem sues me for plaguerism (rumor has it he is a huge twitcher and fan of Finch in Florida).

Yes, Finch in Florida had a bit of a “setback”; I guess the whole “ex-fiancee deciding two months before the wedding to dump me flat out and kick me out of the apartment for good, therefore leaving behind the computer that I did all of my blogging stuff” could of played a bit of a role in the lack of blog.

TO CHASE OR NOT TO CHASE

That was the question….but last Sunday it turned out the answer was Two Chase, “two” being two great birds being reported in South Florida… ZENAIDA DOVE and a MYIODYNASTES Flycatcher!

So at 1:20 AM Sunday morning I gathered my birding stuff and quickly slapped together some PB and J sandwhiches (seedless Red Raspberry was the jelly of choice) and headed out towards Lucky Hammock, which is near the entrance to Everglades National Park.

http://tropicalaudubon.org/locations.html#LuckyHammock

Five plus hours later I arrived at Lucky Hammock teeming with anticipation about scoring a sweet bird of yet undetermined ID. (see this link for the background info on the flycatcher http://tropicalaudubon.org/tasboard/messages/6944.html)

The hammock was teeming with birds and there were some good ones: Painted and Indigo Buntings, a good mix of warblers including my first NASHVILLE for the state, about half the world’s population of Gray Catbirds, my first CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS for Florida and a Yellow-breasted Chat was calling across the street.

The search was still going for the flycatcher but, luckily I had some company in the likes of Major and Brennan who originally found the bird the day prior, as well as Robin Diaz and a few others. After around 45 minutes of searching Brennan The Brave donned a Mosquito head net and trudged through the hammock into the thick of snarled branches and bloodsucking bugs. It wasn’t long before his effort paid huge dividends, as the MYIODYNASTES Species appeared at the edge of the hammock. Once the flycatcher finally appeared out in the open, it allowed itself for some good study…which was definately needed to try to pin down a firm ID on the bird.

The bird in question was most likely either 1) a good bird, a Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i4510id.html(a possible 4th state record) or 2) a mega good bird, a Streaked Flycatcher http://www.arthurgrosset.com/sabirds/streakedflycatcher.html(and most likely a first confirmed record for the ABA area).

Luckily the bird perched out on an exposed limb and allowed me to obtain both photos and a 22 sec video clip. It also allowed our group time to look at key fieldmarks, most notably the malar area. As seen in the photo that I took below, the bird showed a rather dark and continuous malar stripe which reaches under the “chin” of the bird. This is consistent with Sulphur-bellied.

Larry Manfredi was able to get some awesome pictures of this bird recently…click this link to see how they put my measily picture to shame!

http://www.southfloridabirding.com/html/rarities_page_2..htm

Well, I am back to blog after a short hiatus. Not too busy, just too lazy.

I did get out a bit last weekend and actually got a lifer… three Seaside Sparrows…up in Citrus County (thanks to the spot recommended by Bev Hansen). I unfortunately could not even manage a moderately adequate picture of the sparrow, so my world-class binocular views will have to do.

I did manage to see a few other interesting birds, such as an alternate plumaged Horned Grebe, a sharp-looking Red-headed Woodpecker View image
and a Florida ABA exotic specialty, the Budgerigar.

For those of you ABA listers out there, the Budgie mecca is definately the town of Hernando Beach, a community on the gulf coast of florida about 45 minutes north of St. Petersburg. http://maps.yahoo.com/py/maps.py?Pyt=Tmap&&csz=HernandoBeach+FL+&Get%

I have been three for three on Budgie sightings when looking for these Australian imports, so hopefully all who venture forth for these fast flying chatterboxes will be successful as well. I have had great luck seeing these birds by driving on Flamingo Blvd, which can be reached by turning off CR-597 to Calienta St. http://www.mapquest.com/maps/refreshmap.adp?pan=s&rand=1521
There are at least two different houses along Flamingo Blvd that have feeders and if the Budgies aren’t having a feeding frenzy at the time, the birds should either be in a near by tree or sitting up on the powerlines.

To top off the day, I even got a lifer reptile out in an interesting sandy oak/pine scrub type area in Hernando County…a Peninsula Mole Skink that was hiding under a piece of plywood.

The Quest for Cyanerpes cyanueus

As I pulled into the Royal Palm parking lot of Everglades National Park around 6:30 AM I was excited, yet cautious…I usually am when it is early in the morning and tired from driving 4+ hours through rather thick fog. A quick check in my backpack for my binoculars and digital camera insured that despite the early wake-up call, no brain farts had occurred (whew…so far, so good). I began to step out of the car when I almost made a drastic mistake. I caught myself luckily, and rummaged around the front seat of the car to pull out the secret weapon…

Now, before I reveal this secret weapon, I want to let you know that I am generally not a very superstitious person. I gladly walk under ladders, I never knock on wood, I don’t mind breaking a mirror or two (or three) and I even challenge black cats to cross my path…in fact, I encourage them! However, I have succumed to the fact that in order increase your chances of seeing a rare bird you just need to do one simple thing…drink some Fierce Grape Gatorade View image If you don’t believe me, try it yourself…all I am saying is that your chances of seeing a good bird are much better after drinking some Fierce Grape (and it doesn’t look as silly as throwing salt over your shoulder).

The fog was lifting quickly and the birds were getting very active. It was already 7:15 AM. I got into position near the entrance to the Gumbo Limbo trail, the scene of the Red-legged Honeycreeper appearence from yesterday morning…always a good place to start a rare bird investigation. The gumbo limbo tree next to the trailhead was alive with birds, Northern Cardinals, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Northern Parulas, White-eyed Vireos (along with a nice looking Blue-headed) and even a Great-crested Flycatcher hawking insects.

The Flow was definately building…I could feel its presence.

Then, suddenly, admist the flurry of activity there IT was…the Red-legged Honeycreeper and right above my head! After a double take and a figurative pinching of myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming I got my binoculars to my eyes to view this splendid little bird. There was no mistaking this bird…red legs, cobalt blue body, black wings, downcurved bill, and if those weren’t enough, a University of North Carolina baby blue cap! Simply stunning! Awestruck by its beauty, I almost forgot that taking some pictures of the bird would be nice, but I was able to keep on the bird as it moved to the top of the tree. I was not thwarted and some documentation photos of moderately acceptable quality were soon mine!

(in this bottom picture you can see the honeycreeper eating the gumbo limbo tree fruit)

After posing for the moderately adequate pictures, the honeycreeper became rather active and flew around to a few different large ficus and gumbo limbo trees in the immedate vicinity (for those of you contemplating a chase yourself, the bird seemed to favor the taller gumbo limbo trees by both Gumbo Limbo Trail entrances as well as the large ficus next to the Royal Palm pavillion).

With the bird now ticked and photo documented I could now enter the most coveted state of birding freedom…the Bonus Round. Yes, the weight on my shoulders and monkey on my back were officially cast aside. I could now pay some attention to “those other birds”. Within a few minutes I had a chance to admire a Yellow-throated Warbler

The distinctive song of the Least Bittern poo-poo-pooed its way from the Marsh adjacent to Anhinga Trail…another pleasant surprise. I soon made my way back towards the Gumbo Limbo trail. It wasn’t too long a wait when a flock of no fewer than seven (7) White-crowned Pigeons winging by, always a welcome sight! After another appearance by the Honeycreeper just after 9AM, the group of birders that had stayed around were given another treat…a beautiful light-morph Short-tailed Hawk kettling higher and higher amoungst of Vultures (mostly Turkey with two Black).

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HOT OFF THE HOTLINE

I just read another interesting bird report today on a great sighting of a RED-LEGGED HONEYCREEPER at the entrance to Royal Palm trail in Everglades National Park. This bird is the 4th bird reported within the past year and is making a good case to be a newly added species!!! I am going to make the 4.5 hr trip down tonight and hope for the best! For more info on this bird, check out this link http://www.birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/FLAB.html#1077398849

A photo of this species can be found here: http://www.softbills.com/images/photo_q/redleg_hcreeper.jpg

So, if all goes well I will hopefully give an update on the status of this bird. My luck hasn’t been too great down in the Everglades, as I had dipped twice on Black-faced Grassquit last fall in the park…but then again, maybe I am due this time. Lets hope so!

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Welcome to the blog of the Finch! Please note that no Giant Prairie Chickens (or myself for that matter) were injured in the making of the photo. Yes, that is me, Colin “Finch” Gjervold…and yes, I am wearing chaps.

I am looking forward to sharing some thoughts and stories on birding and sharing my passion (others say obsession) for birds and other cool creatures. I am currently living in Sarasota, Florida where armed with my trusty digital camera I manage to take moderately acceptable pictures of about 25% of the creatures that I actually spot.

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