Birds of a Feather - Bird Together (Part Two)

        Continuing forward....our mission was to get Doug and Ann 150 birds on their Florida list.  The weather during the second half of their visit was even hotter and drier than the first, it was a brutal April in Florida this year.

        We enjoyed a beach and birding day at Fort De Soto Park in St. Petersburg.  This park has some of the best beaches in the world, not to mention it is the #23 birding hotspot in the United States.  The Celery Fields in Sarasota offered up great views of Limpkins, a Least Bittern and a Sora.  The Venice Rookery allows birders close-up photo opportunities of nesting egrets and herons.  We scored many shorebirds and waders on visits to Siesta and Longboat Keys.

        Storms along the Gulf of Mexico during spring migration produce a phenomenon known as a "fallout".  That is when migrating birds become grounded by rain and unfavorable winds.  In all, Doug and Ann ended up with 145 species, including 75 "life birds".  They would have easily made it to 150 had there been a single storm.  Here are some photos of the second half of their visit.  We had a fantastic time, we can't wait to do it again.....tweet.....tweet!!

Ann & Doug
Holding their Cardinal level certificates (50 species = level 1)
from the Great Florida Birding Trail.  They fell five short
of reaching level 2 (150 species = level 2)

Swallow-Tailed Kites
(Winchester Blvd. Ponds, Englewood FL)

Least Bittern
(The Celery Fields, Sarasota FL)

Green Heron
(The Celery Fields, Sarasota FL)

Prairie Warbler (Male)
(Felts Preserve, Palmetto FL)

Mute Swan
(Longboat Key FL, near Sarasota)

Limpkin
(The Celery Fields, Sarasota FL)

SORA
(The Celery Fields, Sarasota FL)

Loggerhead Shrikes (Juveniles)
They are just way too cute.
(The Celery Fields, Sarasota FL)

Indigo Bunting (Male)
(Felts Preserve, Palmetto FL)

Anhinga chicks on the nest.
(Venice Rookery, Venice FL)

Birds of a Feather - Bird Together (Part One)

        On April 1st, my brother Doug and his wife Ann came to visit us in Englewood.  The four of us set out on what seemed like a non-stop birding trip.  We did manage to take a few days off to rest and to get out of the intense heat of a hot Florida spring.  Our goal was to find 150 species during their visit.  April is the most active part of spring migration, 150 should be easily reached.

        We traveled across the state to Palm Beach County on April 4th, hoping to see American Flamingos.  Along the way we spotted a Crested Caracara in Glades County.  We stopped for a picnic lunch in Clewiston, located along the southern edge of Lake Okeechobee in Hendry County.  We arrived at STA-2 (Storm Water Treatment Area) and joined a large group of birders.  After a long and successful day of birding, we scored 63 total species including six Flamingos.  Other highlights were American White Pelicans, American Avocets, Fulvous Whistling-Ducks, Snail Kites and Peregrine Falcons. 

         Between April 1st and April 9th, we took Doug and Ann to some of our favorite local hotspots.  We visited several locations in Cape Coral, Pinecraft Park and Lake Osprey in Sarasota, Laurel Landfill in Nokomis, the Punta Gorda Airport and Babcock-Webb Wildlife Management Area.  In all, during the first nine days of their visit, Doug and Ann spotted 111 different species, including 52 new life birds.  Enjoy some of the photos from the first half of their visit.....stay tuned for part two.....tweet....tweet!!

Doug <-------> Dan, The Birding Brothers.  
(Taken 4/1/15, Blind Pass Beach, Englewood FL)

Purple Gallinule walking across lily pads.
(Taken 4/2/15, Lake Osprey, Sarasota FL)

Joan with Ann, Doug and Peanut
(Taken 4/4/15, southern tip of Lake Okeechobee, Clewiston FL)

American Flamingos, at least 500 yards away.
(Taken 4/4/15, STA-2 Palm Beach County FL)

With a group of birders at STA-2.
(Taken 4/4/15)

Red-Headed Woodpecker
A new Charlotte County bird for us, a life bird for Doug and Ann.
(Taken 4/5/15, Tippecanoe Mitigation Park, Port Charlotte FL.)

Red-Cockaded Woodpecker
(Spotted by Doug)
(Taken 4/9/15, Babcock-Webb WMA, near Punta Gorda FL)

Burrowing Owl
(Taken 4/9/15, Cape Coral FL)

   

Whimbrel (Life Bird #264)

        Today's featured feathered friend is the Whimbrel.  Over the past several winters, Whimbrels have been reported from Fort Myers to Clearwater and many places in between, including right here on Lemon Bay, in Englewood.  We tried several times to find one, but we dipped (failed to find our target bird).  Last Wednesday, we ventured north to Fort De Soto Park in Pinellas County and there it was. 

        Whimbrels are large shorebirds with long, down-curved bills.  They have a distinct head pattern, with dark-and-light alternating stripes.  The rest of the plumage is plain mottled-brown overall and does not change seasonally.  The bill is solid black in summer and has a pinkish or reddish base during winter.  The average Whimbrel is 17 inches long (tip of bill to tip of tail), weighs slightly less than a pound and has a wingspan of 33 inches.

        Whimbrels are the most widespread of migrating shorebirds, nesting in the Arctic across North America and Eurasia, they winter on the shorelines of six continents.  Some Whimbrels make nonstop flights of 2,500 miles.  Enjoy some of our Whimbrel photos, our most recent life bird.....tweet.....tweet!!

Up close and personal.

Wading with a smaller Willet and a larger Marbled Godwit.
(Taken 3/11/15, Fort De Soto Park, St. Petersburgh FL)

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Whimbrel/id


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whimbrel

Turkey Vulture

       Today's featured feathered friend is the Turkey Vulture.  The most abundant vulture species of the Americas.  They can be seen as far north as southern Canada in breeding season, to the southern most parts of South America. 

        It appears to be a large black bird with white trailing edges on it's wings.  In reality it is brown with silvery flight feathers.  It has a featherless reddish head with a pale bill and pinkish legs.  There are five subspecies, each differing in size.  Birds in northern areas are larger than those in the south.  The average Turkey Vulture is 28 inches in length, weighs around 3 1/2 pounds and has a wingspan of about 5 1/2 feet.  Males and females are identical in appearance.  Like most raptors, the female is (slightly) larger than the male.  Juveniles are similar to adults but have a darker plumage with a gray head and dark bill.

        Turkey Vultures are interesting to watch in flight.  They hold their wings in a distinctive "V" pattern making them pretty easy to identify.  They circle overhead gliding on rising thermals "wobbling" from side to side like an unbalanced wheel.  

        Click on the links below for more information and enjoy some of our favorite photos of the Turkey Vulture.....tweet.....tweet!!

Turkey Vulture
(Taken 11/6/13, The Celery Fields, Sarasota)

Soaring over our backyard.
(Taken 12/20/13)

Perched on a fensepost.
(Taken 12/27/12, Clay Gully Road, Manatee County FL)

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/turkey_vulture/ID

                                      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_vulture

Florida Mottled Duck

        Today's featured feathered friend is the Florida Mottled Duck, a unique subspecies of the Mottled Duck found only in Florida.   Also known as the Florida Mallard, they are close relatives of the Mallard Duck.  They spend their entire life within the state and are one of only a few non-migratory ducks in North America.  They are adaptable to many wetland habitats in both brackish and fresh water.  They can be found in ponds, marshes, lakes, rivers, canals, flooded fields and even roadside ditches throughout southern Florida.

        Unlike "diving" ducks who feed by swimming under water, Mottled Ducks feed on or near the surface.  They lurch forward submerging their head under the water, with their tail pointing straight up.  Ducks who employ this foraging technique are called "dabbling" ducks.  Males and females are similar in appearance except for the bill.  The Male's bill is bright yellow, the Female's is deep to pale orange, sometimes with black splotches around the edges and near the base.  They are dark brown overall with a light brown head and neck.  They have blue wing patches and bright orange legs and feet.  The average Mottled Duck is about 23 inches in length, weighing up to four pounds, with a wingspan of nearly three feet.

        Feral Mallards are breeding with Mottled Ducks.  The result of this "hybridization" is that fewer pure-bred Mottled Ducks are left each year, which could ultimately doom the Florida Mottled Duck to extinction.  The draining of wetland areas in south Florida has resulted in habitat loss.  This species is also prized by hunters.  Despite these hardships, their conservation status is "Least Concern". 

        Enjoy some of our favorite photos of the Florida Mottled Duck.....tweet.....tweet!!  Or should it be.....quack.....quack!!?

Mottled Ducks (Female in front, male behind)
(Taken 1/21/13, Englewood Sports Complex, Englewood FL)

Mottled Ducks (Female in front, male behind)
(Taken 11/9/13, Englewood Sports Complex, Englewood FL)

Mottled Ducks with young.
(Taken 4/22/13, The Celery Fields, Sarasota FL)

Mottled Ducks are "dabbling" ducks.
(Taken 12/14/13, Englewood Sports Complex, Englewood FL)

Female Mottled Duck
(Taken 2/2/12, The Rookery, Venice FL)

Male Mottled Duck
(Taken 4/19/13,  The Celery Fields, Sarasota FL)

Remembering 2014

        Tomorrow ends a great birding year for us!  Some of our 2014 highlights include; Three new flycatchers, a Scissor-Tailed near Clewiston, a Vermilion at Orlando Wetlands Park, and a Say's Phoebe near Arcadia.  Warblers at Fort De Soto Park; Tennessee, Kentucky, Worm-Eating and Chestnut-Sided along with a Louisiana Waterthrush and a Northern Waterthrush in the spring, and our most recent life bird, the Magnolia Warbler in the fall.  In June we spent some time with our families in upstate New York.  Managing to get out a few times, we added 14 new birds, including a Hairy Woodpecker.  The Hairy has become a nemesis bird (the one we just can't get) for us in Florida, but eventually, we will prevail.  In all, we added 46 new birds in 2014, bringing our life list to 259 species.

        Our observations are recorded into a database at Ebird.org.  Ebird will keep track of your various lists; life, state, county and location lists and much more.  You can check the database to see where those hard-to-find species (like the Hairy Woodpecker) have been recently spotted.  You can explore a particular region or even a specific "hotspot".  It makes planning your next outing simple, and hopefully productive.       

        We have scored over 100 species in five different counties.  Sarasota County ranks #1 at 180, followed by our home county of Charlotte with 159.  We also have 100 plus species in Pinellas (143), Manatee (134) and Lee (117) counties.  Collier County is at 98, so we will reach a new milestone there, sometime in 2015.

        We take this time to wish our families, our friends and fellow birders our heartfelt wishes for a Happy New Year.  May you find good health, happiness, prosperity and abundant blessings.
        Our families will be visiting us in Englewood in February and April 2015.  We are looking forward to sharing the trails and the birds with them.  Remember, the early bird catches the worm.  Here are some of our favorite photos from 2014.....tweet.....tweet!!

TREE SWALLOWS
(A pair feeding insects to their young.)

(Taken in June, near Potsdam NY)

HAIRY WOODPECKER
(Our #1 nemesis bird in Florida.)
(Taken in June, my brother's backyard, Parishville NY)

SWALLOW-TAILED KITE
(One of over 300 flying over a melon field, hawking insects.)
(Taken in July, Oxford FL)

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE
(In winter plumage, this bird stuck around for nearly two weeks.)
(Taken in September, Siesta Key Beach, Sarasota FL)

MARSH WREN
(A tough bird to get a good photo of, our best shot by far.)
(Taken in October, The Celery Fields, Sarasota FL)

BURROWING OWLS
(These guys are just too cute.)
(Taken in July, Cape Coral FL)

MAGNOLIA WARBLER
(Male in non-breeding colors.)
(Taken in October, Ft. De Soto County Park, St. Petersburg FL)

PEREGRINE FALCON
(The fastest animal on the planet, reaching speeds of 230 MPH in a dive.)
(Taken in November, near the Charlotte County Airport, Punta Gorda FL)

SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER
(Our 159th Charlotte County species.)
(Taken in December, near the Charlotte/Lee County Line)

Red-Winged Blackbird

        Today's featured feathered friend is the Red-Winged Blackbird.  This abundant and familiar species can be seen year-round across most of the United States.  Only the northern most birds migrate south for the winter.  While growing up, we fondly remember their raspy "oak-a-lee" call as a sure sign of spring.  Their preferred habitat is around wetlands where tall grasses, reeds and cattails are present.  If you are near a marshy area, you should see them.

        For most of the species we have featured on our blog, the males and females are similar in appearance.  That is hardly the case for the Red-Winged Blackbird.  For them, their cone-shaped bills are similar and that's about it.  The male is glossy-black with beautiful red and yellow shoulder patches.  The female is streaked in brown with a buffy eyebrow.  Males are significantly larger than females.  The average male is around 9 inches in length (female is around 7), weighs about 2 1/2 ounces (female is about 1 1/2) with a wingspan of over 15 inches (female is over 12).   Immature Redwings resemble adult females.

        During the winter months our backyard is filled with a large mixed flock of Redwings, Brown-Headed Cowbirds and Common Grackles, often over 200 birds.  They empty our many feeders daily.  The noisy calls of that many birds is nearly deafening, but you can easily pick out the raspy trill of the Redwings.  When all the birds get spooked and take flight, the sound of hundreds of wingbeats at the same time is like a clap of thunder. 

        Click on the links below to learn more about this species.  Enjoy some of our favorite photos of the Red-Winged Blackbird.....tweet.....tweet!!

Male taking flight.
(Taken 10/12/14, The Celery Fields, Sarasota FL)

Female perched on reeds.
(Taken 1/12/14, The Celery Fields, Sarasota FL)

Immature Male

(Taken 11/20/12, our backyard)

Male displaying on a boardwalk railing.
(Taken 4/12/14, The Celery Fields, Sarasota FL)

Female blending in with her favorite habitat.
(Taken 10/12/14, The Celery Fields, Sarasota FL)


http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/red-winged_blackbird/id


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-winged_blackbird