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Posted by Vince Lucas on 22:14:28 04/22/06
I just can't believe that it's been 36 years since the first "Earth Day"! What the hell happened? I guess I'm just feeling old :( C'est la vie. Anyway, today, 29 folks came out to STA-5 in Hendry County to celebrate the birds and Earth Day. It was a beautiful day and the birds cooperated as usual. Alan Murray and I birded our way to STA-5 from Naples as we usually do, going via CR 846 through Immokalee to CR 833 and finally to CR 835 to Blumberg Rd. & then to STA-5. Among the morning's birds en route that we saw were the "usual" Black-crowned Night-Herons (east of Corkscrew Sanctuary) and scads of Wood Storks and other waders along what remaining wetlands there were along CR 833 as well as Sandhill Cranes (x3), Crested Caracara (x5), Yellow-crowned Night-Herons (x3-4), Limpkins (x7), Black-necked Stilts (few), Common Nighthawks (several heard), Eastern Meadowlarks (many), and a few passerines. Along Blumberg Rd., after turning south from CR 835, we were surprised to see a pair of Eastern Towhees along the canal that parallels the sugarcane fields along this road. We also heard another. This habitat is definitively NOT towhee habitat unless they have suddenly taken a liking to sugarcane!
Sta-5 held few surprises today, but a few new birds were added to our species list for this locale. In addition to the Eastern Towhees (we count all birds seen along Blumberg Rd as well as STA-5), we had a dozen or so Semipalmated Plovers at STA-5 and a half-dozen Common Nighthawks sleeping on the utility lines along Blumberg Rd. on the return trip to CR 835 after we left STA-5. These would be the three "new" additions to the species list.
Spring was in evidence at STA-5 as up to 10 American Avocets were seen (our group saw only 2 but another group saw 8 more). All but one of these birds were in breeding plumage. Long-billed Dowitchers were also in high breeding plumage as were the 100+ Stilt Sandpipers seen. Black-necked Stilts were sitting on nests and the Red-winged Blackbirds were doing likewise in the cattails.
Here's the day list for the final guided tour of the season at STA-5:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck -- 1,000+
Fulvous Whistling-Duck -- 750+
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler -- Pied-billed Grebe -- 6
American White Pelican -- 200+
Double-crested Cormorant -- 1
Anhinga
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron -- 3
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill -- 30
Wood Stork -- 1
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle (one adult + one sub-adult)
Peregrine Falcon -- 1
Red-shouldered Hawk -- 1
Purple Swamphen (Exotic) -- >50
Purple Gallinule -- 3
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Limpkin -- 2
Semipalmated Plover -- 12+
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet -- 10
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper -- 100+
Long-billed Dowitcher
Black Skimmer -- 6
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Common Nighthawk
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Common Yellowthroat
Eastern Towhee -- 3
Savannah Sparrow -- Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Boat-tailed Grackle
I might mention that there was an incredible "irruption" of Four-spotted Skimmers (dragonflies) in evidence at STA-5 as there were literally thousands of these insects everywhere along the impoundments. It was an amazing sight to behold.
After leaving STA-5, Alan & I headed back to Naples. I was tipped-off to a Cassin's Kingbird that had been seen and photographed among several Western Kingbirds and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers a week ago (April 15th) by Matt Pike of Washington State along CR 835, south of Canon Hammock Park at the "jog" in the road where CR 835 turns from an east-west road to a north-south road. To clarify, this is at the intersection of an unmarked dirt road and CR 835 with signage for STA-6 -- the locale where the skeletal remains of a Giant Sloth was found about a week or so ago. It is south of the organic shrimp farm as well. Alan and I found at least 2-3 kingbirds at this locale and one Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. The kingbirds were skittish and we just couldn't get close enough to verify that one of them was in fact a Cassin's Kingbird, although the more I look at Matt's first picture of his CAKI, the more I believe that this is the bird we saw today. Have a look at Matt Pike's pix:
http://www.pbase.com/hoodedcrow/cassinskingbird
I'd be interested to hear what others think about these photos and the ID's of these kingbirds.
We headed back to Naples via CR 858 near the Hendry Correctional Facility. Among the highlights, we saw another Limpkin, another Crested Caracara and a late (for me) Belted Kingfisher. This beats the latest I've seen a Belted Kingfisher in Collier County by 3 days. BTW, the earliest "returnee" Belted Kingfisher I've seen in Collier County is July 4th. That's less than three months between this hanger-on and my earlier returnee!
Sightings of several graceful Swallow-tailed Kites were a fitting finale to this Earth Day 2006. I hope others had a good one too. . . .
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