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Posted by Vince Lucas on 23:50:56 07/31/06
All:
I've been having problems with my e-mail program so I don't know what happened to this original message I tried to post yesterday. Anyway, on Saturday, July 29th, 12 folks showed up at STA-5 for the monthly birding tour. Water levels were fairly high and the number of birds seemed much lower to me than in previous months. That said, we still managed to add two new birds to the ever-growing STA-5 checklist. The two new birds were Swallow-tailed Kite (seen from the parking area of the gate after we made the 'tour" around the NE cell) and Solitary Sandpiper -- thanks to the eagle eyes of Weslyn Strickland!
Bryant Roberts already reported on some of the birds he saw at STA-5 and the sod farms south of South Bay. I'll add to his report. First, the birds seen Saturday at STA-5, including those seen along Blumberg Rd:
Black-bellied Whistling-duck -- 3+
Fulvous Whistling-Duck -- 6+
Wood Duck 6+
Ring-necked Duck -- one male appeared to be molting or in eclipse plumage with just the shafts of feathers for primaries. It obviously couldn't fly. Does anyone know the molt sequence for Ring-necked Ducks in South Florida?
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal (reported by Bryant Roberts)
Northern Shoveler (reported by Bryant Roberts)
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Least Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
** Swallow-tailed Kite (New for STA-5 checklist)
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Purple Swamphen (exotic)
Purple Gallinule
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Limpkin
Killdeer
Lesser Yellowlegs
** Solitary Sandpiper (New for STA-5 checklist)
Black-necked Stilt
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Common Nighthawk
Belted Kingfisher (FOTS)
Loggerhead Shrike
Barn Swallow
Northern Mockingbird
Common Yellowthroat
European Starling
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Odonata at STA-5:
Eastern Pondhawk
Eastern Amberwing
Seaside Dragonlet(?)
Halloween Pennant
Four-spotted Pennant
Needham's Skimmer
Scarlet Skimmer
Black Saddlebags
Rambur's Forktail
Lepidoptera:
Tropical Checkered Skipper
Black Swallowtail
Queen
Monarch
Viceroy
Sleepy Orange
Cloudless Sulphur
Backtracking for a minute, Alan Murray and I left Naples at about 6:00AM. We stopped at the farm pond on CR 846 about a mile from Immokalee where we saw Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, Black-necked Stilts as well as the usual waders. About 1/2 mile from the Seminole Casino, a Barred Owl flew across the road and landed in a tree affording great looks. Nothing unusual was seen along the CR846-to-CR833-to-CR835 route to Blumberg Road and STA-5. We did see a dozen or more Sandhill Cranes, four Limpkins and as several Crested Caracaras along this route.
After the STA-5 tour, Margaret England, Cathy Walters (sp?), Alan Murray and I headed toward the sod farms and points south of Lake Okeechobee. Along CR 835 on the way to Clewiston, Alan and I saw one Black-bellied Whistling-Duck fly near the highway. Three Crested Caracaras and a few Black Vultures were feeding on a roadkill (identity unknown) as well.
Our first stop though was to see the Barn Owls along the Miami Canal. We saw four. Great views too. We also saw a Regal Darner (dragonfly) there. Nothing of note was seen along the Bolles Canal on CR 880 save for many Common Nighthawks and Barn Swallows. Once we hit US Rte. 27, we headed south to the microwave tower area and the adjacent sod farms. A Red-tailed Hawk was perched atop the tower when we arrived. There were some shorebirds around (no Upland Sandpipers that we could find) including Killdeer, Pectoral Sandpipers and Black-necked Stilts. However, as Bryant Roberts mentioned in his post, the best shorebirds were seen at the flooded field by the Star Pit Mine entrance on the west side of US 27 south of the microwave tower. There we reconnoitered with Steve Siegel who was videotaping them. In this area were many Stilt Sandpipers, Pectoral Sandpipers, Lesser Yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitchers, and Least Sandpipers along with a few dozen Black-necked Stilts (including young) and Killdeer as well as lesser numbers of Semipalmated Plovers. We did not check-out all of the peeps so we didn't see any Semipalmated Sandpipers and Western Sandpipers. There were Black Terns (per Steve) but we didn't see any. However, there were Gull-billed Terns plus all of the usual waders including many Wood Storks.
On the east side of the highway (US Rte 27) on the King Ranch property across from the Okeelanta Sugar Refinery entrance, we saw more of the same birds but no Upland Sandpipers (that we could find). One interesting bird we did see after leaving that area and heading north was a Gray Kingbird that has frequented the same little island of habitat at the intersection of S.R. 80 & U.S. Rte. 27 in South Bay for several years in the summer. Vince McGrath and I have seen this same bird for at least four years in a row. An unusual bird for this far inland.
From there, we headed to the Roth Sod Farm Rd. area that Bryant told us about -- 6.5 miles east of Brown's Farm Road off of CR 880. There we hit pay dirt. We found one Upland Sandpiper, plus numerous Black-bellied Plovers, Pectoral Sandpipers, Least Sandpipers, Killdeer, Black-necked Stilts and a few others that Bryant mentioned. However, THE best birds were seen further down this road in a very flooded field/temporary wetland. We saw at least three Black Terns, a half-dozen Least Terns, one Roseate Spoonbill, more Long-billed Dowitchers plus a Spotted Sandpiper and other shorebirds. We did not find the American Avocets Bryant mentioned. On our way back to CR 880, a King Rail came out into the middle of the road and afforded some great views for several minutes.
I'm sure I'm forgetting something but I'm doing this from memory. Bryant or some of the others may add any corrections.
The sod farms in the areas described by Bryant and me should be checked regularly in the coming weeks and months as it looks like this is going to be a bumper year for migrant shorebirds. Who knows what will turn up?
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