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Posted by Vince Lucas on 20:13:06 12/10/06
All:
Another incredible day of birding at STA-5 in Hendry County, yesterday, 9 December 2006. Thirty-five folks tallied 80 species, including three new species for the ever-expanding checklist: Redhead, Hooded Merganser & Bonaparte's Gull, bringing the total number of species recorded for STA-5 to 130 in just a little over a year's worth of birding tours there. The small flock of four Snow Geese that were recorded two weeks ago were a no show as were the Canvasbacks. Yesterday's highlights included fifteen duck species and five swallow species(!) positively identified. The ducks: Fulvous & Black-bellied Whisting-Ducks; Wood Duck; Gadwall; American Wigeon; Mottled Duck; Blue-winged & Green-winged Teal; Northern Shoveler; Northern Pintail; Ring-necked Duck; Lesser Scaup; Ruddy Duck & the aforementioned Redhead & Hooded Merganser. The swallows: Northern-Rough-winged; Bank; Barn; Cliff & Tree -- with one only of the last four swallow species tallied. These swallows really surprised me, especially the Bank, Barn & Cliff Swallows, which are extremely late for this time of the year and having only one Tree Swallow was really shocking. Anyone know what the latest dates for these swallows, especially the Bank Swallow, are for Florida? I did check Stevenson and Anderson. . . . I have no explanation for the lack of Tree Swallows at STA-5 yesterday, especially since they are very common winter residents elsewhere in the nearby vicinity. . . . In winter, Northern Rough-winged Swallow is by far the most common swallow species at STA-5.
Other STA-5 highlights: 50+ Bonaparte's Gulls winging their way north across the northeast cell. They did not stop. Presumably, they were headed for Lake Okeechobee? Who knows. . . . The other highlight (for many of us) was watching an American White Pelican capture and eat an American Coot right in front of us. It was an amazing spectacle albeit a little gruesome! This event is reminiscent of the recent YouTube video of a pelican (forget which species) capturing and eating a Rock Pigeon in a park in London I believe, while a lucky videographer captured the whole incident for posterity. Our own spectacle with the AWPE & the AMCO was a first for most, if not all, of us! It was awesome!
The bird list for 9 December 2006 at STA-5 in Hendry County:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck >20
Fulvous Whistling-Duck >150
Wood Duck 2
Gadwall 6
American Wigeon >8
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail 4
Green-winged Teal
Redhead 2
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup 2
Hooded Merganser 2
Ruddy Duck >5
Pied-billed Grebe
American White Pelican >200 (including one seen devouring a live American Coot)
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
American Bittern 1
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill >50
Wood Stork
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Snail Kite 2
Bald Eagle 1
Northern Harrier
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk (including the "Krider's"-looking RTHA along Blumberg Rd.)
Crested Caracara 1
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon 1
Purple Swamphen >50
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Limpkin >4
Black-bellied Plover 3
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt >25
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin 8
Long-billed Dowitcher >40
Wilson's Snipe >20
Bonaparte's Gull >50
Ring-billed Gull 1
Forster's Tern 2
Black Skimmer 2
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Eastern Phoebe
Loggerhead Shrike
Tree Swallow 1!
Northern Rough-winged Swallow >300
Bank Swallow 1
Cliff Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 1
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Palm Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Savannah Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Anyone who was at STA-5 yesterday and has any additions or corrections, feel free to e-mail me off list. A big "THANKS" goes out to Margaret England and other members of the Hendry-Glades Audubon for making all of this great birding in an otherwise inaccessible area possible! Thanks Margaret!
On the way out to STA-5, Alan Murray and I had the "usual" birds in the "usual" locations: Limpkin, Crested Caracara, Roseate Spoonbill, Sandhill Crane, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Wood Stork, Great White Heron, Wilson's Snipe, Common Ground-Dove, Loggerhead Shrike, Eastern Meadowlark, Eastern Phoebe, Belted Kingfisher, etc. To see what I mean, confer any of my previous posts for the CR846/CR833/CR835/Blumberg Rd. route to STA-5 from Naples over the last year or so. One exciting moment was seeing a Bobcat cross our path near the Limpkin site near the intersection of CR833 & CR835. Finding a beautiful Prairie Warbler in a mixed species flock of Yellow-rumped & Palm Warblers along with Blue-gray Gnatcatchers in the same area was also a treat.
On our return trip to Naples from STA-5, we stopped at the flycatcher/kingbird site on CR858 near the Hendry County Correctional Facility on the Collier/Hendry County line. Ironically, we found the female Vermilion Flycatcher right away in the cow pasture on the Collier County side of the road but despite our best efforts, we could not locate any Scissor-tailed Flycatchers or Western Kingbirds. Perhaps it was just too windy and cold for them? I'm sure they are still in the area and will remain all winter as will the female VEFL. . . .
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