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Posted by Vince Lucas on 16:37:33 12/24/06
All:
Yesterday, in Naples, between 6:00AM & 8:30AM, the day started out with a severe thunderstorm including heavy rains and lightning. I thought for sure our semi-monthly STA-5 tour would be canceled or at least severely hampered by the rains. However, by 9:00AM, the sun came out in full force and the heat and humidity began to build and build throughout the morning so that by noon-1:00PM, it was downright hot and humid at STA-5 south of Clewiston in Hendry County. I'm not sure how many folks attended this tour but it had to be over 25. In the absence of the intrepid Margaret England who was out on the West Coast, Marty Valiant filled-in for her and did a great job of organizing the tour, seeing that everyone filled-out the requisite releases and that everyone got to see the birds, etc. Although our species count was not as exciting as in recent weeks, missing some expected "usual" species with no new species being added to the checklist for this site, we did manage to see at least 69 species for the day.
Here is the list of birds seen at STA-5 on Saturday, December 23, 2006:
Fulvous Whistling-Duck >100
Wood Duck 2
American Wigeon >20
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback 1 female
Ring-necked Duck
Pied-billed Grebe
American White Pelican >25
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
American Bittern 4
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 >20
Wood Stork
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Snail Kite 8 (including 4 birds i.e. a family group(?) perched together in one scope view). The number of Snail Kites is increasing at STA-5.
Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk (along Blumberg Rd.)
Crested Caracara 2
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon 2
Purple Swamphen >50
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Limpkin >5
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt 10
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin >20
Long-billed Dowitcher >40
Wilson's Snipe
Herring Gull (seen by Alan Murray & myself as it flew over Blumberg Rd.)
Forster's Tern 2
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Loggerhead Shrike
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Palm Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Savannah Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
As usual, if any other folks who were at STA-5 on Saturday, December 23rd can add to the day list, please forward your sightings to me.
On the way back to Naples, Alan Murray and I stopped at our "usual" location along CR858 on the Hendry/Collier County line near the Hendry County Correctional Facility. In the cow pasture on the west side of the road, between the 12th & 13th telephone poles north of where CR858 makes the jog to the west, we easily found the female Vermilion Flycatcher along with six Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and one Western Kingbird. The female VEFL will undoubtedly stay the winter as she did last year. For folks wanting to see this bird, be aware that she does work the cow pasture fairly extensively along the shrubby fringe of the pasture. Therefore, if you don't immediately see her, be patient! Look for any small bird "flycatching" especially on the north side of the pasture if you don't see the bird straight out in the nearby Cabbage Palm or small shrubs directly west off of the road. Beware that the Palm Warblers are also "flycatching" or at least they were yesterday when Alan & I were there. Also seen in the cow pasture were two Crested Caracara.
Here's wishing everyone happy holidays and many lifers in 2007!
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