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Posted by Vince Lucas on 21:23:02 04/24/07
Unlike other parts of Gulf Coast Florida, Collier County doesn't really have any migrant traps, or at least, I haven't been able to find any in over 10 years of birding in this county. Sure, there are times when migrants are fairly numerous at certain locales i.e. Sugden Community Park for example. However, this afternoon, along with Ken Williams of Naples, we birded Pelican Bay Community Park in North Naples for a couple of hours and witnessed what I would describe as one of the best local fallouts I've ever experienced here in Collier County. Not that this fallout rivaled those which can be found at Ft. DeSoto for example, but this one was unusual in that there were "numbers" of certain migrants that are downright uncommon in SW Florida. Undoubtedly, two days of easterly winds had something to do with it. We had well over a dozen Black-throated Blue Warblers, the most I've ever seen in Collier County, as well as 15+ Blackpoll Warblers, another very uncommon migrant in SW Florida. Add three very nice Cape May Warblers + seven other migrant warbler species (Ovenbird, American Redstart, Prairie, Worm-eating, Northern Parula, Black-and white, and Palm Warblers) for a total of ten warbler species. We also saw a Yellow-billed Cuckoo (thanks Ken!), migrant Gray Catbirds (vocalizing), Brown Thrasher (vocalizing), White-eyed Vireo plus nest-gathering Fish Crows, territorial Northern Mockingbirds, etc., etc. and you have the makings of a very nice couple of hours of birding! Pelican Bay Community park isn't what I'd call a "nature" park i.e. it's much more a "people's" park, thus, finding migrants in these numbers just proves to me that given just a modicum of "habitat" and sufficient food (nectar sources and insects), the birds WILL come. . . .
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