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Posted by Vince Lucas on 20:52:44 09/29/07
All:
We've had as many as 110 or so folks in one day come out to these birding tours at STA-5 (Storm Treatment Area #5) south of Clewiston in Hendry County, but today, only the "core" tour leaders Margaret England, Alan Murray, Steve Buczynski and myself showed up. Hmmm, where were everyone else I wonder? No problem though, because we used this opportunity to go to an area of STA-5 we heretofore had not surveyed for birds. I'm referring to the large impoundment/cell to the west of the one we "normally" survey on these tours. And it paid off! This cell is mostly "filled" with phragmites and other exotics, but there are plenty of Coastal Plain Willow or Carolina Willow if you prefer (Salix caroliniana) along with thick mats of flowering Climbing Hempvine aka Climbing Boneset (Mikania scandens) which the warblers and other passerines find irresistible. Thanks to "Eagle-eyed" Alan Murray, we added two new birds to our ever-expanding checklist for STA-5 AND we finally broke the 150-species barrier! Yeah! The two new birds added to the checklist were Eastern Kingbird which was somewhat expected at this time during fall migration and the other one was a definite surprise (given the habitat) -- Magnolia Warbler! Seen in the same patch of willow/hempvine were two Yellow Warblers, two Palm Warblers, an Ovenbird, three White-eyed Vireos, two or three Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, a female Northern Cardinal, a Brown Thrasher, an Eastern Towhee (heard only) and scads of Common Yellowthroats. Here is the complete list of birds seen at STA-5 today. As I've mentioned in previous posts, we include all birds seen along Blumberg Road from where it intersects with CR835 all the way to STA-5. . . .
Fulvous Whistling-Duck 6
American Wigeon (The same male that has persisted from last winter. It is apparently flightless due to having been shot by a hunter.)
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal 5000+ (Probably the most Blue-winged Teal we've seen at STA-5 in several years of doing these surveys.)
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Least Bittern 1
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron 1
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Cooper's Hawk 2 (One which had just killed a large rat of some sort -- possibly a Rice Rat? The rat was so big the Cooper's Hawk had great difficulty getting airborne with its prize.)
Red-shouldered Hawk
Crested Caracara 1
Peregrine Falcon 1
Purple Swamphen 2
Purple Gallinule 10
Common Moorhen
American Coot <50
Limpkin 1
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt 50+
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper 2
Wilson's Snipe 1
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Eastern Kingbird (#150 on the STA-5 checklist!)
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Tree Swallow 2
Barn Swallow
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
Yellow Warbler
Magnolia Warbler (#151 on the STA-5 checklist)
Palm Warbler 3
Ovenbird 1
Common Yellowthroat
Eastern Towhee
Northern Cardinal
Bobolink 1
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Boat-tailed Grackle
The early morning trip starting out from Naples via CR846 (Immokalee Road) to CR833 to CR835 and then to Blumberg Road to STA-5 held few surprises for Alan and me. We consistently see Sandhill Crane, Crested Caracara, Roseate Spoonbill, Limpkin, Snail Kite, Eastern Meadowlark, American Kestrel, plus all of the usual waders, shorebirds and passerines and sometimes Barred Owl (like today). However, the trip back to Naples was anything but routine for the two of us. Near the Ocean Boy Shrimp Farm on CR835, a few miles east-northeast from where CR835 intersects with CR833, we spied a pair of kingbirds on the telephone wires. They were preening and drying off after a brief downpour. We assumed that both would be Eastern Kingbirds and sure enough, one of them was. The other kingbird turned out to be a Gray Kingbird. Alan digiscoped the traveling pair of migrants. Fo me, this is probably the latest I've ever seen an inland Gray Kingbird outside of Miami-Dade or Monroe Counties of course. In Collier County, where I live, most Gray Kingbirds depart somewhere around the first week in September or earlier even. A few laggards hang on though. The area along CR835 where we saw the two kingbirds has hosted many Tyrant Flycatchers, especially in winter. We consistently see Western Kingbirds and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers here and a Cassin's Kingbird was seen and photographed here a few years back. Cool.
Thanks goes out to Margaret England and Steve Buczynski of the Hendy-Glades Audubon Society and to my unwavering friend Alan Murray for doing all of the driving and for putting up with me on the many adventures we've shared on these monthly or semi-monthly trips along the backroads of Collier and Hendry Counties in recent years.
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