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Posted by Angel & Mariel on 23:26:54 11/12/07
We headed out to ENP to finally meet the elusive Toe just before sunrise. We quickly picked up a House Wren by the visitor center before heading down to Long Pine Key. Our goal and target bird for the day the Sedge Wren was not found but we saw several Common Yellowthroats, Pine Warblers, Palm Warblers, Eastern Phoebes as well as spotted a few Downy and Red-bellied Woodpecker along the trail. Next stop was back on to the main road in search of a Marsh Wren which eluded us as well. Although a Savannah Sparrow did show itself before we left to Research Road in search of some sparrows without success. There were some beautiful Bluebirds on the lines as we arrived as well as several Northern Flickers moving from tree to tree a small flock of Pine Warblers were there as well. Once again the Nuthatch eluded us as we searched through the Pine Warblers in hopes to find a lifer. We picked up a Great-crested Flycatcher by the research center and pressed on. We saw some swallows including Barn, Bank, Cave and Tree Swallow.
Thanks to Toe, We picked up a lifer bird today the White-tailed Kite, that was absolutely beautiful! We heard Eastern Meadowlarks calling about and all us were lucky enough to hear a Pipit call while flying overhead as we were exiting the car. Although none of us were lucky enough to actually see it. There were also Northern Harrier working the fields. We got some good looks of a Western Kingbird perched that was being harassed by a Shrike before heading out back towards the Visitor Center. Along the main road we saw an American Bittern flying in before it disappeared into the marsh again the Marsh Wren was not found. Upon exiting the park right outside the entrance Toe scoped a nice find for this time of the year a Gray Kingbird. Just as we were about to leave we got a phone call that a Stripe-headed Tanager(Western Spindalis) had been spotted in the Long Pine Campground area the morning prior so we headed back into the park in hopes to find it. Shortly after we met up with Roxanne and Troy the ABA group arrived with the same quest in mind. With the fruiting tree it was originally observed on being everywhere we turned, it helped us to narrow it down to anywhere in the area. Unfortunately we never relocated it. Although we finally got to meet Larry the great Manfredi.
With that we took off to the Cutler Wetlands and spotted a Eurasian Wigeon in Toe's scope. As we observed an Osprey diving for lunch and a Peregrine Falcon flying in the background. The usual suspects were scattered throughout the wetland and Angel had to head out to work soon, so with that we called it a day. With good company and a lifer we have to say we had another awesome day enjoying the great outdoors, although keeping up with the fast moving Toe was a good workout on only 2 hours sleep! It was fun, thanks for the adventure! We did not mention every bird we saw but will post a list tomorrow zzz are severely needed as we are falling asleep at the keyboard.
Nature is Awesome!
Angel & Mariel
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