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Posted by Angel & Mariel on 22:10:31 11/24/07
In Reply to: Sharp-tailed Sparrows - Coastal Prairie Trail posted by Trey Mitchell
The gang (Toe, Trey, Bill & Us) met up before the crack of dawn and headed down to the trip to Flamingo in search of our target birds the ST Sparrows & Sedge Wren. We stopped at Eco Pond on the way to Coastal Prairie. Where Bill spotted a Magnolia Warbler. At Eco Pond we saw a nice group of Snowy Egret flying overhead as well as Roseate Spoonbills. Several Common Yellowthroats and Palm Warbler moving in the distance kept us there lingering in hopes of the Sedge Wren with no luck. We observed several raptors around Eco including a perched RS Hawk and a circling Harrier. On the way out we spotted a beautiful Yellow-throated Warbler, Tri-colored Heron, House Wren, Pied-billed Grebe, two BW Teal and a Great-crested Flycatcher. There were many Tree Swallow and Northern Rough-winged Swallow working the skies as we headed back towards the car.
On the way to CP Trail we stopped on the side where we found our first sparrow of the day the Savannah and finally spotted our target Sedge Wren! Our 1st Lifer of the day! We picked up a Broad-winged Hawk just before getting to Coastal Prairie. Along the journey down Coastal Prairie Trail many different species were seen such as Kestrel, Bald Eagle, Harrier, Cooper's Hawk, Osprey, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker and many Palm Warbler.
Onwards to our next target bird of the day the Sharp-tailed Sparrows. We decided to trek off the trail to better our chances of finding them. After about 45 minutes of Savannahs, Palms, etc we finally spotted our first Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow running along the ground and popping up to give us great looks for a moment of our 2nd lifer of the day! We followed it hoping it would lead us to the other target ST Sparrow...After a while we spotted a ground runner and sure enough it was the 3rd lifer of the day for us & Bill the Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow! We then relocated a Saltmarsh ST Sparrow which allowed for great comparison side by side with a Nelson's! They were both absolutely beautiful!!! After we all were satisfied with good looks of the ST Sparrows we decided to head back towards Flamingo. From the CP Trail towards the Visitor Center we bumped into John, Roxanne & Nancy. We stopped to talk and bird the trees nearby where Bill spotted a Yellow Warbler! Our 4th lifer of the day! That was definitely awesome! Next we scoped the mudflats by the Visitors Center where we were lucky enough to pick up our final & 5th Lifer of the day...a Marbled Godwit, thanks Toe! With that we made a quick stop at the Marina area quickly picking up a Bronzed Cowbird. Toe demanded for more Cowbird, more Cowbird he said trust me you are going to want more Cowbird! As we did not find more Cowbird we headed out to look for a Marsh Wren with no luck.
On the way to Toe's we drove by to see if we could spot any Scissor-tailed Flycatchers although none were seen, we did spot more COWBIRD!...a Brown-headed Cowbird. With that we were on our way to a celebratory libation to call it an awesome day!
Here is what was seen today:
Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow
Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow
Sedge Wren
House Wren
Savannah Sparrow
Bald Eagle
Osprey
Red-shouldered Hawk
Northern Harrier
Short-tailed Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk
American Kestrel
Turkey Vulture
Black Vulture
American Crow
Belted Kingfisher
Loggerhead Shrike
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Palm Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Great-crested Flycatcher
Possible Brown-crested
Western Kingbird
Bronzed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Roseate Spoonbill
Snowy Egret
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Little Blue Heron (white morph)
Tri-colored Heron
Green Heron
Great Blue Heron (both morphs)
Great Egret
Cattle Egret
White Pelican
Brown Pelican
White Ibis
Black-bellied Plover (doing the Rock walk)
Caspian Tern
Sandwich Tern (delicious Peanut Butter)
Royal Tern
Laughing Gull
Spotted Sandpiper
Black Skimmer
Marbled Godwit
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Tree Swallow
Northern Roughed-winged Swallow
Common Moorhen
N. Mockingbird
N. Cardinal
Common Ground-Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Eastern Phoebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Blue-winged Teal
unidentified Ducks (too far to id)
It was an awesome 67 species day hanging with the gang!
Nature is Awesome!
Angel & Mariel
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