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Posted by Vince Lucas on 13:22:51 11/26/07
Some 45-50 birders, comprising of mostly Collier County Audubon and [Ft. Myers] Caloosa Bird Club members showed up to take the tour out at STA-5, south of Clewiston in Hendry County on Saturday, November 24th. Highlights included a banded Roseate Spoonbill -- probably the same one that we had previously identified as having been banded at Alafia Banks near Tampa; 12 species of ducks including only our second ever occurrence of Hooded Merganser; Barn Owl (Blumberg Rd.); an adult Bald Eagle swooping down to take an American Coot out of the water to the fascination of most all observers; and a half-dozen or so American Bitterns. A mystery yellowish warbler gave everyone decent looks but fits at attempting to identify it. ID's were as varied as the skill levels of the observers. Our best guest was a very atypical Prairie Warbler. It may have been a nondescript Wilson's Warbler as well. It could have also been a somewhat atypical Yellow Warbler. Unfortunately, no one shot any decent photos of this bird as far as I am aware.
Big misses were Snail Kite, which we almost always see at STA-5, although Alan Murray and some other Collier County Auduboners, who we were caravanning with, and I saw two across the canal from the Ocean Boy Shrimp Farms on C.R. 835, not too far from STA-5. We also saw a flock of 25 or so Wild Turkeys along C.R. 833, which evidently escaped becoming Thanksgiving dinner. A stop along C.R. 858 on the Hendry/Collier County line near the Hendry Correction Facility produced three Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and four or so Western Kingbirds. Unfortunately, the female Vermilion Flycatcher that had frequented the same cow pasture in the last couple of years has not returned. It may not but we hope that it will.
Here is the bird list for STA-5 (including Blumberg Rd.) for 11/24/2007:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 6
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Wood Duck
American Wigeon
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Hooded Merganser 3
Ruddy Duck
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
American Bittern - 6
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 (including one banded individual)
Wood Stork
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle - 3
Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
Crested Caracara - 3
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Purple Swamphen - 5
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Limpkin
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Western Sandpiper
Dunlin
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe >50
Caspian Tern - 1
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Barn Owl - 1 (Blumberg Rd.)
Belted Kingfisher
Eastern Phoebe
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Prairie Warbler (?)
Palm Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Savannah Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow - 1
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Boat-tailed Grackle
If anyone is interested in taking part in the first STA-5/Clewiston CBC on Saturday, December 15th, contact the compiler, Margaret England at mlelighthouse@embarqmail.com All skill levels are needed.
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