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Posted by Vince Lucas on 21:06:43 01/05/08
All:
I knew it was going to be a good day when, on the trek out to STA-5 and within two miles from my home in North Naples, several of us spied a pair of coyotes standing on Logan Boulevard at approximately 6:15 A.M. I wasn't mistaken about it going to be a good day. Following Alan Murray and I out to STA-5 were Everitt & Susan Kitchen of Naples and Edwin & Canny Schafer from the Philadelphia area. For some of these folks, seeing Limpkin, Sandhill Crane, Snail Kite, Barn Owl, Wood Stork and other great birds was definitely something special. It's the same for Alan and I even though we see them every time we take the back roads from Naples out to STA-5. But the best birds were yet to come -- some at STA-5 itself, and some on the return trip back to Naples. One new species was added to out STA-5 list: *Great Black-backed Gull, which was seen off of Blumberg Rd. as it and two other gull species (Ring-billed and Herring Gull) followed the tractors cutting the sugarcane. GBBG is #156 for the STA-5 checklist I believe. I should mention that water levels appeared to be lower than usual creating a lot of habitat for shorebirds and certain waders. Duck numbers appeared to be somewhat retarded. Here's the day list for STA-5 for 01/05/2008 which includes birds seen along Blumberg Rd. from the CR835 turnoff as well as STA-5 itself:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck >25
Fulvous Whistling-Duck >250
American Wigeon
Mallard 2
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Ruddy Duck >5
Pied-billed Grebe
American White Pelican >200
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
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 >300
Wood Stork
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle 4
Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Crested Caracara 9
Peregrine Falcon
Sora
Purple Swamphen >10
Purple Gallinule
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Limpkin 2
Sandhill Crane 3
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet 3
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Long-billed Dowitcher >1000
Wilson's Snipe
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
* GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL
Caspian Tern 4
Forster's Tern
Black Skimmer >75
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Barn Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Eastern Phoebe
Loggerhead Shrike
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Northern Mockingbird
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Palm Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Boat-tailed Grackle
After we left STA-5 & Blumberg Rd., 4-5 carloads of tour participants followed Alan & me to see the Snail Kites across from Ocean Boy Organic Shrimp Farm. We saw three. We also saw one Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in the same general area. Next we went to the entrance to Chuck Obern's Organic farm along the Deer Fence Canal off of CR835 to look for the Cassin's Kingbird. When we arrived, we found two Palm Beach County birders (forgive me guys, in my exuberance I neglected to write down your names) already on the Cassin's Kingbird as it perched by itself in a Bald Cypress, away from the half-dozen or so Western Kingbirds in the same area. We could clearly see the white tail tip, small white throat patch, and dark gray head and breast as we watched this bird through spotting scopes within 75 feet of the bird. Soon another kingbird joined it and to my surprise (at least) it didn't fly away or confront the intruder as I've seen it do in recent weeks. Although the tail on this bird was somewhat worn thus eliminating the white tail tip, the bird did not have any white on the outer rectrices of the tail, or at least I couldn't see any. It's overall coloration matched the "confirmed" Cassin's Kingbird as well. When initially found and photographed by Gary Legates on the first-ever Clewiston/STA-5 CBC on December 15th, Gary told me that there may be as many as three Cassin's Kingbirds at this site. We are fairly confident that there are two CAKIs there. Oh, almost forgot, there were at least two Scissor-tailed Flycatchers at the CAKI site as well.
After finally leaving the others, Alan Murray and I stopped at a location near Sunniland or Sunnyland Station (I've seen it spelled both ways) in Collier County not far from the intersection of S.R. 29 & CR858 aka Oil Well Rd. in eastern Collier County. Alan had found several Grasshopper Sparrows there a week or so earlier. Grasshopper Sparrows are definitely uncommon in Collier County as I've seen a total of one in nearly a decade of birding that county. We saw perhaps 7-8 today and I got to photograph them as well. In addition, there were as many as ten Savannah Sparrows in this same weedy field.
I nearly forgot. . . . before our group arrived at the intersection of CR835 & Blumberg Rd. in the morning before the tour, Margaret England phoned to say that she just photographed a bird she thought may be a female Vermilion Flycatcher at that intersection. When our group arrived 30 minutes later, we briefly looked for it but couldn't locate it. After seeing Margaret's photo (dawn had just broken and the photo was taken in extremely low light without a flash) I don't think the bird is a VEFL. However, as soon as I get the photo scanned in Photoshop I'll be able to tell definitively. If it turns out to be a VEFL, that would make five or so Tyrant flycatchers seen in Hendry County in one day -- a record I'm sure!
See, I told you it was going to be a good day!
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