[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TAS BirdBoard ] [ FAQ ]
Posted by Vince Lucas on 17:45:58 11/16/08
With fog thicker than anything a Londoner has ever seen, Alan Murray and I ventured out to STA-5 south of Clewiston, Hendry County, from Naples. Visibility was limited to about 50 feet, even after it started to get light. Consequently, we didn't do much in the way of birding along the way save for a group of 25+ Wild Turkeys seen on CR833 almost on the road(!). We did stop at the wetlands just north of the junction of CR833 & CR835. Here, on the west side of CR835, we found the family of about 5 Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, plus the usual Roseate Spoonbill (one), Limpkin, ducks and waders. A brief stop at the Farm 8 Wetlands just north of the now defunct Ocean Boy Shrimp Farm produced the "usual" 10 or so Snail Kites as well as 20+ Limpkins plus Black-crowned Night-Heron, waders, etc.
We met up with Margaret England and a group of other birders at the start of Blumberg Road. Our plan to see the Barn Owls was thwarted since someone had locked the gate across the only egress to the ag buildings off of Blumberg Rd. where the owls hang out. We did try at the "other" ag building for them but no Barn Owls were at home.
The fog was still thick at STA-5 until about 9:30 a.m. when, along with about 54 participants, including the Tropical Audubon Society (TAS) group from Miami, the Caloosa Bird Club group from Ft. Myers, other folks from the St. Petersburg and Sebring areas and some out-of-staters, began the tour. While waiting for folks to sign the SFWMD release form and other folks to use the port-o-lets, a very cooperative Marsh Wren showed itself for all to see. What a cool little bird! The best Kodak moment was when the wren did a "split" between two cattails, supporting its little body by those two toothpick-thin legs! Precious! A Least Bittern was also heard by some TAS members here as well.
The tour was remarkable for a few things. As I wrote in my earlier post, we refound the Cassin's Kingbird after eating our lunch. The bird was in the same exact location as when it was originally found last month. Unfortunately, a lot of the tour participants, including the TASers left by this point, so no flycatchers for them. Other great highlights were three, rather late, juvenile Pectoral Sandpipers -- again found after lunch as well as a lone King Rail that decided to walk in front of us as we ate our lunch at the cross-dike boat ramp; four Soras and 60+ Laughing Gulls flying over one of the adjacent ag fields. This is definitely the most LAGUs ever seen at STA-5 since we started the tours. Other good sightings: one Great White Heron, 2 American Bitterns and 5-6 Snail Kites, Here's the complete list of birds seen on the Saturday, November 15th STA-5 tour including Blumberg Rd.:
Fulvous Whistling-Duck 30
American Wigeon
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Ruddy Duck 8
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
American Bittern 2
Least Bittern (heard only)
Great Blue Heron
Great White Heron 1
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill 3
Wood Stork 1
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Snail Kite 6
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon 6 or more
KING RAIL 1
Sora 4
Purple Swamphen 5
Purple Gallinule 6
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Limpkin 1
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt 75
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
PECTORAL SANDPIPER 3
Long-billed Dowitcher
LAUGHING GULL 60
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Eastern Phoebe
CASSIN'S KINGBIRD 1
Western Kingbird 2
Loggerhead Shrike
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow 3
House Wren
Marsh Wren 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Northern Mockingbird
Palm Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Eastern Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Noticeably low numbers were recorded for Roseate Spoonbill (3), Wood Stork (1) and Limpkin (1). No American White Pelicans were seen at STA-5 either although we saw them riding thermals on Icarian wings afterward along CR835. They were so high they appeared to be mere specks against the blinding sun in the turquoise blue sky.
Of note, videographer Steve Siegel videotaped what may be a Florida Panther sighting at STA-5. You can judge for yourself here:
http://www.vimeo.com/2253122
I already reported on the great Tyrant flycatchers were saw along CR835 near the Deer Fence Canal, so I won't mention them here. Another stop at the Farm 8 Wetlands produced even more Limpkins and Snail Kites than in the morning. The Apple Snail eggs were everywhere where a "perch" could be found, including on the water lettuce in the adjacent canal! That was a first for me.
Our last stop of the day was again at the CR835/CR833 Wetland. We could not refind the Black-bellied Whistling Ducks but we saw everything else we saw in the morning plus one Great White Heron and a distant flock of Wild Turkeys. Here we also saw a herd of about 6-8 White-tailed Deer and a few Wild Pigs. A lone River Otter crossed CR833 on the way back to Naples.
Lastly, if anyone finds a cellphone along CR835 near the Deer Fence Canal or perhaps at Farm 8 Wetlands or anywhere for that matter, it belongs to Alan Murray who lost it. That did put a damper on an otherwise great day.
[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TAS BirdBoard ] [ FAQ ]