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Posted by Vince Lucas on 10:25:12 12/14/08
It was another amazing day at Stormwater Treatment Area #5 (STA-5) south of Clewistion in Hendry County yesterday, 12/13/2008. There were 44 participants on the tour from as far away as Seattle, WA & Scranton, PA. Also included was a group of photographers doing their "thing" and a group from Broward County Audubon. We saw a total of 80 species/subspecies on yesterday's tour including some uncommon species for South Florida. The good news is that the wintering ducks have returned! The bad news (from a birding perspective) is that duck hunting season is about to commence. SFWMD has even built a so-called "duck blind" (actually more like a pier that juts out into one of the cell/impoundments) for mobility-impaired hunters so that they can "enjoy" shooting their prey. Read about it here:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/columnists/sfl-flspwaters12-12sbdec12,0,6866648.column
I wish SFWMD would build a high observation platform for birders at STA-5 so that we could better "enjoy" our recreational pursuit. The chances of that happening are about nil I would think.
Before I list the great birds we saw yesterday at STA-5, including several rarities(!), I want to relate that Alan Murray and I found a banded Roseate Spoonbill (yellow band with no alphanumeric code) over a metal band on the ROSP's left leg. I have already reported this sighting to FloridaAudubon.org. The bird was found in the wetlands on the west side of CR833 aka Government Rd., just north of its intersection with CR835. We saw the bird in the morning on the drive out to STA-5 from Naples. A few other notable birds seen on the drive-out were two Scissor-tailed Flycatchers on the wires above the Ocean Boy Shrimp Farm property on CR835 and four or so Snail Kites with as many Limpkins at the Farm 8 Wetlands just north of Ocean Boy. Those numbers are way down from our normal previous totals for these species due to the natural and man-induced "dry-down" of the wetlands. Also present were a pair of Painted Buntings along the canal at Ocean Boy. The drive back to Naples was uneventful although, thanks to a "heads-up" from my friend Kermit "Spike" Updegrove of Naples, Alan and I were able to make a brief stop at the North Naples Waste Water Treatment Facility (aka Sewage Plant) on Goodlette-Frank Rd. between Vanderbilt Rd. & Immokalee Rd. to see the nice male Redhead (duck) that Spike found earlier in the day. Redhead is an uncommon duck in Collier County. Also present were two dozen or so Lesser Scaup. There may be a Greater Scaup in there as well but we didn't have enough daylight left to study the ducks too closely and from such a long distance. Also present at the sewage plant were two dozen or so Hooded Mergansers, 6-8 Ring-necked Ducks, some Mottled Ducks and a few other waders, etc. With the Redhead & Lesser Scaup, Alan and I saw a total of 17 species of ducks in South Florida on 12/13/2008. Not too shabby! Here's the complete list of the birds seen at on the December 13, 2008 STA-5 tour. Rare/uncommon species for our area and especially inland Florida areas such as STA-5 are highlighted in CAPS:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 30
Fulvous Whistling-Duck 15
Wood Duck 1
GADWALL 2
EURASIAN WIGEON 2 or possibly 3
American Wigeon
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
CANVASBACK 3
Ring-necked Duck
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER 1
Ruddy Duck
Pied-billed Grebe
American White Pelican 50+
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
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 100+
Wood Stork
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Crested Caracara 2
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Sora 1
Purple Swamphen 6-8
Purple Gallinule 1
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Limpkin 2
Sandhill Crane 2
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
STILT SANDPIPER 6
Long-billed Dowitcher 600+
Wilson's Snipe
Caspian Tern 2
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
BARRED OWL 1
Belted Kingfisher
Eastern Phoebe
Western Kingbird 2
CASSIN'S KINGBIRD (same bird that has been seen in the last few months at STA-5)
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 1
Loggerhead Shrike
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
CAVE SWALLOW 1
Barn Swallow 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Palm Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Savannah Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Boat-tailed Grackle
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