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Posted by Vince Lucas on 21:39:14 12/27/08
51 individuals showed-up at STA-5, south of Clewiston in Hendry County today for today's STA-5 tour. Barring my good friend and tour co-leader Alan Murray's absence (he was helping do the Naples CBC), José Padilla drove me out to STA-5 from my house in North Naples. We really didn't do much birding on the way out this time but instead, spent more time on Blumber Rd. leading to STA-5 from CR835. It paid off! We found two co-operative Barn Owls in one of the abandoned ag buildings off of Blumberg. But the best was yet to come. Just past where the paved road ends and the dirt road begins leading to the main gate at STA-5, we found a mixed flock of sparrows in a weedy field. Among them was a Swamp Sparrow and a Grasshopper Sparrow, which was a new species (#166) for STA-5. (Our checklist includes birds seen along Blumberg Rd.). Another surprise was a Sedge Wren in the same area -- another new species (#167)! We had good looks at these birds and in fact, José, as well as some birders from the Sarasota/Venice area, which happened to be driving by at the time and who stopped to see what we were looking at, photographed both birds. Sweet.
Others reported seeing a White-tailed Kite along Blumberg Rd., possibly the same bird seen last fall. I've yet to see this bird anywhere in the STA-5 vicinity.
It was a FANTASTIC day of birding at STA-5! The weather was superb and the birds were varied and numerous. A contingent of birders from Cleveland, OH, who turned out to be old birding pals from the Kirtland Bird Club in Cleveland, were also on the tour. I think it is safe to say that they were blown away by the birds and the whole experience! Here is today's list of birds seen at STA-5. Note: note all birds were seen by all participants. Unusual or uncommon species are in CAPS:
Fulvous Whistling-Duck 25+
GADWALL 2
EURASIAN WIGEON 2
American Wigeon 50+
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal 5-6
Canvasback 2
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup 2
Ruddy Duck
Pied-billed Grebe
American White Pelican 150+
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
American Bittern 2
Great Blue Heron
Great White Heron 2
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron 50+
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill 50+
Wood Stork
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
WHITE-TAILED KITE 1
Snail Kite 4-5
Bald Eagle 2
Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Crested Caracara 2
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon 4
KING RAIL 1 (seen by some and heard only by others)
Sora 1
Purple Swamphen 10+
Purple Gallinule 1
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Limpkin 4-5
Black-bellied Plover 8t
Killdeer (a huge upturn in population -- Has anyone else noticed the larger than normal numbers of Killdeer this winter?)
Black-necked Stilt 50+
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
DUNLIN 4-5 (Yes Bill, INLAND Dunlin -- imagine that!)
Long-billed Dowitcher 1000+
Wilson's Snipe 1
Caspian Tern 13-14
Black Skimmer 1
Common Ground-Dove
Mourning Dove
Barn Owl 2
Belted Kingfisher
Eastern Phoebe
CASSIN'S KINGBIRD 1
Western Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
CAVE SWALLOW 1
SEDGE WREN 1
Marsh Wren 1
Northern Mockingbird
Palm Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Savannah Sparrow
GRASSHOPPER SPARROW 1
Swamp Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting 1
Red-winged Blackbird
Boat-tailed Grackle
On the way back to Naples, along CR835, several of us found 2-3 Snail Kites along the canal at the Farm 8 Wetlands and a very obliging Scissor-tailed Flycatcher near the Ocean Boy Organic Shrimp Farm.
Good birding and Happy New Year!
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