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Posted by Vince Lucas on 19:52:22 01/18/09
With a mind-boggling 100+ individuals from as far away as Vancouver & Toronto, Canada and Ohio, we saw some great birds -- 82 species in all -- on Saturday's STA-5 tour. Not everyone saw all of the birds naturally. Some folks left early or had other commitments. That's fine of course. Before I report the list of species seen on the tour, I must tell you of a phenomenal non-birding sighting that Alan Murray and I as well as visiting Gainesville birders Mary Landsman and Ellen Chen saw on the way out to STA-5 from my house in Naples. About 2.5 miles or so from where CR833 takes the turn south to the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation there is a beautiful ranchland area that stretches for at least 1.5 miles, maybe two on the south and north sides of CR833. I do not know who owns this ranch but it is impressive. We regularly see Sandhill Cranes, Eastern Meadowlarks, Crested Caracara and sometimes Burrowing Owls on this property. In the wet season, there are often Roseate Spoonbills, American White Pelicans, Limpkins and sometimes Snail Kites and other nice birds there as well. On Saturday, the excitement wasn't of the avian kind but rather the canine kind. Out in the ranchland we spied two coyotes watching (actually "hunting" for lack of a better term) a cow which had just given birth to a calf. The cow could not raise herself but she sheltered the calf from the two coyotes who were undoubtedly attracted to the scent of the placental afterbirth. We watched this scenario for about 15 minutes. Finally, the coyotes moved on. One had something in its mouth and we couldn't make out what it was. Possibly it was a Burrowing Owl or maybe even another bird. At any rate, seeing a coyote in SW Florida isn't common, although their numbers are increasing. Seeing the scenario I just described is extremely rare anywhere outside of maybe Colorado or Wyoming! Lol. The only other "good" sighting we had on the way to STA-5 was a Great White Heron in the "usual" spot on CR833 a half-mile or so north of the junction of CR835 on the west side of the road. There were still a few Snail Kites and Limpkins along the canal that borders the almost completely dried-up Farm 8 Wetlands on CR835.
With regard to STA-5, we had some big misses like either whistling-duck. I can't remember the last time that this has occurred at STA-5. We also were unable to get to the area where the Tyrant flycatchers including the Cassin's was due to some work the SFWMD was doing on the levee back there. Perhaps they will be through with this work by the next tour in two weeks.
Without further delay, here is Saturday's tour results. Birdsin CAPS are either uncommon at STA-5 or anywhere south of Lake Okeechobee. . . .
GADWALL x2
EURASIAN WIGEON x1 (Thanks to Jean Iron and Ron Pittaway!)
American Wigeon
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
CANVASBACK x1 (female)
Ring-necked Duck
HOODED MERGANSER x1 (female)
Ruddy Duck
Pied-billed Grebe
American White Pelican >400
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
American Bittern x1
Great Blue Heron
GREAT WHITE HERON x3
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
Snail Kite >5
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
MERLIN x1
Peregrine Falcon x2
Sora x2
Purple Swamphen >10
Purple Gallinule >8
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Limpkin
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt >30
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
DUNLIN >3
STILT SANDPIPER >6
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Ring-billed Gull
Caspian Tern
Black Skimmer >75
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)
Palm Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Eastern Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Painted Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Boat-tailed Grackle
On the drive back to Naples, we were only able to find one Western Kingbird along CR835 and no Scissor-tailed Flycatchers for our Canadian friends. Margaret England saw one STFL closer toward Blumberg Road but we were unable to relocate it. Perhaps the paucity of Tyrant Flycatchers had to do with the lack of insects due to the really cold weather (for south Florida) that we have been experiencing of late, who knows? Our last stop was to take Jean and Ron to my friend's house in Immokalee to see the Painted & Indigo Buntings, Chipping Sparrows, White-winged Doves, etc. All made an appearance for them and they were undoubtedly delighted.
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