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Posted by Vince Lucas on 10:12:14 02/02/09
All:
Saturday, 01/31/2009 was, without a doubt, THE coldest day any of us have ever experienced out at STA-5, south of Clewiston. Early morning temperatures were in the high 30's or low 40's and it never really warmed up to more than the low 60's during the rest of the day. But what really made it bad were the high winds, gusting at about 40 mph all day long. Looking through binoculars or scopes at distant birds with tears in ones eyes from the wind doesn't make for a pleasant experience! Having said that, some 108(!) folks showed up at STA-5 for the tour. Due to some construction projects by SFWMD, we were only able to bird two of the four main cells: 1B & 2B. Nonetheless, we did see some nice birds as usually in good numbers. The only downside to the day was when the Clewiston Inn's large van broke down on the levy and refused to start. That necessitated having to send for a wrecker and Margaret England and others having to ferry folks back to the main gate at Blumberg Rd. for most of the morning. Because of it, Margaret and these other tour participants missed out on a lot of the birds. Here's our pre- and post-tour highlights coming from Naples. We were followed out to STA-5 by Shelley Rutkin from North Carolina, who made the trip all the way from that state just to come on the tour(!) and her friend David Eppler from the Tampa area (I think). Also accompanying us from Naples were Kermit "Spike" Updegrove and his friends from Maryland. We saw several nice birds on the trip out including: Sandhill Cranes, Crested Caracara, Limpkin, Eastern Meadowlark, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, etc. on the CR846==>CR833==>CR835 corridor. Just north of the intersection of CR833 & CR835 (on CR833), we refound the Great White Heron that has been there most of the winter. At the Farm 8 Wetlands, we saw at least two Snail Kites and a Limpkin. Near Chuck Obern's Farm on CR835, we found 3 Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and at least 4 Western Kingbirds. All of these birds were seen despite the cold and windy conditions. After the tour, a group of us visited my friend's feeders in Immokalee and saw 7-8 Painted Buntings and about 15 Indigo Buntings coming to their feeders. These birds were hungry! Also see in the 15 minutes or so while we were there, was one Chipping Sparrow and a White-winged Dove. Finally, here's our list of birds seen at STA-5 the tour on the last day of January, 2009:
Fulvous Whistling-Duck 100+
Gadwall x2 (pair)
American Wigeon 40+
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail 75+
Blue-winged Teal
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback x1 (female)
Ring-necked Duck
Ruddy Duck x6
Pied-billed Grebe
American White Pelican 300+
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
American Bittern x2
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron (White form) x1
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill x12
Wood Stork
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Snail Kite x3
Bald Eagle x2
Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed hawk x4
Crested Caracara x2
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon x1
Sora x4
Purple Swamphen
Purple Gallinule
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Limpkin x3
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt x50
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Stilt Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Ring-billed Gull x1
Caspian Tern
Black Skimmer x250
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Barn Owl x1
Belted Kingfisher
Eastern Phoebe
Loggerhead Shrike
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow x1
Northern Mockingbird
Palm Warbler (Western)
Common Yellowthroat
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
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