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Posted by Vincent Lucas on 14:05:22 10/31/09
For three hours this morning, October 31, 2009, I birded with Alan Murray at Collier County's newest park -- Freedom Memorial Park, which is located near the intersection of Goodlette-Frank Rd. & Golden Gate Parkway in Naples. Encompassing some 50 acres with over a mile of super-wide boardwalk built out of tropical Ipe wood (Tabebuia serratifolia), there are portions of the park that rival the famous Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, which also has a boardwalk built from the same wood. Native trees and plants abound in the park and attract many species of birds, butterflies and other fauna. Collier County bought the land for the park for $19.2 million in 2004. Crews worked for 17 months to build the park at a cost of $12.3 million, according to county figures. I highly recommend this park to other birders both local and those visiting from afar. For me, it was like discovering a new birding area right in my back yard! The park has great potential for attracting migrants in spring and fall. Of the 38 or so species of birds Alan and I saw today, there were a few surprises: a rather late Yellow-billed Cuckoo (the latest one I've seen in Collier County), both Indigo & Painted Buntings, Ruby-throated Hummingbird & Blue-headed Vireo among them. Here is our list of birds seen this morning at Freedom Memorial Park:
Muscovy Duck
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron (seen by Alan outside the perimeter of the park as it flew across Goodlette-Frank Rd.)
White Ibis (Seen by me before Alan arrived)
Wood Stork
Black Vulture
Osprey
Red-shouldered Hawk
American Kestrel
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Loggerhead Shrike
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
Fish Crow
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Palm Warbler (Western race)
Black-and-white Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Painted Bunting
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Also seen were the following Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths):
Orange-barred Sulphur (Phoebis philea)
Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae)
Barred Yellow (Eurema daira)
Queen (Danaus gilippus)
Monarch (Danus plexippus)
Cassius Blue (Leptotes cassius)
White Peacock (Anartia jatrophae)
Tropical Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus oileus)
Brazilian Skipper (Calpodes ethlius)
Rattlebox Moth or Bella Moth (Utetheisa ornatrix) -- diurnal
Odonata (Dragonflies & Damselflies):
Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis)
Roseate Skimmer (Orthemis ferruginea)
Needham's Skimmer (Libellula needhami)
Carolina Saddlebags (Tramea carolina)
Black Saddlebags (Tramea lacerata)
Four-spotted Pennant (Brachymesia gravida)
Rambur's Forktail (Ischnura ramburii)
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