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Posted by Vincent Lucas on 15:05:13 12/23/09
Today, December 23rd, after an aborted outing with some visiting British birders earlier in the day, I made my way to the North Naples Wastewater Treatment Plant on Goodlette-Frank Rd. (between Immokalee Rd. to the north & Vanderbilt Beach Rd. to the south) here in North Naples, FL. I'm glad I did! In among a flock of a dozen or so Lesser Scaup was a female Bufflehead. Buffleheads are rare in SW Florida and this one is only the third that I've seen in the county in over 12 years of birding here. Here is a map to the area:
http://caloosabirdclub.org/CaloosaBirdClubMaps/NorthNaplesWastewater.jpg
If you go to see this bird, please park well off the road near the dead Slash Pine on the north side of the bridge on Goodlette-Frank Rd. Afterward, with your scope (necessity), walk back up the bridge to its highest point. There you can scope out the two large impoundments quite well.
Also seen in the 45 minutes or so I was there this afternoon, were:
Pied-billed Grebe x3
Brown Pelican x2
Double-crested Cormorant x10
Great Blue Heron
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Northern Shoveler x3
Lesser Scaup x12
Ring-necked Duck >20
Hooded Merganser x25
Loggerhead Shrike
Turkey Vulture
Tree Swallows >500 at the treatment impoundments with thousands more flying north along Goodlette-Frank Rd.
Osprey x1 with fish
Another nice sighting (I guess) was a Bobcat walking along the dike next to the large impoundment. It was obviously injured and was somewhat underweight. I recall reading in the Naples Daily News about either a Florida panther or a bobcat being struck by a vehicle near the intersection of Vanderbilt Beach Rd. & Goodlette-Frank Rd. at nearby Pelican Marsh several weeks ago. FFWC did a search of the area to determine if it was in fact a Florida panther. My sighting today confirms that it was a bobcat and not a Florida panther. 2009 has been the worst year ever I believe for Florida panther fatalities due to run-ins with vehicles and at least one shooting fatality. It is so bad that several environmental groups are suing the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Commission over loss of Florida panther habitat due to development and for other reasons.
On the way back home, while stopped at the traffic light at Vanderbilt Beach Rd. & Airport-Pulling Rd., I saw one of the Red-tailed hawks that frequent the power-cut along Airport-Pulling Rd.
Not bad for 45 minutes of local birding here in Collier County!
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