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Posted by Toe on 19:20:57 05/08/10
I started at Black Pt. at 7:00 in hopes of getting Mangrove Cuckoo. When I arrived I sat on a wood stump in front of the canoe launch and did a poor imitation of the MACU's call. Within seconds I heard one calling back from the trees behind me. As I turned, it flew over the parking lot to the other side, disappeared into the trees, and called again a couple times. I tried to call it back out for a photo but no luck. After walking the jetty, I again tried for a photo of the MACU at the parking lot. While waiting, I heard an interesting call coming from the treeline about 30 yards from the canoe launch in the direction of the entrance. The call was a Kuu-kuu-kuu, kuu-kuu-kuu, and fairly loud. When I approached I heard something moving in the trees then a cuckoo flew out with pure white underneath. I pulled the camera up and started snapping photos of it in flight, but I made an amateur's mistake. I had the focus set on manual instead of auto and it never focused. My heart sank. I returned with Trey in the afternoon but there was no sign of either cuckoo.
Other notables were both Shiny and Bronzed Cowbirds at Cutler Wetlands, a singing Black-whiskered Vireo at the Black Point Jetty, and 13 species of shorebirds between both spots.
Here is the day's list, with BP (Black Pt.) or CW (Cutler Wetlands) for the highlights.
Mottled Duck 18
Blue-winged Teal 4
American White Pelican 3
Brown Pelican 1
Great Blue Heron 1
"Great White Heron" 1
Great Egret 1
Snowy Egret 4
Little Blue Heron 2
Tricolored Heron 1
Cattle Egret 16
Green Heron 2
White Ibis 12
Glossy Ibis 5
Wood Stork 2
Black Vulture 9
Osprey 1
Bald Eagle 2
Common Moorhen 7
American Coot 2
Semipalmated Plover 42
Killdeer 2
Black-necked Stilt 41
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 3
Solitary Sandpiper 2
Spotted Sandpiper 1 (BP)
Ruddy Turnstone 80 (CW, pretty high # for this spot)
Semipalmated Sandpiper 29
Least Sandpiper 43
White-rumped Sandpiper 6 (CW)
Stilt Sandpiper 4
Long-billed Dowitcher 1
Laughing Gull 51
Least Tern 3
Mourning Dove 12
Black-billed Cuckoo 1 (BP)
Mangrove Cuckoo 1 (BP)
Common Nighthawk 1
Chimney Swift 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Loggerhead Shrike 1
Black-whiskered Vireo 1 (BP Jetty)
American Crow 6
Purple Martin 2
Cave Swallow 4
Barn Swallow 1
Northern Mockingbird 2
Common Myna 1
Prairie Warbler 2
Common Yellowthroat 1
Northern Cardinal 3
Red-winged Blackbird 85
Boat-tailed Grackle 59
Shiny Cowbird 1 (CW)
Bronzed Cowbird 2 (CW)
Total 594 individuals, 57 species
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