Recent Florida Trip

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Posted by Tim Rodenkirk on January 27, 2004 at 10:04:11:

Just got back to Oregon from a recent trip to the Ft. Myers area and a couple quick days in ENP. The most unusual bird was a female SCAUP seen at Ding Darling on 1/18. It was past the cross dike hanging with a flock of BW Teal. The head appeared flat to me and I could swear it was a GREATER (it also appeared to be much larger than a Lesser, I'm quite familiar with both species), but the bird was actively feeding which can be tricky ID'ing. I talked to one of the park biologist and she told me Greater's are very rare (and frankly, I think she was convinced that greaters do NOT occur in that area)- I hope the bird is still around and someone else can check it out, I'm not convinced it was a Lesser.

At ENP on 1/20 I had a MAGNOLIA WARBLER along the Gumbo Limbo trail (actually it was along the road that bisects it, which is much better birding than the actually trail). It was with a flock of six warbler species, gnatcatchers, and both White-eyed and Blue-headed Vireos. Someone had posted at the visitor center seeing two WORM-EATING WARBLERS a few days earlier along this trail, I never found them (but they could easily be missed). There were 4+ LESSER NIGHTHAWKS at Eco Pond at dusk on the 20th, and were joined by a couple skimmers at last light?! On 1/21 my wife saw 2, possibly 3, SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHERS at Eco Pond. They were seen by several others also, but disappeared by 8:45AM.

Warblering was good at Corkscrew Swamp also. On the 24th I had 7 species (all the usuals) plus talked to a couple locals who found a MAGNOLIA WARBLER. There is an adult male SUMMER TANAGER wintering in the Lettuce Lake area and a pair of BALTIMORE ORIOLES was with the tanager as were several warblers and vireos (a nice flock indeed!).

In Ft. Myers Bunche Beach is great for shorebirds. I saw the LB CURLEW on the 22nd, and also saw WILSON'S (3+), SNOWY(1), PIPING (4+), AND SEMIPALMATED (4+) PLOVERS as well as several other shorebird species.

Back in wet, soggy Oregon I've had to extend my vacation by a day- Oregon's second ever LUCY'S WARBLER showed up while I was gone!

Enjoy all that sunshine,
Tim Rodenkirk
Coos Bay, Oregon

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: Just got back to Oregon from a recent trip to the Ft. Myers area and a couple quick days in ENP. The most unusual bird was a female SCAUP seen at Ding Darling on 1/18. It was past the cross dike hanging with a flock of BW Teal. The head appeared flat to me and I could swear it was a GREATER (it also appeared to be much larger than a Lesser, I'm quite familiar with both species), but the bird was actively feeding which can be tricky ID'ing. I talked to one of the park biologist and she told me Greater's are very rare (and frankly, I think she was convinced that greaters do NOT occur in that area)- I hope the bird is still around and someone else can check it out, I'm not convinced it was a Lesser. : At ENP on 1/20 I had a MAGNOLIA WARBLER along the Gumbo Limbo trail (actually it was along the road that bisects it, which is much better birding than the actually trail). It was with a flock of six warbler species, gnatcatchers, and both White-eyed and Blue-headed Vireos. Someone had posted at the visitor center seeing two WORM-EATING WARBLERS a few days earlier along this trail, I never found them (but they could easily be missed). There were 4+ LESSER NIGHTHAWKS at Eco Pond at dusk on the 20th, and were joined by a couple skimmers at last light?! On 1/21 my wife saw 2, possibly 3, SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHERS at Eco Pond. They were seen by several others also, but disappeared by 8:45AM. : Warblering was good at Corkscrew Swamp also. On the 24th I had 7 species (all the usuals) plus talked to a couple locals who found a MAGNOLIA WARBLER. There is an adult male SUMMER TANAGER wintering in the Lettuce Lake area and a pair of BALTIMORE ORIOLES was with the tanager as were several warblers and vireos (a nice flock indeed!). : In Ft. Myers Bunche Beach is great for shorebirds. I saw the LB CURLEW on the 22nd, and also saw WILSON'S (3+), SNOWY(1), PIPING (4+), AND SEMIPALMATED (4+) PLOVERS as well as several other shorebird species. : Back in wet, soggy Oregon I've had to extend my vacation by a day- Oregon's second ever LUCY'S WARBLER showed up while I was gone! : Enjoy all that sunshine, : Tim Rodenkirk : Coos Bay, Oregon

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