Posted by Bryant Roberts on September 26, 2001 at 23:41:17:
I got out to Snake Bight by way of the road yesterday morning, and
the mosquitos were amazing, I leave none of my skin or clothing
unprotected so they settle on my optics and back-pack. I should
get a photo of it some time. The birding started off really well with my
first of season Catbird, and a Swainson's Warbler feeding in the road with
a couple of Northern Waterthrushes near the start of the road, but settled
into the usual mix down the road. There were a surprising number of
Black-throated-blue Warblers, many of which were feeding on Strangler
Figs. I've also seen this warbler feeding on Beauty Berries in the Fall.
Here is the count of migrants and warblers on Snake Bight Road (9/25):
11- Black-throated-blue Warblers
6 - Northern Waterthrushes
1 - Catbird (my first of season)
1 - Swainson's Warbler
12-Ovenbirds
1 - Common Yellowthroat
4 - American Redstarts
1 - Black-and-white Warbler
3 - Prairie Warblers
2 - Northern Parulas
2 - Red-eyed Vireos
When I arrived at the boardwalk at the end of Snake Bight Road the
tide was to high for most shorebirds, but I was happy to find that
the boardwalk had survived Tropical Storm Gabrielle with only minor
damage. Three Caspian Terns flew by, and a white phase Reddish
Egret and a dark phase Reddish Egret that has been there all
summer (it has a distinctive pattern of white flight and tail feathers)
held forte near the boardwalk.
I checked out the visitors center sandbar for about an hour just as
the larger shorebirds were moving through, a few hours before full
low tide. I counted about 160 Marbled Godwits along with lesser
numbers of Willets and Dowitcher sp.. The only new birds for this
fall were three Red Knots. A late afternoon visit to Eco Pond
turned up my first three Palm Warblers at Flamingo this Fall along
with two more Common Yellowthroats, a Yellow Warbler, and two
Painted Buntings. A sunset treat was a Merlin hawking dragonflies
over the Walk In camping area.
There were some swallows on the powerlines this morning (9/26)
and the count was surprisingly like it was a few weeks ago:
50- Barn Swallows
2 - Cliff Swallows
1 - Rough-winged Swallow
3 - Bank Swallows
An hour and a half on the south half of Bear Lake Road this
morning didn't turn up anything new, and the transient canopy
dwelling species were conspicuously absent:
6 - Ovenbirds
5 - Prairie Warblers
6 - Northern Waterthrushes
1 - Louisiana Watherthrush
1 - Catbird
1 - Painted Bunting
5 - Common Yellowthroats
Caught up at last, I'm looking forward to what the forecast stormy
weather for this weekend brings in.