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Posted by Vincent Lucas on 16:39:57 01/29/11
Today, January 29, 2011, I added six new birds to my Collier County Big Year list. They were (in order) #144 - Black-bellied whistling-Duck; #145 - White-winged Dove; #146 - Bonaparte's Gull; #147 - Purple Gallinule; #148 - Marsh Wren & #149 - Sora. I tried for #150 which should have been either Grasshopper Sparrow or Brown Thrasher but dipped on both. Oh well, I still have two more days to reach 150 before the end of the month. Then it gets really hard! Even though Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks are expanding their range in Florida, they are still uncommon in Collier County. Today, I saw and photographed 80+ BBWD in a wet field along with a half-dozen Roseate Spoonbills and a few Wilson's Snipe on CR846 between the Corkscrew Swamp cut-off (Sanctuary Rd.) and Camp Keais Rd. Other than the White-winged Dove, which was seen at a friend's feeders in Immokalee, the Bonaparte's Gull, Purple Gallinule, Marsh Wren & Sora were all seen at the Calvin L. Sirman's Memorial Effluent Reuse Facility in Immokalee. Now if that doesn't get the prize for the best euphemistic term for "sewage plant", I don't know what will! And WTF, who wants an "Effluent Reuse Facility" named after them? I don't think I would, would you? Other nice birds seen today were scores of both Indigo & Painted Buntings, American Goldfinch, Chipping Sparrows & Ruby-throated Hummingbird all coming to feeders in my friend's yard in Immokalee as well as Lesser Scaup, Ring-necked Duck, Mottled Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, most all the waders, Eastern Meadowlark, Savannah Sparrow, Northern Harrier, Wild Turkey and some others all seen at the aforementioned sewage plant. On CR858 aka Oil Well Rd., in a canal & adjacent wetland, not far from the Hendry County Correctional Facility, there were over 25 Limpkin. A friend and I saw over 40 in the same exact location this past Thursday. There should be Snail Kites there as well but they are mysteriously absent. No Scissor-tailed Flycatchers were seen on the north-south leg of CR858 on the Collier/Hendry County line -- a locale where we would always see these birds in winter. I'm wondering if the cold weather has pushed them further south? I did see one Western Kingbird near the intersection of CR858 & CR846. It was sitting in an orange grove. Here is a link to some photos of the Bonaparte's Gull and Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks from my Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=102219&id=1452300618&l=65e8de8771
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