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Posted by Vincent Lucas on 12:40:17 03/23/11
I had some free time this morning so I decided to do a little birding to see if I could add to my Collier County Big Year (CCBY). I started out by visiting the feeders of my friend Alan Murray off of Airport-Pulling Rd. here in Naples. Alan sometimes gets House Finches at his feeders and I have been unsuccessful in finding any in Collier County since January, despite several reports of them being around town. I am still without a House Finch for my CCBY. Oh well. . . . Instead, I did see a beautiful Baltimore Oriole near Alan's house and several female Panted Buntings coming to his neighbor's feeders. Other birds seen there were Downy & Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Great Egret (flyover), Northern Mockingbird, Eurasian Collared & Mourning Doves, Blue-headed Vireo, Gray Catbird, Blue Jay & House Sparrow. From Alan's, I went to Sugden Regional Park to search for a Solitary Sandpiper that had been reported to me a few days earlier. Eureka! I found it. I even got to photograph it. (See link below.) Solitary Sandpiper is #177 for my CCBY. There weren't many birds around but I did refind the Northern Waterthrush I recently found. I ran into Michigan birder Don DeKraker. We searched unsuccessfully for the Yellow-breasted Chat that I had found last week. Ironically, Don was at Sugden Park on that day as well but in a different part of the park. We saw some female Painted Buntings at a neighborhood feeder and there was a Spotted Sandpiper in the same general area where the Solitary Sandpiper was seen but all other birds seen were the expected species. From Sugden Regional Park, Don and I went to Eagle Lakes Community Park to look for a Black-necked Stilt that was also reported from that site in recent days. We found it. Black-necked Stilt is #178 for my CCBY. There were several out-of-town birders and photographers at Eagle Lakes Community Park as well. I pointed out a flock of 15-20 Bronzed Cowbirds to them. The flock included Red-winged Blackbirds and several Brown-headed Cowbirds as well as Boat-tailed Grackles but a careful examination of the entire flock yielded no Shiny Cowbirds. There weren't many other unexpected birds at Eagle Lakes but there was a Florida Softshell Turtle laying eggs right along the paved trail. I hope the vultures or crows don't find them and folks leave them alone. Up to a half-dozen Black Racers were all in the same small area as well, probably getting ready to have a snake-orgy as snakes tend to do. . . . Photos I took today can be seen here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=108975&id=1452300618&l=600f536a47
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