Re: TAS Fort DeSoto van trip- part two

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: Alex and all others: : I was very happy that you refound the Baird's Sandpiper that I had posted to the Listservers on Saturday. A bunch of birding friends had gone out trying to relocate the bird on Sunday am and couldn't find it. It wasn't the first time that they couldn't relocate one of the birds I had posted (Common Merganser at Aqui Esta and Ruff at Bunche Beach spring to mind, luckily the Black Scoters at Fort Myers Beach hung around for months) so independent confirmation of my sighting of the Baird's was significant to me. Otherwise I might have been tarred and feathered and run out of town!! : Congratulations to you Alex and all of your companions for some wonderful birds. I've enjoyed reading of your birding exploits and wish you and your companions all the best. : Marie : Marie Gonsalo : Fort Myers : : We checked out of our hotel rooms at 6:15 and made our way to Denny's, where Susan (didn't catch her last name) and Stefan joined us for a hardy breakfast. Our first stop of the day in DeSoto was the Privet Trail again, where we met Raul and Stefan who had a few good species. Kentucky and Hooded Warblers crossed our path on many occasions. A Northern Waterthrush was new bird for the trip, a Wood Thrush sang, and an American Robin called a few times. A Black-and-white Warbler sang, Indigo Buntings were prevelant, and a female Summer Tanager perched on an Australian Pine. A beautiful Blue-winged Warbler fed above a stand of blooming privets. A small mud-flat had a calling Northern Waterthrush, a Western Sandpiper, and a Yellow-crowned Night-heron. As we doubled our steps back, Nancy and I found a/the American Robin. A large group joined us to watch the 10 inch thrush, which apparantly was a female. Swainson's Warbler joined the party, but didn't stay long. : : At North Beach, it was high tide. We were at first worried we would not have good species. : : Boy, were we wrong... : : With 3 scopes (the Snow's, Susan's, and Edith's) : : we scanned mixed shorebird flocks and found a few good birds. We checked off Piping Plover. For about 5 minutes, we saw nothing else. Then, a large group of shorebirds came in. A good amount of Marbled Godwit, a few Red Knots, and a Black-bellied Plover in breeding plumage. Brian briefly had a Common tern through a scope, but eventually mixed itself in with a couple Forster's Terns. I found a Red-breasted Merganser, but after that we all had our minds on one thing: Cerulean Warbler. : : After 15 minutes or so of searching in Arrowhead, Brian finally called "I've got the Cerulean". I have never ran so fast in my life. The bird was a beauty. Steve Siegel was there too, and got 6 or 7 seconds of the male bird only 30 feet up an oak. Also seen were Yellow-rumped Warbler and Yellow-throated Vireo. We watched the bird for about another 15 minutes. At the parking lot of Arrowhead, Brian called Stefan to confirm we had the Cerulean. Raul had good news: Can-a-da. : : We trecked through the scrub for a good 30 minutes or so, but no Canada. It was a big area, and we were behind schedule. We settled with a Bald Eagle, another robin, a few Hoodeds, and an immature male Baltimore Oriole which Todd found. : : The hoped for Mulberry Tree area would not be visited again. Too bad, since a possible Western Tanager was seen there. : : Another stop in Sarasota. I still needed Black-bellied Whistling-duck. There were Blue-winged Teal and Mottled Duck, but no Whistling. : : We were about to move on when Brian spotted two whistling-ducks in the shade of some reeds. Through a scope, I watched the birds, and was not dissapointed. A very well hidden Wilson's Snipe resided near a Lesser Yellowlegs in a near-by puddle. We left Sarasota with a Sandhill Crane pair flying over the marsh. : : Eagle Lakes was the next stop. As we walked up to the gazebo, we knew we would have some fun. Both yellowlegs, Killdeer, Stilt Sandpipers,and a large flock of shorebirds could be seen. We had some trouble with the main shorebird flock, as they kept flushing for some unknown reason. None-the-less, Brian got on the Baird's Sandpiper. We all had a good look at the bird, which could easily be compared with the other 3 smaller peeps it shared it's space with. When the flock flushed again we were not able to relocate the bird. We did, however, find a Solitary Sandpiper! We had to settle by watching the whole Bronzed Cowbird flock forage around in the open area near the gazebo. There were at least 20+ Bronzed Cowbirds out in the open, which Brian said is very unusual that they would be that brazen. Some males were courting the females with puffing out their neck feathers and hovering above them. Very interesting. After leaving Eagle Lakes Park, I remembered we were about 10-15 minutes away from a Rose-ringed Parakeet site. Brian did not know where they were, nor did the rest of the group. By pure luck, I remembered exactly how to get to them from Eagle Lakes. We arrived 12 minutes from Eagle Lakes, and a Rose-ringed Parakeet flew on the left side of the van. We jumped out of the car and walked up an empty lot. The birds were feeding at some feeders along a canal, while giving their soft, flicker-like call. About 15 of them. They were life birds for Brian, Nancy, and Todd. Purple Martins flew overhead. After a few minutes of studying the birds, we moved off for some food. McDonald's had to do, and we were all very happy after a successful trip. We took I-75 back to Hollywood to drop off the Snow's, then Nancy in North Miami. Finally, Brian dropped my step-mom and I off at our home in Miami Shores. I was very happy; I had 8 lifers, tons of year birds, and a few birds added to my state-list. I will post the final list soon, but it will take a while to type.

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