Posted by Susan Schneider on April 23, 2004 at 10:13:29:
For those who are interested--I joined the TAS Fort DeSoto trip midway through and then continued on my own for several days, birding down the SW coast to Big Cypress. This report picks up from where Alex's leaves off. But thanks first to Brian Rapoza and the other TAS birders for a great weekend--especially Ellen Snow, who got me my Life Look at Swainson's Warbler! Could not have been better. Many group highlights (the equally cooperative Cerulean!; the Hooded Warbler inundation; the mad chase after the rare Robin), and many more highlights to come. I apologize for the length of the report, which will have to be multi-part.
I spent the rest of Sunday at the Fort, first birding some more around Arrowhead and picking up my first-of-trip Yellow-rumped Warbler. In late afternoon I hit the beaches as the tide ebbed, being shorebird-starved after my years in West Virginia. North Beach was still excellent, as it had been that morning for the
group, but I found no new species. The eastern end of the island brought a real bonanza, though: Believe it or not, at very close range, I found one Western SP, one Semipalm SP, one Least SP, and one Sanderling, all intermingling with each other and a small group of Dunlin. Each peep was a clear exemplar of its type, and I luxuriated in the opportunity to compare each and every field mark. The Western was just coming into breeding plumage, with a rusty cap, plus the long, drooping bill. The Semipalm had the classic blunt, shorter bill, and was clearly larger than the
Least. The Least had the Pectoral-style clearly-demarcated bib (thanks, Bryant), classic Least beak, and yellow legs. I memorized as much as I could. But this doesn't mean that I will never again be baffled by peeps!
My top priority for the rest of the trip was seeing and
especially *hearing* Bachman's Sparrow, a bird I regretted not trying for years ago when I lived in Alabama. And what a beautiful song! Pranty suggested Flatwoods as a likely nearby site NE of Tampa and I was ready. Nursing a cold, though, I failed to get an early start and feared I had missed the singing. Hiking only a quarter mile down the bicycle trail brought me to an area with appropriate habitat: palmettos and low brush. And wow, *immediately* a sparrow popped up for a moment, and it was a Bachman's!! How lucky can you get. The rusty cap, the head clearly different from Chipping or Swamp or Field, everything right except for the lack of the buffy breastband I'd been expecting from Sibley. Well, terrific, but after 20 minutes, the bird still did not sing, and time was wearing on. I returned to
the car to check the field guide and be reassured that Bachman's could have a plain breast. Then I debated waiting till earlier the next morning to try for the singing, perhaps elsewhere. But I decided to give Flatwoods another go, and headed out again on the trail.