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Posted by Vincent Lucas on 11:28:46 11/13/11
Having time this Sunday morning, I decided to first try to relocate the White-crowned Sparrow at Eagle Lakes Community Park located by D. Thurston yesterday. No love with the sparrow and just a few passerines were seen with no sparrows of any kind whatsoever. After an hour of that, I decided to go back out to the flooded ag field near the intersection of Oil Well Grade and Oil Well Rd. (CR858) west of Ave Maria. The light there was perfect. A spotting scope is essential in order to see the ducks. At nearly 60X I was able to readily identify nine species of ducks, a few of which are uncommon in Collier County. Here are my estimates:
Redhead Duck x3
Gadwall x5-6
Northern Pintail x15-20
Ring-necked Duck >150
Green-winged Teal >75
Blue-winged Teal >600
Northern Shoveler >150
Mottled Duck <10
American Wigeon x6-8
Also, American Coot estimates approached 4000 while Common Gallinule numbers were less than 50 individuals. All of the usual waders and raptors were seen or heard including a fly-over adult Bald Eagle.
This is the best habitat for ducks I've ever seen in Collier County in the nearly 15 years of birding here. The sheer numbers of ducks (quantity) is only surpassed by the quality of some of the more uncommon species for the county seen here. I estimate these flooded fields will be significantly reduced due to evaporation in about 10 days to two weeks so if you want to see these ducks, you need to get out there pronto. Good luck!
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