Posted by John Boyd on January 20, 2002 at 16:29:55:
In Reply to: Archbold Trip posted by John Boyd on January 20, 2002 at 13:31:10:
We next stopped at John Stretch Park to look for the reported Black-headed Gull. Although there was an obvious group of gulls, they were all Laughing and Ring-billed, together with Caspian Terns and one Skimmer. Looking from the dike, we added Forster's Tern, but no other gulls. One of our group stopped for gas in Clewiston. While we were waiting, we saw approximately 125 White Pelicans soaring overhead.
We headed up US 27 to Old Venus. Two Red-headed Woodpeckers were easily found, as well as the other expected species. One of our group spotted a Brown-headed Nuthatch, but it flew before anyone else could get on it. We didn't see any Red-cockaded Woodpeckers (not a surprise...I last saw one there in January 1999). White Pelicans were again seen overhead.
From there we went to Archbold, where we had a picnic lunch, and found a perched Whip-poor-will. Best look I've ever had! We had a tough time with Scrub-Jays, catching only a glimpse of one along the road. This was the official end of the trip, but 4 of us detoured to Naples on the way back to Miami.
We saw several Bronzed Cowbirds at Eagle Lakes Park. We were unable to get an accurate count, but I believe there I saw 9-12 Bronzed Cowbirds, including some flyovers. (One group of flyover cowbird perched on the lights were I could scope them and confirm ID). We also saw one Shiny Cowbird and 2 female Brown-headed Cowbirds.
That was the end of the unofficial part of the trip, but the 2 of us in my car stopped to look for Snail Kites at the old airboat place near Shark Valley on the return to Miami. We found 4.