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Posted by Vincent Lucas on 12:37:29 02/09/12
I ventured out this morning in search of my Bird-A-Day. I started out on Greenway Rd. in East Naples where several Eastern Bluebirds greeted me from the telephone lines. There was nothing of note on Fritchey Rd. save for an American Kestrel and Eastern Phoebe. At the Powderpuff Tree on Laredo St., across from the remote-controlled airplane field, at least two Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were present. Try as I might, I could not turn any of them into Black-chinned Hummingbirds. From there, I went to the Marsh Trail in the Ten Thousand Islands NWR. About 200 yards from the observation platform, an adult light morph Short-tailed Hawk sat in a Slash Pine. I watched it for 30 minutes through my scope. It's not every day I see STHAs sitting in trees for that length of time. Many (all?) passersby were oblivious to this bird, intent, instead, on seeing alligators. The best birds seen from the observation platform were conservatively 1,000,000 (yes, ONE MILLION!) Tree Swallows which filled the horizon from north to south for as far as the eye could see! Amazing sight. A banded Roseate Spoonbill came into the marsh along with 25 or so of its friends. Unfortunately, other than the color of the band (reddish-orange + the bare metal USFW band on the other leg), I could not make out the numbers due to the distance of the bird and its rapid feeding behavior. A juvenile Reddish Egret, another uncommon sight, was also feeding in the marsh. 100+ American White Pelicans sailed by in air force formation. Two adult Bald Eagles were carrying nesting material, perhaps the same BAEAs from the nearby Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk at the Fakahatchee Strand State Park Preserve? A few yellowlegs, Lessers by the call, were also present as were the other usual waders with Little Blue Herons, both adults and many juveniles, being the most prevalent. A few Northern Harriers were also seen along with flyby Mottled Ducks & Blue-winged Teal as well as Belted Kingfishers & Anhingas. Pied-billed Grebes, Double-crested Cormorants, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Common Gallinules, both ibis, Wood Stork and a Sora (heard) rounded out the other species for the most part. My last stop of the morning was the new LASIP (Lely Area Stormwater Improvement Project) Mitigation Park on Collier Blvd. aka SR951 in East Naples. I had never been to this park so I walked the entire one-mile nature trail. This park has potential! During my walk, I saw well over 50 Pine Warblers as can be expected in this upland pine ecosystem. Along with those birds were one Yellow-throated Warbler, a few Palm Warblers, Blue-headed Vireo, Downy & Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Both vultures and a flyover Wood Stork were also present. A good few hours of birding in Collier County!
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