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Posted by Abby on 21:19:14 02/22/05
I took a four-day weekend to run the Tallahassee marathon, and on the way I stopped at many places along the gulf coast to see birds. I will just give the highlights of each stop:
On the way up to Tallahassee I stopped at Chapman's pond in Gainesville, where I saw 30+ Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, Blue and Green-winged Teal, Hooded Mergansers, Lesser Yellowlegs, Dowitchers, and Purple Martins.
During the first half of the marathon I was kept distracted by the songs of many birds. I heard cardinals, mockingbirds, Carolina Wrens, Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, House Finches, and Pine Warblers; all singing. I also heard Canada Geese and Wood Ducks.
My dad's neighborhood in Englewood had Florida Scrub Jays and a pair of Great Horned Owls calling.
Tuesday was my biggest day, beginning with Ding Darling. No Mangrove Cuckoos, but lots of wading birds and warblers, including singing Prairies. I made a quick stop at Bunche Beach, where there were Piping Plovers and a Whimbrel. On to Naples... first to Eagle Lakes, where I saw the Eurasion Wigeons with the Americans and the Bronzed Cowbirds in the sedges to the right of the gazebo. I managed to find a single female Yellow-headed Blackbird in a flock of blackbirds and cowbirds on Greenway Road. I made a last-minute stop at Big Cypress, where there were Pileated Woodpeckers and Great Crested Flycatchers. At the end of the boardwalk was a Black-crowned Night Heron juvenile... and thus I managed to see all the heron and egret species in a single day! Quite a weekend: 113 species (98 just on Tues.), including 2 lifers (Whimbrel and Eurasian Wigeon) and 2 state birds (Bronzed Cowbird and Yellow-headed Blackbird). What fun!
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