STA-5 Hendry County Birding 01/07/2006

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Posted by Vincent Lucas on 22:43:38 01/07/06

A great day of birding was had by six of us at STA-5 (Stormwater Treatment Area 5) in extreme eastern Hendry County today. Leaving Naples in cold 45 degree weather (OK, cold is a relative term!), Arthur & Anne Wilson and I birded CR 846 on our way to Immokalee and points east. A stop at the seasonal ponds on CR846 just before arriving in the town of Immokalee held a half-dozen Long-billed Dowitchers, the resident Great White Heron plus the usual waders including quite a few Wood Storks, ducks, etc.

Our next stop was at the Immokalee Ranch east of the town of the same name to check on the Solitary Sandpipers that we found last week. This small wetland had hundreds of Wood Storks, egrets, herons, ducks and a few shorebirds (mostly Lesser & Greater Yellowlegs and Killdeer) -- all feeding voraciously. What a sight! In among all these birds, at the fringe of the wetlands, was one of the Solitary Sandpipers. The other one may have been there but we didn't linger trying to find it. At another stop further east on CR846, we found a minimum of 150 or so American White Pelicans in another seasonal wetland on the south side of the road. Beautiful in the early morning light.

We hurried to reach our final destination (STA-5) to join up with Margaret England, Secretary, Hendry-Glades Audubon Society and two other women from this same organization. Try as we might to ignore birds we passed on the way i.e. Sandhill Cranes, Crested Caracaras, etc., we couldn't(!) and arrived at STA-5 about 15 minutes late.

The temps were a little chilly -- low 40's, but we all came prepared. I even wore gloves! The winds on the dikes here at STA-5 are usually pretty strong since there is nothing to stop them as they come across the impoundments, but today they were very tolerable! Great!

After signing our releases for SFWMD, we joined the others. Immediately as we got up on the dike from the gate, we saw three Black Skimmers zip by. A Purple Gallinule (only one of about three seen the entire day) was in the far corner of the impoundment on the west side of the first dike, A scan of the shoreline found several Purple Swamphens (much more prevalent than the PUGAs we'd see throughout the day), thousands and thousands of American Coots, lesser numbers of Common Moorhens and hundreds of Blue-winged Teal.

All around us were many swallows, mostly Tree Swallows as could be expected with far fewer numbers of Northern Rough-winged Swallows. But what intrigued me were the absolute high numbers of Barn Swallows present! We estimate at least 75 Barn Swallows were seen all along the mile or so dike that traverses these first two impoundments. I've never seen so many Barn Swallows at one place in winter in Florida! Did these birds not migrate or were they still doing so?? Anyone know for sure? Bruce, you listening?

Duck numbers were astounding, especially the numbers of Fulvous Whistling-Ducks either resting on the vegetative "mats" in the impoundments or swimming in the open waters in the impoundments. We estimate conservatively, 500 Fulvous Whistling-Ducks were present. We also saw far less numbers of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks; in all about 10 birds. Total duck species seen was 10: Blue & Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, American Wigeon, Ring-necked & Mottled Duck & one lone Ruddy Duck rounded out the other species.

Shorebirds were also great. We saw at least 25 Black-necked Stilts(!), numerous Yellowlegs of both species, Least Sandpipers & Killdeer.

One Sora.

Waders: all present including a half-dozen or so Roseate Spoonbills, a lone American Bittern, numerous Glossy Ibis & several Black-crowned Night-Herons.

Raptors: a hunting Peregrine Falcon within 100 feet was a nice sighting. Later, we'd see another (same bird?) resting on the cross-arms of a telephone pole on the north side of the first dike. Others: many Northern Harriers flying over the marshes; several Red-tailed Hawks (mostly on Blumberg Rd.), one fly-by Cooper's Hawk, many American Kestrels (again, mostly along the cane fields along Blumberg Rd.), the usual vultures in spades, one adult Bald Eagle, with another on Blumberg Rd. on a telephone pole on the way out to CR835, and several Ospreys. Amazingly, no Red-shouldered Hawks were seen anywhere!

Passerines were few. Along the dikes we saw a small flock of Savannah Sparrows and larger flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds. Palm Warblers were common as well. Interestingly, on Blumberg Rd. on the way back to CR835, we watched flocks of egrets, grackles and gulls (mostly Ring-billed) following the cane harvesters wherever they were cutting the sugarcane.

On the way back to Naples, Arthur & I checked out the once regal stand of cypress trees (Did I get that right Bill?) along the Miami Canal. Alas, no Barn Owls were seen. The Bolles Canal area held nothing of note either. We did see two Common Mynas at the trashed (from Hurricane Wilma) McDonald's in Clewiston.

All in all, a great day of birding in one of my favorite birding counties in Florida! Thanks goes out to Margaret England for her hospitality and for allowing us to come out to STA-5. As a reminder, the next time STA-5 will be open to birders is on Saturday, January 21st. If you plan on going, please e-mail Margaret England ahead of time to obtain permission. Please note that this is duck hunting season and the hunters are chomping at the bit to enter STA-5, I think at 1:00PM. . . . Here is our day list:

Pied-billed Grebe
American White Pelican (>300 for the day)
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill (half-dozen or so)
Wood Stork
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (10 or so seen)
Fulvous Whistling Duck (>500)
American Wigeon
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Ruddy Duck (x1)
Osprey
Bald Eagle (2 adults)
Northern Harrier
Cooper's Hawk (x1)
Red-tailed Hawk
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon (two different birds?)
Sora (x1)
Purple Gallinule
Common Moorhen
American Coot (80 bajillion!)
Purple Swamphen (these exotics may be "pushing out" endemics like Purple Gallinule?)
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt (>25)
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Solitary Sandpiper (x1)
Least Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Black Skimmer (x3)
Rock Dove
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Eastern Phoebe
Loggerhead Shrike
Fish Crow
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow (>75)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Palm Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Savannah Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle

Good birding!

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Comments:	: A great day of birding was had by six of us at STA-5 (Stormwater Treatment Area 5) in extreme eastern Hendry County today. Leaving Naples in cold 45 degree weather (OK, cold is a relative term!), Arthur & Anne Wilson and I birded CR 846 on our way to Immokalee and points east. A stop at the seasonal ponds on CR846 just before arriving in the town of Immokalee held a half-dozen Long-billed Dowitchers, the resident Great White Heron plus the usual waders including quite a few Wood Storks, ducks, etc. : : Our next stop was at the Immokalee Ranch east of the town of the same name to check on the Solitary Sandpipers that we found last week. This small wetland had hundreds of Wood Storks, egrets, herons, ducks and a few shorebirds (mostly Lesser & Greater Yellowlegs and Killdeer) -- all feeding voraciously. What a sight! In among all these birds, at the fringe of the wetlands, was one of the Solitary Sandpipers. The other one may have been there but we didn't linger trying to find it. At another stop further east on CR846, we found a minimum of 150 or so American White Pelicans in another seasonal wetland on the south side of the road. Beautiful in the early morning light. : : We hurried to reach our final destination (STA-5) to join up with Margaret England, Secretary, Hendry-Glades Audubon Society and two other women from this same organization. Try as we might to ignore birds we passed on the way i.e. Sandhill Cranes, Crested Caracaras, etc., we couldn't(!) and arrived at STA-5 about 15 minutes late. : : The temps were a little chilly -- low 40's, but we all came prepared. I even wore gloves! The winds on the dikes here at STA-5 are usually pretty strong since there is nothing to stop them as they come across the impoundments, but today they were very tolerable! Great! : : After signing our releases for SFWMD, we joined the others. Immediately as we got up on the dike from the gate, we saw three Black Skimmers zip by. A Purple Gallinule (only one of about three seen the entire day) was in the far corner of the impoundment on the west side of the first dike, A scan of the shoreline found several Purple Swamphens (much more prevalent than the PUGAs we'd see throughout the day), thousands and thousands of American Coots, lesser numbers of Common Moorhens and hundreds of Blue-winged Teal. : : All around us were many swallows, mostly Tree Swallows as could be expected with far fewer numbers of Northern Rough-winged Swallows. But what intrigued me were the absolute high numbers of Barn Swallows present! We estimate at least 75 Barn Swallows were seen all along the mile or so dike that traverses these first two impoundments. I've never seen so many Barn Swallows at one place in winter in Florida! Did these birds not migrate or were they still doing so?? Anyone know for sure? Bruce, you listening? : : Duck numbers were astounding, especially the numbers of Fulvous Whistling-Ducks either resting on the vegetative "mats" in the impoundments or swimming in the open waters in the impoundments. We estimate conservatively, 500 Fulvous Whistling-Ducks were present. We also saw far less numbers of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks; in all about 10 birds. Total duck species seen was 10: Blue & Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, American Wigeon, Ring-necked & Mottled Duck & one lone Ruddy Duck rounded out the other species. : : Shorebirds were also great. We saw at least 25 Black-necked Stilts(!), numerous Yellowlegs of both species, Least Sandpipers & Killdeer. : : One Sora. : : Waders: all present including a half-dozen or so Roseate Spoonbills, a lone American Bittern, numerous Glossy Ibis & several Black-crowned Night-Herons. : : Raptors: a hunting Peregrine Falcon within 100 feet was a nice sighting. Later, we'd see another (same bird?) resting on the cross-arms of a telephone pole on the north side of the first dike. Others: many Northern Harriers flying over the marshes; several Red-tailed Hawks (mostly on Blumberg Rd.), one fly-by Cooper's Hawk, many American Kestrels (again, mostly along the cane fields along Blumberg Rd.), the usual vultures in spades, one adult Bald Eagle, with another on Blumberg Rd. on a telephone pole on the way out to CR835, and several Ospreys. Amazingly, no Red-shouldered Hawks were seen anywhere! : : Passerines were few. Along the dikes we saw a small flock of Savannah Sparrows and larger flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds. Palm Warblers were common as well. Interestingly, on Blumberg Rd. on the way back to CR835, we watched flocks of egrets, grackles and gulls (mostly Ring-billed) following the cane harvesters wherever they were cutting the sugarcane. : : On the way back to Naples, Arthur & I checked out the once regal stand of cypress trees (Did I get that right Bill?) along the Miami Canal. Alas, no Barn Owls were seen. The Bolles Canal area held nothing of note either. We did see two Common Mynas at the trashed (from Hurricane Wilma) McDonald's in Clewiston. : : All in all, a great day of birding in one of my favorite birding counties in Florida! Thanks goes out to Margaret England for her hospitality and for allowing us to come out to STA-5. As a reminder, the next time STA-5 will be open to birders is on Saturday, January 21st. If you plan on going, please e-mail Margaret England <mlelighthouse@earthlink.net> ahead of time to obtain permission. Please note that this is duck hunting season and the hunters are chomping at the bit to enter STA-5, I think at 1:00PM. . . . Here is our day list: : : Pied-billed Grebe : American White Pelican (>300 for the day) : Double-crested Cormorant : Anhinga : American Bittern : Great Blue Heron : Great Egret : Snowy Egret : Little Blue Heron : Tricolored Heron : Cattle Egret : Green Heron : Black-crowned Night-Heron : White Ibis : Glossy Ibis : Roseate Spoonbill (half-dozen or so) : Wood Stork : Black Vulture : Turkey Vulture : Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (10 or so seen) : Fulvous Whistling Duck (>500) : American Wigeon : Mottled Duck : Blue-winged Teal : Northern Shoveler : Northern Pintail : Green-winged Teal : Ring-necked Duck : Ruddy Duck (x1) : Osprey : Bald Eagle (2 adults) : Northern Harrier : Cooper's Hawk (x1) : Red-tailed Hawk : Crested Caracara : American Kestrel : Peregrine Falcon (two different birds?) : Sora (x1) : Purple Gallinule : Common Moorhen : American Coot (80 bajillion!) : Purple Swamphen (these exotics may be "pushing out" endemics like Purple Gallinule?) : Sandhill Crane : Killdeer : Black-necked Stilt (>25) : Greater Yellowlegs : Lesser Yellowlegs : Solitary Sandpiper (x1) : Least Sandpiper : Long-billed Dowitcher : Wilson's Snipe : Laughing Gull : Ring-billed Gull : Black Skimmer (x3) : Rock Dove : Eurasian Collared-Dove : Mourning Dove : Common Ground-Dove : Belted Kingfisher : Eastern Phoebe : Loggerhead Shrike : Fish Crow : American Crow : Tree Swallow : Northern Rough-winged Swallow : Barn Swallow (>75) : Blue-gray Gnatcatcher : Northern Mockingbird : European Starling : Palm Warbler : Common Yellowthroat : Savannah Sparrow : Northern Cardinal : Red-winged Blackbird : Eastern Meadowlark : Common Grackle : Boat-tailed Grackle : : Good birding!
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