Posted by Paul Bithorn on November 03, 2015 at 20:42:22
Ten intrepid birders participated in Tropical Audubon Society's annual fall field trip to Shark Valley and Loop Road on Saturday, October 31, 2015. Overcast skies and lower humidity kept the weather conditions quite comfortable. Mosquitoes were not that much of a problem and there were no deer flies. Water levels in both locations were high but the bird diversity was better than expected. Sixty-two (64) species (may have missed a few seen by others), including twelve (14) warblers, were tallied including: Pied-billed Grebe Double-crested Cormorant Anhinga Great Blue Heron Great Egret Snowy Egret Little Blue Heron Tricolored Heron Cattle Egret Green Heron White Ibis Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Osprey Snail Kite (1 at abandoned airboat meeting place) (1 at airboat ramp just west of meeting place) Cooper’s Hawk Red-shouldered Hawk Purple Gallinule Common Gallinule Laughing Gull (on the Tamiami Canal near the Miccosukee Hotel) Rock Pigeon Eurasian Collared-Dove Mourning Dove Barred Owl (heard on Loop Road) Chuck-will’s-widow (flew across Tamiami Trail at dawn near Trail Gun Range) Ruby-throated Hummingbird Belted Kingfisher Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker American Kestrel Eastern Phoebe Great Crested Flycatcher White-eyed Vireo Yellow-throated Vireo Blue-headed Vireo Blue Jay American Crow House Wren Carolina Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird European Starling Ovenbird Northern Waterthrush Black-and-white Warbler Orange-crowned Warbler Common Yellowthroat American Redstart Cape May Warbler Northern Parula Magnolia Warbler Black-throated Blue Palm Warbler Pine Warbler (heard) Yellow-rumped Warbler Yellow-throated Warbler Eastern Towhee (heard) Northern Cardinal Painted Bunting Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Boat-tailed Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird Several Dragonflies (including Green Skimmer, Roseate Skimmer, Black Saddlebag Skimmer and Halloween Pennants) Red-waisted Florela Moth (a real beauty!) Liguus Fasciatus FloridaTree Snails (several color forms) Orthalicus floridensis Banded Tree Snail Life is good..........................