The best bird I had today was a FOY CHIMNEY SWIFT that I saw while hawk watching on top of the Butler Lake building from 9:45-11am. Also saw 2 COOPER'S HAWKS, 1 BALD EAGLE, 1 TURKEY VULTURE, 7 E. RED-TAILED HAWKS and 0 Broad-wings.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Too much work.....
Today birding seemed like work. I had to work real hard (lots of pishing and waiting and many miles walking) in order to see few birds. And, once again, I missed a Broad-winged Hawk seen by someone else in the same area. Unbelievable. I started at McDonald Woods where Jim had a broad-wing yesterday. No such luck today. The only birds where your common migrant white-throats, RC Kinglets, and yellow-rumps. I did have nice looks at a male PINE WARBLER and heard another, but those were the best birds. Then I headed to school and walked the lake from about 8-9am. Didn't see a whole lot but Nick Minor had a Broad-winged Hawk and a Black-and-White Warbler. Missed both of those. Also nothing at Old School FP and I whiffed again on Barred Owl at Daniel Wright.
The best bird I had today was a FOY CHIMNEY SWIFT that I saw while hawk watching on top of the Butler Lake building from 9:45-11am. Also saw 2 COOPER'S HAWKS, 1 BALD EAGLE, 1 TURKEY VULTURE, 7 E. RED-TAILED HAWKS and 0 Broad-wings.
Chimney Swift #145
The best bird I had today was a FOY CHIMNEY SWIFT that I saw while hawk watching on top of the Butler Lake building from 9:45-11am. Also saw 2 COOPER'S HAWKS, 1 BALD EAGLE, 1 TURKEY VULTURE, 7 E. RED-TAILED HAWKS and 0 Broad-wings.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Earth Day Weekend
Wasn't expecting a lot this weekend. We've had a lot of N/NW/NE winds the past few days so I wasn't thinking that there would be many migrants. Nevertheless, I headed down to Waukegan Beach and Ryerson Woods to try and nab a couple of birds before heading to my game at Highland Park.
The beach at Waukegan had nothing on it, so the trip didn't start off well. I decided to take a walk through the blond grass in front of the beach parking lot before I left to try to find a Leconte's Sparrow given that my time was dwindling for this species. I kicked up a Song, a Swamp Sparrow, another Swamp, and then I kicked up a small bird that jumped into a very small bare shrub. I got my bins on it and was elated to see the golden face and gray cheeks of a beautiful LECONTE'S SPARROW! Bingo! These birds are extremely tough to find, and this bird was providing awesome looks, even though there were a couple of small branches in front of him.
These are the most beautiful of the sparrows IMO and my 2nd favorite bird. I drank in the long looks and then headed over to the pines to see what I could get there.
Saw a few more kinglets, and white-throated sparrows, but also my FOY HOUSE WREN. It was only a quick glimpse, but good enough to ID. It also began singing which clarified matters.
I then headed quickly over to Ryerson Woods to see if I could get a Louisiana Waterthrush. Unfortunately I whiffed on that bird. There were many birds singing, though, and I found a few new warblers. There were singing Nashville, Orange-crowned, Black-throated Green, and Yellow-rumped Warblers. I was able to get nice looks at NASHVILLE and BLACK-THROATED GREEN, but the Orange-crowned continues to elude me.
Fast forward to Sunday. I was chosen to lead a COS trip at Rollins Savanna. The weather was a tad cold but pretty calm to start. We headed out from the Washington St. lot and immediately had a t'slicking Henslow's Sparrow. We couldn't find it, though. We ended up with 5 and finally got some nice scope looks at one. Our next target was a blackbird so we drove over to the animal hospital and tried to find the bird. Finally after a couple minutes of searching, a YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD popped into view in my scope.
He didn't stick around long, though, and I wasn't able to get anybody on the bird, though one other person saw him as well.
A trip to the north side didn't turn up much other than bluebirds and field sparrows, so we headed to the tennis court lot. There was a calling Cooper's Hawk in the small woodlot near the parking lot, but the best bird was a wheezing BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER.
So the trip ended and I headed over to COLSP to check the pines. I heard a Pine Warbler but no Yellow-throated. There were tons of gnatcatchers, RC Kinglets, and YR Warblers. Also saw a female WILD TURKEY, 3 FORSTER'S TERNS, and the Bird-of-the-day, a singing BLUE-HEADED VIREO! 144 baby :)
The beach at Waukegan had nothing on it, so the trip didn't start off well. I decided to take a walk through the blond grass in front of the beach parking lot before I left to try to find a Leconte's Sparrow given that my time was dwindling for this species. I kicked up a Song, a Swamp Sparrow, another Swamp, and then I kicked up a small bird that jumped into a very small bare shrub. I got my bins on it and was elated to see the golden face and gray cheeks of a beautiful LECONTE'S SPARROW! Bingo! These birds are extremely tough to find, and this bird was providing awesome looks, even though there were a couple of small branches in front of him.
Saw a few more kinglets, and white-throated sparrows, but also my FOY HOUSE WREN. It was only a quick glimpse, but good enough to ID. It also began singing which clarified matters.
A trip to the north side didn't turn up much other than bluebirds and field sparrows, so we headed to the tennis court lot. There was a calling Cooper's Hawk in the small woodlot near the parking lot, but the best bird was a wheezing BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER.
So the trip ended and I headed over to COLSP to check the pines. I heard a Pine Warbler but no Yellow-throated. There were tons of gnatcatchers, RC Kinglets, and YR Warblers. Also saw a female WILD TURKEY, 3 FORSTER'S TERNS, and the Bird-of-the-day, a singing BLUE-HEADED VIREO! 144 baby :)
Friday, April 20, 2012
2 more for the year
Things have been a little slow bird wise lately. I've been immersed in baseball and we've been having a lot of rain and north winds this week. We did have south winds yesterday and the day before so I went to Waukegan Beach and Redwing Slough before school the last couple of days. Unfortunately, I didn't see much other than a Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs on the beach. At Redwing, I went to look for a Yellow-throated Warbler but failed. I did hear a Pine Warbler. On the way back to the car at Ravens Glen West, I heard a t'slick-ing HENSLOW'S SPARROW right next to the parking lot. Listen here:
henslow's song.
This morning after the rains I took a walk around Butler Lake and found my FOY PALM WARBLER.
Tomorrow I can hopefully find a Louisiana Waterthrush. TTFN.
henslow's song.
This morning after the rains I took a walk around Butler Lake and found my FOY PALM WARBLER.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
The Storms
Jim and I then parted ways, with him going to North Point Marina and me going to Ft. Sheridan to look for Leconte's Sparrow.
Neither one of us found much so we headed to Middlefork Savanna. Jim got there before me so he was pretty much done when I arrived, but I wanted to check out the north end fluddles before I left, so I walked off-trail. I ran into a group of 5 Greater Yellowlegs, 2 Pectoral sandpipers, and my FOY SOLITARY SANDPIPER.
My last stop of the afternoon was Independence Grove. Jim had 2 Forster's Terns yesterday, which I missed, and others have had Bonaparte's Gull, which I've missed about 5x now, so when Jim texted me that both were on the beach, I made haste and got there as quickly as legally possible. Got nice looks at 1 winter plumage BONAPARTE'S GULL and 2 breeding plumage FORSTER'S TERN.
Forster's Tern
So I ended the day with 4 new birds, though it could easily have been 6. I had a falcon fly over me that I thought was a Merlin, but then concluded it was a female kestrel with backlighting. The mask on the face was too dark for a Merlin. So the weekend ends with no real good birds like a Bittern or a Leconte's or a Lark Sparrow, all of which were found at Montrose this weekend. Location, location, location. The morning ends at 134.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
A Tale of Two Outings
Last night we had SSE winds and all week various birding prognosticators were saying that we should have our first big push of migrants this weekend. So, needless to say, expectations were high. This is the kiss-of-death in birding. Expectations are rarely met in my birding world and today was no different.
I started the morning at Waukegan Beach hoping to find some gulls or shorebirds. Well, there were no shorebirds and the only gulls were Herring and Ring-billed, as usual. A walk through the grass yielded no Leconte's Sparrows, though one was found at Montrose today. In other words, Waukegan was dead as a doornail. Unreal. So I headed to my next destination which was Ryerson Woods to look for Louisiana Waterthrush, which has been fairly regular there the past few years. I spent the next 2 hours walking around at Ryerson. Not only did I miss the waterthrush, but I found no new birds at all. Lots of robins, cardinals, and Yellow-rumped Warblers. The time came for me to go to my baseball game, so I left for Evanston with 0 new birds for the year. Very disappointing.
As the games progressed, I kept getting texts about the new birds Jim Solum was finding in various locations. It was a little frustrating knowing that I made bad choices this morning. I should have gone to Middlefork Savanna instead of Ryerson.
Bring on outing #2. On my way home from the games, I had just enough time to stop at Middlefork and Independence Grove on my way to church.
Middlefork is the only spot I know of in Lake County to have produced any shorebirds yet this year, so I stopped there and, thanks to Jim and Michal Furmanek, was able to locate 2 GREATER YELLOWLEGS and 4 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS.
Greater Yellowlegs
Pectoral Sandpiper
While looking at the sandpipers, I heard the rough buzzing sound of a swallow and was able to see 2 NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS.
Also heard a calling SORA RAIL right next to the trail.
Listen here: sora.
My last stop of the day was Independence Grove. Jim had 2 Forster's Terns there earlier. I didn't see any Forster's, but I did see a full PURPLE MARTIN house.
So the day went from 0 new birds to 5. Turned out to be a pretty nice day after all. We'll see what happens tomorrow with storms coming tonight.
I started the morning at Waukegan Beach hoping to find some gulls or shorebirds. Well, there were no shorebirds and the only gulls were Herring and Ring-billed, as usual. A walk through the grass yielded no Leconte's Sparrows, though one was found at Montrose today. In other words, Waukegan was dead as a doornail. Unreal. So I headed to my next destination which was Ryerson Woods to look for Louisiana Waterthrush, which has been fairly regular there the past few years. I spent the next 2 hours walking around at Ryerson. Not only did I miss the waterthrush, but I found no new birds at all. Lots of robins, cardinals, and Yellow-rumped Warblers. The time came for me to go to my baseball game, so I left for Evanston with 0 new birds for the year. Very disappointing.
As the games progressed, I kept getting texts about the new birds Jim Solum was finding in various locations. It was a little frustrating knowing that I made bad choices this morning. I should have gone to Middlefork Savanna instead of Ryerson.
Bring on outing #2. On my way home from the games, I had just enough time to stop at Middlefork and Independence Grove on my way to church.
Middlefork is the only spot I know of in Lake County to have produced any shorebirds yet this year, so I stopped there and, thanks to Jim and Michal Furmanek, was able to locate 2 GREATER YELLOWLEGS and 4 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS.
While looking at the sandpipers, I heard the rough buzzing sound of a swallow and was able to see 2 NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS.
Listen here: sora.
My last stop of the day was Independence Grove. Jim had 2 Forster's Terns there earlier. I didn't see any Forster's, but I did see a full PURPLE MARTIN house.
Friday, April 13, 2012
The soft warbling trill
Started off my day today determined to find a Pine Warbler. I'm sure that I heard 2 of them singing yesterday at St. Mary's Seminary in Mundelein. I couldn't get a look however. Listen here: pine warbler.
Anyway, I went back this morning to try and get a look. In one of the spots I heard them yesterday, I heard an unfamiliar chip note, so I stopped to check it out and was rewarded with a couple of nice looks at a female PINE WARBLER.
I wanted to see the male, though, so I continued to another spot where one was singing yesterday up in a pine tree (go figure :). He was still singing this morning and I was able to get some nice looks at him as well. My first non-YR Warbler of the year!
#125
Anyway, I went back this morning to try and get a look. In one of the spots I heard them yesterday, I heard an unfamiliar chip note, so I stopped to check it out and was rewarded with a couple of nice looks at a female PINE WARBLER.
I wanted to see the male, though, so I continued to another spot where one was singing yesterday up in a pine tree (go figure :). He was still singing this morning and I was able to get some nice looks at him as well. My first non-YR Warbler of the year!
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Adding a couple more...
So the winds were out of the North today and it was COLD!! Only in the 30's this morning. It was sunny out, though, so I thought I would check out the action around Butler Lake. Not a lot going on. There were 4 Pied-billed Grebes on the lake and a bunch of Tree Swallows flying around. I watched the Tree Swallows for a few minutes and thought I saw one with some orange on its belly. Sure enough I saw it again along with the streaming tail feathers. Positive ID for FOY BARN SWALLOW.
Later after practice I stopped at Almond Marsh on the way home and had nice looks at 2 adult BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERONS #123.
Not a bad day after all.
Later after practice I stopped at Almond Marsh on the way home and had nice looks at 2 adult BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERONS #123.
Not a bad day after all.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Chipping Sparrow #122
A pretty slow day with birds being pretty much the same on the lakefront as last week. The only new bird was a CHIPPING SPARROW. I heard one singing on Edwards Rd. and another in the parking lot at Lyons Woods where I had a nice look at the bird.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Vespers galore!
Today is Good Friday. The day that Jesus died for our sins. He's been my friend and savior for many years, now, and I thank him again for his ultimate sacrifice. As I venture out to look for birds I am constantly reminded of the blessings he has bestowed on me and the wonders of God's creation.
My goal this morning was to find Vesper Sparrows and Pine Warbler. I was 1 for 2. The warbler I knew would be a stretch. It's still about a week early and with north winds blowing, new migrants were not likely. Vespers, on the other hand, have been seen in a number of spots already, including my destination, Ft. Sheridan preserve. Ft. Sheridan is a vast expanse of grassland with wooded ravines running along the north and south edge. I honestly don't bird here much, but it's a great place for sparrows, and I think I may spend more time here in the coming few weeks as I take my best shot at finding LeConte's Sparrow and a Smith's Longspur, both of which have been found at Ft. Sheridan in the past.
Anyway, Vesper Sparrows have always been a tough bird for me to find in Lake County, and when I do find one, it's an isolated bird singing in some old cornfield usually. I've actually only seen one once that wasn't in corn stubble. Something that Jim taught me about Vespers is that they love burned areas. Last year he found a Vesper in a newly-burned area at Almond Marsh. It was just my luck today that Ft. Sheridan had just recently been burned, and it proved too much for the Vesper Sparrows to resist. I have never seen so many VESPER SPARROWS in one place before in my life. There were at least 6 and I think 9 or 10 is probably more likely given the number of birds flying around the edge of the burned area.
When I got out of the car, I decided I would walk through the grassland on the north edge and head west. Then I would double back and head east through the center. The burned area was adjacent to the parking lot and I had to walk through it to get to the north edge of the preserve. In so doing I flushed a couple of birds but they flew far and I didn't get a look at them. As I neared the ravine on the edge of the burn, I heard a Vesper Sparrow singing. I got decent looks at it, but then another flew in with it. Then I heard one singing behind me in the burned area and another singing further west along the ravine. There were at least 6 birds in that immediate area and probably more. It was awesome.
These are my pictures I took this morning. They're not the best, but you can see some of the diagnostic features of the Vesper Sparrow. The bold white eye ring and the white stripe extending downward from the side of the bird's bill (malar stripe) stand out and ID the bird as a Vesper. The lack of an obvious crown stripe also further separates it from any similar species like a Savannah Sparrow, for example, which were also very plentiful.
My next stop was McDonald Woods in Lindenhurst to check for Pine Warblers. It was pretty birdy but nothing out of the ordinary save for at least 4 singing Field Sparrows. The Pine Warblers were a no show, but I did have nice looks at a Red-breasted Nuthatch right above my head. There was also a 2nd bird calling in the background.
My goal this morning was to find Vesper Sparrows and Pine Warbler. I was 1 for 2. The warbler I knew would be a stretch. It's still about a week early and with north winds blowing, new migrants were not likely. Vespers, on the other hand, have been seen in a number of spots already, including my destination, Ft. Sheridan preserve. Ft. Sheridan is a vast expanse of grassland with wooded ravines running along the north and south edge. I honestly don't bird here much, but it's a great place for sparrows, and I think I may spend more time here in the coming few weeks as I take my best shot at finding LeConte's Sparrow and a Smith's Longspur, both of which have been found at Ft. Sheridan in the past.
Anyway, Vesper Sparrows have always been a tough bird for me to find in Lake County, and when I do find one, it's an isolated bird singing in some old cornfield usually. I've actually only seen one once that wasn't in corn stubble. Something that Jim taught me about Vespers is that they love burned areas. Last year he found a Vesper in a newly-burned area at Almond Marsh. It was just my luck today that Ft. Sheridan had just recently been burned, and it proved too much for the Vesper Sparrows to resist. I have never seen so many VESPER SPARROWS in one place before in my life. There were at least 6 and I think 9 or 10 is probably more likely given the number of birds flying around the edge of the burned area.
When I got out of the car, I decided I would walk through the grassland on the north edge and head west. Then I would double back and head east through the center. The burned area was adjacent to the parking lot and I had to walk through it to get to the north edge of the preserve. In so doing I flushed a couple of birds but they flew far and I didn't get a look at them. As I neared the ravine on the edge of the burn, I heard a Vesper Sparrow singing. I got decent looks at it, but then another flew in with it. Then I heard one singing behind me in the burned area and another singing further west along the ravine. There were at least 6 birds in that immediate area and probably more. It was awesome.
These are my pictures I took this morning. They're not the best, but you can see some of the diagnostic features of the Vesper Sparrow. The bold white eye ring and the white stripe extending downward from the side of the bird's bill (malar stripe) stand out and ID the bird as a Vesper. The lack of an obvious crown stripe also further separates it from any similar species like a Savannah Sparrow, for example, which were also very plentiful.
My next stop was McDonald Woods in Lindenhurst to check for Pine Warblers. It was pretty birdy but nothing out of the ordinary save for at least 4 singing Field Sparrows. The Pine Warblers were a no show, but I did have nice looks at a Red-breasted Nuthatch right above my head. There was also a 2nd bird calling in the background.
Tomorrow south winds. Hooray. Hopefully a Louisiana Waterthrush will show up :)
April 1.....No Foolin!
Well, reality has set in. Michelle and I returned from our haven in the Keys yesterday so we could gather ourselves and get ready to go back to work next week. Needless to say, I took the opportunity that I had in the morning to do some birding after my small group meeting with Brent and Matt. I wasn't expecting a lot. I mean it's only April 1. I did have some early migrant target birds, but nothing out of the ordinary. Rarely do I get my target birds for the day, but today was one of those days. I had 6 birds I was hoping to see, and I got all of them plus a couple of other nice additions.
The day started off pretty nicely with a Jim Solum sighting in the parking lot of Waukegan Beach at 8:40am. A Purple Sandpiper had been seen the day before, so we checked out the pier and the beach but didn't see anything noteworthy. Jim didn't have as much time as I did, so he was in a hurry to go to IBSP which was opening today for the first time in about 10 months. I was also looking forward to checking the park trails out, but I thought that the pines area would be good to check before we left. It turned out to be a pretty good spot. We both added RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, BROWN THRASHER, and YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER to our Lake County Year lists, and we also had nice looks at 2 Fox Sparrows and a Brown Creeper.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Brown Thrasher
On the way out I saw some birds moving in the vacant lot west of Seahorse Dr., so I pulled over to check out the action. It was mostly Dark-eyed Juncos but mixed in with the group was my first look at a male PURPLE FINCH. Nice! Love those birds.
Jim and I then headed to IBSP South. We started at the deciduous woods lot just inside the entrance. This proved to be the best spot of the day by far. We added great looks here at a WINTER WREN, and singing EASTERN TOWHEE as well as more Ruby-crowned Kinglets and a couple of Golden-crowned Kinglets. We then parked in the visitor center lot and checked out the path behind the lodge. Lots of Fox Sparrows and a Field Sparrow were found here but no Vespers. We ran into Paul and Janice Sweet and Al Stokie who said that they didn't see much, so Jim and I parted ways. I stopped back at the deciduous woods on the way out and checked the east side of the road. Another good call. I picked up my FOY HERMIT THRUSH!
Winter Wren
Hermit Thrush
Eastern Towhee
Turned out to be a pretty awesome day of birding. Thanks to Jim for finding the Winter Wren and giving me the heads up on that one!
The day started off pretty nicely with a Jim Solum sighting in the parking lot of Waukegan Beach at 8:40am. A Purple Sandpiper had been seen the day before, so we checked out the pier and the beach but didn't see anything noteworthy. Jim didn't have as much time as I did, so he was in a hurry to go to IBSP which was opening today for the first time in about 10 months. I was also looking forward to checking the park trails out, but I thought that the pines area would be good to check before we left. It turned out to be a pretty good spot. We both added RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, BROWN THRASHER, and YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER to our Lake County Year lists, and we also had nice looks at 2 Fox Sparrows and a Brown Creeper.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
On the way out I saw some birds moving in the vacant lot west of Seahorse Dr., so I pulled over to check out the action. It was mostly Dark-eyed Juncos but mixed in with the group was my first look at a male PURPLE FINCH. Nice! Love those birds.
Jim and I then headed to IBSP South. We started at the deciduous woods lot just inside the entrance. This proved to be the best spot of the day by far. We added great looks here at a WINTER WREN, and singing EASTERN TOWHEE as well as more Ruby-crowned Kinglets and a couple of Golden-crowned Kinglets. We then parked in the visitor center lot and checked out the path behind the lodge. Lots of Fox Sparrows and a Field Sparrow were found here but no Vespers. We ran into Paul and Janice Sweet and Al Stokie who said that they didn't see much, so Jim and I parted ways. I stopped back at the deciduous woods on the way out and checked the east side of the road. Another good call. I picked up my FOY HERMIT THRUSH!
Turned out to be a pretty awesome day of birding. Thanks to Jim for finding the Winter Wren and giving me the heads up on that one!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Spring Break '12 - Florida Keys
Wow. That's about all I can say. If you've never been to the Keys, GO! It's beautiful and surrounded by everything you could want in a vacation spot. Needless to say, most of my interests had to do with finding lifers. It was a tough week on that front, though. I put in a lot of time searching but only got 6 and 4 were on the Dry Tortugas boat trip. Not my best total, but still got to see lots of great birds.
Day 1: Upon leaving the airport, Michelle and I headed out to look for Red-whiskered Bulbul and Spot-breasted Oriole. Drove to a couple of well-publicized spots but came up empty. Did see some Mitred Parakeets, though.
Day 2:
Today was snail kite day. I drove to Shark Valley on Rt. 41 and got to the Indian Restaurant roost site at 7am. Unfortunately I never saw the kites there. I think I was too far east. I did hear my lifer Chuck-Will's-Widow calling right next to me, though. As the sun came up bird activity increased. I had these guys in the parking lot.
Black Vulture
As the park opened, I sought the wisdom of one of the park rangers who told me that my best chance of seeing a kite was to walk the levee and look into the miles of sawgrass. So this I did. After about 15 minutes I saw this lovely female:
Lifer SNAIL KITE!
Day 3:
Michelle and I took a day trip to the Everglades today. Unfortunately we got rained on a bit and the deer flies were so bad that we didn't do much trail walking but we still saw some good birds:
Lifer Swallow-tailed Kite
Common Gallinule
Black-necked Stilt
Roseate Spoonbill
Day 4:
Today my goal was to find a White-crowned Pigeon in Key Largo. I went to the Botanical Garden, which is supposed to be a great spot for them. Unfortunately there were 15-20mph winds so birds were staying low. Consequently I saw nothing......except lots of Northern Cardinals.
Day 5:
Today was our trip by boat to Dry Tortugas National Park. It's a series of keys with lots of birds. One of the top 5 birding destinations in the country. And once again it rained on us. This time for a significant period of time, say 2 hrs. So birding/snorkeling time was severely diminished. I did get 4 lifers out of the trip, though:
1. Masked Booby- Hospital Key
2. Sooty Tern
3. Brown Noddy
4. Magnificent frigatebird
Also saw some other cool birds:
1. Cave Swallow
2. Worm-eating warbler
3. Hooded Warbler
4. Black-and-White Warbler
5. Am. Kestrel
Brown Noddy
Sooty Terns
Magnificent Frigatebird
Day 6:
Our last day in the Keys I spent looking for shorebirds, which I found, and a Wilson's Plover, which I did NOT find. Had the following shorebirds:
6 Black-bellied Plovers
12 Western Sandpipers
7 Willets
4 Semipalmated Sandpipers
8 Ruddy Turnstones
6 Semipalmated Plovers
15 Least Sandpipers
16 Short-billed Dowitchers
It truly was a little slice of heaven. Can't wait to get back and get those birds I missed :)!
Day 1: Upon leaving the airport, Michelle and I headed out to look for Red-whiskered Bulbul and Spot-breasted Oriole. Drove to a couple of well-publicized spots but came up empty. Did see some Mitred Parakeets, though.
Day 2:
Today was snail kite day. I drove to Shark Valley on Rt. 41 and got to the Indian Restaurant roost site at 7am. Unfortunately I never saw the kites there. I think I was too far east. I did hear my lifer Chuck-Will's-Widow calling right next to me, though. As the sun came up bird activity increased. I had these guys in the parking lot.
Purple Gallinule
As the park opened, I sought the wisdom of one of the park rangers who told me that my best chance of seeing a kite was to walk the levee and look into the miles of sawgrass. So this I did. After about 15 minutes I saw this lovely female:
Day 3:
Michelle and I took a day trip to the Everglades today. Unfortunately we got rained on a bit and the deer flies were so bad that we didn't do much trail walking but we still saw some good birds:
Day 4:
Today my goal was to find a White-crowned Pigeon in Key Largo. I went to the Botanical Garden, which is supposed to be a great spot for them. Unfortunately there were 15-20mph winds so birds were staying low. Consequently I saw nothing......except lots of Northern Cardinals.
Day 5:
Today was our trip by boat to Dry Tortugas National Park. It's a series of keys with lots of birds. One of the top 5 birding destinations in the country. And once again it rained on us. This time for a significant period of time, say 2 hrs. So birding/snorkeling time was severely diminished. I did get 4 lifers out of the trip, though:
1. Masked Booby- Hospital Key
2. Sooty Tern
3. Brown Noddy
4. Magnificent frigatebird
Also saw some other cool birds:
1. Cave Swallow
2. Worm-eating warbler
3. Hooded Warbler
4. Black-and-White Warbler
5. Am. Kestrel
Day 6:
Our last day in the Keys I spent looking for shorebirds, which I found, and a Wilson's Plover, which I did NOT find. Had the following shorebirds:
6 Black-bellied Plovers
12 Western Sandpipers
7 Willets
4 Semipalmated Sandpipers
8 Ruddy Turnstones
6 Semipalmated Plovers
15 Least Sandpipers
16 Short-billed Dowitchers
It truly was a little slice of heaven. Can't wait to get back and get those birds I missed :)!
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