4/15/16
Pat and I decided to take the Danish group
to Frontera first the next day, and we had barely gotten out of the vehicles
before the Crimson-collared Grosbeak started calling from the thicket! By necessity we had to split up the group,
and unfortunately Pat’s group missed the bird while our group got brief but
identifiable looks of the bird just short of the Payne property, then again
along the trail that’s close to the new pond overlook. The Blue Bunting never showed while we were
there, but the lady Black-headed Grosbeak dutifully came to the feeders, and
the other feeder birds showed well (except for Green Jay, which remained
surprisingly shy during the course of the day).
The Green Kingfisher also gave fleeting looks as it shot across the pond
twice, and the Groove-billed Ani called and then showed itself for a handful of
folks. Several Red-crowned Parrots flew
around the palm as though they were thinking of lodging there, and an Olive
Sparrow gave crippling views near the Sabal Palm grove! A Blue-headed Vireo gave us fits by singing
but never coming out, while a Black-and-white Warbler was also singing his
heart out and being totally ignored! And
sometimes the birds we most take for granted are the highlights for visitors, as
the male Lesser Goldfinch in the citrus garden was the highlight for many!
Karen traces the path of our migrants on Pat's T-shirt!
Enjoying a Clay-colored Thrush at Frontera Thicket
Acrobatic Red-crowned Parrot
Black-bellied Whistling Duck
Immature White Ibis (note the water dripping from the bill!)
Black-crested Titmouse
Headed to Estero Llano Grande for lunch
after that, enjoying a lingering Cinnamon Teal off the deck. I got everyone on their feet when I saw a
kettle and thought they were Mississippi Kites at first, but they turned out to
be very pointy-looking Swainson’s Hawks!
Mary Gustafson came by about that time and gave great directions on how
to find the Pauraque, so we headed straight for Alligator Lake to look, but not
before stopping for Yellow-crowned Night Herons at Grebe Marsh! I thought I heard a phoebe but couldn’t spot
him; however, later I heard that one of our group had seen and photographed a
Black Phoebe there, so that’s undoubtedly what I heard. At the spot, Karen (one of our group)
miraculously found the Pauraque, so everyone had scope views of this great
bird! At the overlook, a Ringed
Kingfisher put on a great show by catching a fish, then beating the snot out of
it before gagging it down! (Later he
circled over Dowitcher Pond several times, rattling away…) We then dragged ourselves back to the VC where
the gang finally got a great look at a Buff-bellied Hummingbird, but a visit to
the Tropical Zone bore no Green Jays or Altamira Orioles (we did spot the
butterfly walk people, though… J).
Black-necked Stilt from the deck at Estero
The gang in the Tropical Zone
Some folks really wanted to try for
Buff-breasted Sandpiper, so from there we headed down to the Progresso Sod
Farms where we hit the jackpot: tons of
Golden Plovers, Pectoral and Baird’s Sandpipers, and a handful of Uplands and
Buff-breasted! We even found a couple of
Sprague’s Pipits! That entrance onto Hwy
281 was dicey, however… L
From there we headed to Santa Ana for a
last ditch effort for Altamira Oriole, and just before we crossed the canal a
Green Kingfisher was perched up on the railing!
Up on the levee we had lots of Broad-winged Hawks circling, and even a
Gray that chased a Broadie out of his air space! I heard a Beardless Tyrannulet in the woods,
so those who wanted to chase it came with me, and in the process we got great
looks at an immature Altamira Oriole!
After that the gang was willing to forego the tyrannulet in favor of ice
cream J, so we headed
back, only to find four more Altamiras on the levee!
Headed home with 90 species for the
day! Bird List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Gadwall
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Plain Chachalaca
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
White-faced Ibis
Turkey Vulture
Harris's Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Gray Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
American Golden-Plover
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Upland Sandpiper
Baird's Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Buff-breasted Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Rock Pigeon
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Inca Dove
Common Ground-Dove
White-tipped Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Groove-billed Ani
Common Pauraque
Chimney Swift
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Ringed Kingfisher
Green Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Green Parakeet
Red-crowned Parrot
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Black Phoebe
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Couch's Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Green Jay
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-crested Titmouse
House Wren
Carolina Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Clay-colored Thrush
Curve-billed Thrasher
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Sprague's Pipit
Black-and-white Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Olive Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Crimson-collared Grosbeak
Northern Cardinal
Black-headed Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Altamira Oriole
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow
90 SPECIES
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