Michael Marsden had taken Sally, Mike, and
another Brit named Tim out to the Island on Sunday after a strong cold front
Saturday night promised to down some migrants, and they had had a marvelous
time! But the good news was that Michael
had recommended they go out again today (and Keith concurred that migrants
often hang around up to three days after a good front), and they were certainly
game, as was I! Tim joined us today as
well, so away we went, heading straight to the Convention Centre.
I dropped them off as parking was tight,
and after I found a spot, I made my way back by way of the “circle bushes” (the
area within the roundabout drive that is often good on fallout days), and
before I met up with the gang I had already logged Blue-headed and Red-eyed
Vireo, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Tennessee Warbler, and a female
Scarlet Tanager! When I finally found
the crew in the back, they had already found a Bay-breasted and female Cerulean
Warbler practically side by side (they got me on the latter but not the
former), and Mike was shooting a brilliant Blackburnian Warbler practically at
eye level! Baltimore Orioles were all
over, as were the Indigo Buntings, and the gang informed me that the bird show
was just about as good as yesterday’s but without the crowds! J
Blue-headed Vireo
Indigo Bunting (also below)
Red-eyed Vireo
Female Scarlet Tanager
Peek-a-boo Blackburnian Warbler
We didn’t even make it out to the Flats as
we were so distracted by the migrants; an Ovenbird strutted around on the
grass, and three thrushes (Veery, Swainson’s, and Gray-cheeked) all gave great
comparative views! Somewhere in there
the guys found a Worm-eating Warbler while Sally and I circled around to the
back, and had a brilliant male Hooded Warbler come in! When we met up again, someone thought they
had a Mockingbird, but a second look revealed it to be a Black-billed
Cuckoo! The Lazuli Bunting had been seen
again, but he didn’t come out while we were there… L A nice female Yellow-headed Blackbird gave
good views, however.
Western Kingbird
Two shots of the Ovenbird
Female Yellow-headed Blackbird
Transitioning Indigo Bunting
Philadelphia Vireo
Baltimore Oriole
Tim, Sally, and Mike enjoy the show while Scarlet (in the pink and black below) comes over to schmooze. Thanks to her and her volunteers' hard work and dedication, the tired birds have plenty of food and water waiting for them when they "crash" on the Island!
Veery (giving the "Mad Thrush" look below)
Blue-headed Vireo (above and below)
"Beakless" Hooded Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Gray-cheeked Thrush
From there we went on the boardwalk (Mike
decided to stay at the Centre, but Tim wanted the Least Bittern J), and we enjoyed
the regular birds in the east pond. A
peep came in that Tim initially ID’d as White-rumped, but I figured it was a
little early for Whiterumps and it struck me more as a Baird’s, but it took off
before we could get the scope on it.
Continuing to the end the female Least Bittern did come out for us, and a squadron of skimmers came in and put on
a skimming show! The other boardwalk had
a Sora out in the open (which Sally really wanted to see), and the mangroves
were just swarming with migrants (most of which you couldn’t see in the
“stuff”)! The best one was a Blackburnian
Warbler that was working his way down the railing, snatching bugs as he
went! Baltimore Orioles were all over
(along with a few Orchards), and we did manage to catch sight of a Nashville
and Tennessee Warbler. Out at the end
Tim found us a female Red-breasted Merganser, which was nice. We had some nice butterflies as well that Tim
was focusing on: the Great Southern
Whites were all over, of course, but we also had the occasional White Peacock,
and both Common and Tropical Buckeyes.
Female Great-tailed Grackle
Eastern Kingbird (above and below)
Least Bittern
A few shots of the normally secretive Sora
Several shots of a Blackburnian Warbler that was working his way down the boardwalk!
Sally tries to shoot a Reddish Egret (below) at the end of the pier!
While out there I got an alert that a
Black-throated Blue Warbler had been seen at Sheepshead, so we ran back to
gather Mike and head over (but not before enjoying a big flock of Indigo
Buntings in the lawn with a pair of Blue Grosbeaks in with them)! That target was long gone, unfortunately, but
we did see some nice things, including lots of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and a
Black-throated Green Warbler. On the
“sunny side” a Yellow Warbler kept coming in to the drip, which was a big hit
for the guys! At one point I went to get
sandwiches while they stayed behind, and when I came back they were all
watching a Kentucky Warbler, which I missed, but we had seen the female last
week, so I wasn’t too disappointed! J The guys had also seen a Yellow-breasted Chat
while I was away…
Indigo Bunting mob with a token Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Undignified-looking Summer Tanager
Female Yellow Warbler - ho-hum to many, but a big hit for the Brits!
Baltimore Oriole working on an orange
Lincoln's Sparrow
From there I realized that we really
needed to hit the Birding Center if we were going to get home on time, so we
headed over, where a nice male Yellow-headed Blackbird greeted us! I ran into fellow Birder Patrollers Norma and Sue and some of the Big
Sit folks, and after we checked in we saw Mary G. keeping watch along with
Scarlet, and they had already gotten close to 130 species just in that one spot
(including a Prairie Warbler)! We
continued on the boardwalk, where we got distant views of Black-bellied Plover
and Caspian Tern, but the Mottled Ducks were close along with the Common
Gallinules, and even a big Clapper Rail came out in the open! Both Eastern and Western Kingbirds were fun
to see side by side, and in the mangroves we found several Northern
Waterthrushes; Tim spotted a Yellow-billed Cuckoo which we later got great
looks at. Swinging around the cleared
area we had another Sora, plus several Pectoral Sandpipers (one liked to bully
this poor Least Sandpiper), along with both Solitary and Spotted Sands. But this other peep came close and even flew
around a little, and it was indeed a White-rumped Sandpiper (he was even close
enough to see the diagnostic rusty base to the lower mandible)! So I reneged on my Baird’s… J
The gang enjoying birds from the Birding Center boardwalk
Tim scours the distant wetlands for goodies
Spotted Sandpiper
Cooperative Clapper Rail
Dull brown shoulder separates Clapper from King Rail, which has a rusty shoulder.
Tricolored Heron in full breeding colors
Pectoral Sandpiper
Common Gallinule (check out those toes!)
Mottled Duck
Black-bellied Whistling Duck
Immature Little Blue Heron (yes, really)
Black-necked Stilt
Yet another confiding Sora
We were surprised to see no Alligators,
but going by the east pond in better light we added the Redheads and some
Blue-winged Teal to the list. We also
managed to find what we figured was the same subadult Yellow-crowned Night
Heron we had seen last week! As we made
our way back to the parking lot we got great looks at the “tower” Peregrine,
and back at the car we had a little flock of birds where I saw some Lark
Sparrows and Tim spotted a Chipping Sparrow, and it was one of those situations
where you think you’re looking at the same bird (but you’re not) and start
having a debate about it! J Another Dickcissel was in with them, so I
think Mike finally got his shot! J There was a big flock of Brown-headed
Cowbirds there, along with a ground squirrel that I’m pretty sure was Spotted
(as opposed to the more common Mexican), as the spots weren’t in neat rows as
in the Mexican.
Pied-billed Grebe
(Check out the lobed toes!)
Blue-winged Teal
Peregrine Falcon catching a few zzz's
Spotted Ground Squirrel
Check out those claws!
Brown-headed Cowbird
We really had to take off after that, but
I promised to make a reeely quick
stop at the Hwy 48 Boat Ramp to try for the Oystercatcher. Dipped on that, but picked up Wilson’s Plover
and two tern species for the day instead.
A couple asking us about the Oystercatchers announced they had a
Swallow-tailed Kite on the way up that morning, which caused some consternation
amongst the group! J
Today’s list was the biggest yet (for me,
anyway), and I added eight species to the list which the gang saw but I
missed. Bird list:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Redhead
Red-breasted Merganser
Pied-billed Grebe
Neotropic Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Brown Pelican
Least Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Reddish Egret
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Harris's Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Clapper Rail
Sora
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
Black-bellied Plover
Wilson's Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Ruddy Turnstone
Stilt Sandpiper
Dunlin
Sanderling
Least Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Least Tern
Gull-billed Tern
Caspian Tern
Forster's Tern
Royal Tern
Black Skimmer
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Black-billed Cuckoo
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Peregrine Falcon
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Least Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Western Kingbird
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
Marsh Wren
Veery
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Swainson's Thrush
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Worm-eating Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Northern Parula
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Kentucky Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
Chipping Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Summer Tanager
Scarlet Tanager
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Painted Bunting
Dickcissel
Red-winged Blackbird
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
House Sparrow
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