For Mike’s last full day (and Sally’s last
half day) we decided to hit Estero Llano Grande once again after reports that a
Purple Gallinule was showing well for a few days! We started off early so we could get the car
packed (picking up the resident Lesser Nighthawks batting around) and headed
over to the park. We went straight to
the deck, where the sun was at a terrible angle to start, but we were able to enjoy lots of Stilt
Sandpipers and Long-billed Dowitchers, along with a few Least Sandpipers and
several Black-necked Stilts. I wandered
over to the boardwalk to look at Ibis Pond in better light, and added
Blue-winged Teal and Little Blue Heron, but no gallinule was showing. Mary G. showed up and pointed out a Sora
across the way, and a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird bullied everyone else away
from the feeder!
After the visitor center (and thus the
restrooms) opened, we took care of business and planned to hike the loop on the
boardwalk, enjoying the Purple Martin pair on the way. But this time, as we scanned the pond, the
Purple Gallinule suddenly appeared across the way, posing on a small log! Granted, he looked to be a subadult, but he
still had enough purple to be stunning!
Also on the boardwalk a Lesser Goldfinch posed for us in a mesquite
right over the trail, then later flew to the sunflowers where several other
goldfinches came in and caused a little skirmish! What looked like a raptor sitting on a
distant dead tree was actually a Black-bellied Whistling Duck.
Female Purple Martin
Subadult Purple Gallinule
Lesser Goldfinch
This may be a first-year bird as well, as his back isn't as black as it should be for a full adult.
As we connected with the trail to the
Tropical Zone, Sally spotted a Long-billed Thrasher sitting up on the top of a
tree, and a couple of Orchard Orioles in a mesquite at eye level! Heading on in, we discovered a Mockingbird
and a Curve-billed Thrasher singing in the same Norfolk Pine, and then they
showed me where the tyrannulet nest was (now empty of its brood). A Groove-billed Ani was a nice surprise, and
we were also pleasantly surprised to find the Screech Owl in his tree, but on
the opposite side of where I usually look!
He was just adorable! A 15 minute
watch at the drip only yielded a Catbird for a mimid sweep and a couple of
Mexican Bluewings (along with some flyby Green Parakeets), so we continued on
the trail where I noticed a big-headed, short-tailed flycatcher sitting right
on the tip of a stick, so we circled around to where the light was better,
confirming an Olive-sided Flycatcher! He
was promptly forgotten when a female Ladder-backed Woodpecker came in and stole
the show!
Mike and Sally on the connector trail
The Screech Owl is on the other side of the tree this time!
Mexican Bluewing sipping on an orange
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Sally and Mike wanted to go back to the
deck for the remaining time before having to leave for the airport, so I
dropped off my jacket at the car before joining them, and almost spooked a
Rose-breasted Grosbeak on the seed tray along the brick walkway! The only new thing we really added during our
watch was a Red-tailed Hawk, so we reluctantly headed to the airport, kissed
Sally goodbye, and blasted out to the Island for one last migrant blitz!
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
They had gotten most of the reported
rarities with Michael over the weekend, but I was tickled to see many new year
birds: Redstart, Prairie Warbler,
Western Tanager, and Magnolia Warbler (the latter new for Mike) came fast and
furious, along with old friends such as Swainson’s Thrush and Tennessee
Warbler. A report of a Bell’s Vireo at
Sheepshead sent us heading that direction, and when we pulled up Lizzy had the
bird in her sights, so Mike got a look at another rarity and another life
bird! (The thing wasn’t too cooperative
for photos, though, although I think some of the folks got some…) Another lady spotted a Palm Warbler, which
was another new bird for Mike! There was
a lot of general action there as well:
Northern Waterthrush, Yellow Warbler, and lots of Baltimore Orioles were
about, and across the street on the “sunny side” a Groove-billed Ani was
entertaining people! An Ovenbird and
Yellowthroat showed up at the drip, but I missed the Bay-breasted Warbler that
had shown… L
Mike and I return to the Convention Centre for more migrants!
Mystery Empid - some folks suggested Yellow-bellied, but the bill seemed too thin and the throat too pale and contrasting to me. These last two points made me think Least, but it was a relatively large empid, and the general shape of the bird didn't seem to fit Least to me. However, to my knowledge, Yellow-bellied is the only Empid to show an actual yellow belly in the spring (almost all of them can show yellow in the fall). Feedback welcome!
The ubiquitous Baltimore Oriole
A very friendly American Redstart followed us around...
...whereas the rare Prairie Warbler was harder to get!
Today the Swainson's Thrush was using the white rope as a perch!
Over at Sheepshead, a rare Bell's Vireo was causing excitement!
Went back to the “shady side” to see how
Mike was doing (we had my walkie talkies to keep in touch), and while at first
he was game to stay late, he suddenly remembered that he needed to print his
boarding passes, so that made the decision for us to head back. But we didn’t get far: Mike was already in the car and I was
switching out my water when I noticed activity in the tree behind me, and there
was the Bell’s Vireo! Mike was out in a
nano-second (as were the folks waiting for the thing to reappear at the fence),
and we all positioned ourselves around this eye-level tree in great light that
had Black-throated Green, Tennessee, Nashville, and Chestnut-sided Warblers all
vying for attention! Suddenly the Palm
Warbler got into the action, which elicited another round of
shutter-clicking! I was on my way back
to the car when I spotted a Philadelphia Vireo (a Warbling had been spotted
earlier), so that turned out to be a pretty birdy little tree!
The gang gathers around a bird-stuffed mesquite on the corner of Sheepshead and Laguna!
The Black-throated Green Warbler was only too happy to show off...
...while the Chestnut-sided Warbler was more shy!
Another rarity, the Palm Warbler, grants glimpses.
Without even being able to see the head, this guy can be ID'd by his streaky brown plumage and bright yellow undertail coverts (to say nothing of his tail-pumping habit)!
We finally tore ourselves away from that
spot in order to make a quick stop at the pond where the White-winged Scoter
had shown up, along with another Purple Gallinule; the bird was way on the
other side, and to be honest, I never would have guessed it was a White-winged
except for the fact that someone had actually seen the white wing patches; it
was a pretty sorry-looking bird! We did manage to see the Purple Gallinule
also across the way, and off-duty Ranger John pulled up just in time to see
both birds!
Vagrant (and probably sick) White-winged Scoter
From there we headed home, with a
respectable 96 species for the day (and we didn’t even check the Flats – I’m
sure we would have broken 100 had we done that)! Bird List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Redhead
White-winged Scoter
Plain Chachalaca
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Green Heron
White Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Turkey Vulture
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Harris's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Sora
Purple Gallinule
Common Gallinule
Black-necked Stilt
Black-bellied Plover
Lesser Yellowlegs
Stilt Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Phalarope
Laughing Gull
Royal Tern
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Inca Dove
White-tipped Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Groove-billed Ani
Eastern Screech-Owl
Lesser Nighthawk
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Green Parakeet
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Couch's Kingbird
Western Kingbird
Bell's Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Purple Martin
Barn Swallow
Black-crested Titmouse
Carolina Wren
Bewick's Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Swainson's Thrush
Gray Catbird
Curve-billed Thrasher
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Magnolia Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Palm Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Lark Sparrow
Summer Tanager
Western Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Painted Bunting
Dickcissel
Red-winged Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow
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