Bird Tweets: Goldfinch

Showing posts with label Goldfinch. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Birding Alva with the Caloosa Bird Club

On this chilly morning, we met up with the group by the Franklin's Lock and enjoyed a beautiful sunrise - filled with promises of a great day - and it was.

A Limpkin came and greeted us - I believe it might just be the same Limpkin as last year and I bet this is his regular spot.

Some houses were set up for the Purple Martins - always a joy to see them.

A Loggerhead Shrike seeking his next morsel.

Those Oak Trees are mighty tall and gave us a good neck warm-up. Soon after we left to gather at the White's feeders.

Mr & Mrs White have been members of the Caloosa Club for many years and have graciously opened their house/yard to share the multitude of birds that come to their feeders....here an Indigo Bunting is waiting for a spot by the bird feeder.

In their neighborhood - a singing Carolina Wren was spotted.

An American Goldfinch was soon joined by

the Painted Bunting - wow - I never tire of looking at this bird and it was hard to say good bye...but alas we need to move on.

We drove for a bit along N.River Rd and then reached Parkinson Road where we saw this Yellow-bellied Sapsucker as well as the Red-headed Woodpecker.

Also, a pair of Swallow-tailed Kites were seen perched in a tree before wooing us with their acrobatic flight.

Several Cattle Egrets were resting and cleaning while we walked by - soon after we saw the Wood Ducks.... in flight....they quickly retreated to the back, giving us a brief flight/silhouette view.

A quick pit stop at Franklin Lock Campground provided us views of a Limpkin, a Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Killdeers, an Eagle and several Purple Martins.

Soon after we headed to North River Road - a family of Sandhill Cranes was observed...

the pond has just about dried up and there isn't much left there - we did see a Greater Yellowleg and heard the Meadowlark....

our group enjoyed the view through the barb wire

and watched as the two colts walked far away from their parents - having fun and enjoying the fleeting freedom.

My E-Bird List for Alva.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Pine Island, Bokeelia, St.James City - with the Caloosa Bird Club

What a beautiful and sunny gorgeous day this was! My friends - John and Carol picked me up and we left at 6:30 this morning....eager and ready for a great birding day. We arrived in Pine Island and met up with the group, combining people in cars and the caravan began....57 people in 18 cars.

Our first stop..."SmokeHouse Bay Preserve".

Peace and quiet - just us folks with the birds....sweet.

It wasn't long before we started seeing some Buntings....Indigo and Painted.

Then, overhead, 4 powered paragladers....very noisy - pretty but noisy.

This is a hot spot for Sparrows...here is Savannah

American Goldfinch

Then a Grasshopper Sparrow....we had to wait a while to get close to take a look. Since our group was so large, we made 3 small groups and kept some space in between....hence the wait to see the Grasshopper, but hey....patience is a virtue and it does pay off.

A very pretty and colorful caterpillar - sorry but I don't know what kind it is and I hope a knowledgeable soul will share some tidbits of information for me to pass along and learn from.

Thanks to Aki K, Jennifer K and Elaine S for their information - this is a Banded Sphinx which becomes a beautiful Moth. Further information can be found at http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?guide=Caterpillars

As I mentioned earlier - this was a caravan trip and we made several stops....this was one of them....sweet place with a lot of diversity with a great park setting.

Across the street - there lives a few Yellow-crowned Night Herons.

On the move

His hangout.

"I'm gonna get you....my little pretty."

By the water side - quite a few species we saw there. Look carefully and you'll see a line of white pelicans flying above Cayo Costa - heading to the right to Boca Grande. We also saw a lot of Horned Grebes and Common Loons among others.