Church Road in Hendry Co

A great northern friend, whom I've introduced birding to (Hi Larissa) is visiting me and I thought: "What a great opportunity to return to Church Road!". My intents were to spot Cara Cara, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and Kingbirds.....well, as birding goes - sometimes anything goes.

When I entered Church Road I was looking on the power lines and off-mindedly saying:"Dove, Dove, DEER!" LOL, I was not expecting that - a White-tailed Deer was coming at me and then entertained us by darting right, left, right, left....until it found a clearing into the bushes.

Well, that is how it all started.....come along and see what else we were exposed to.

Far in the distance I could see Wild Turkeys strutting along the back fence, had it not been for my camera (Canon SX50), I would not be able to share this image with you.

Near those Orange Groves that lines Church Road are numerous trees, twigs and bushes where the birds can be located - not always well photographed - such as this Yellow-rumped Warbler .... these guys seemed to have a ball crossing the street back and forth while visiting the trees.

 

 

Our recently returned celebrity - the Swallow-tailed Kite - several were spotted flying overhead and dipping down for meals on the fly.

A Sparrow! I was really surprised to see a sparrow high in a tree and right away I thought to myself: "I don't think I've seen this guy before". So, with excitement, I took a bunch of photos and at my first opportunity, I checked my book to find its identity....

A Lark Sparrow! How very sweet that is.

He was soon joined by a Savannah Sparrow - also in the trees!

 The Red-shouldered Hawks were numerous this morning and easily spotted among the twigs and flying loudly.

 Another Savannah Sparrow.....sweet!

 Finally....a pair of Cara Cara was spotted flying overhead - the only ones in sight this morning.

A Kestrel - watching for prey and catching them successfully.

 An Eastern Phoebe getting ready to gobble down his fat and juicy spider.

The Red-shouldered hawk doing more watching than catching. Take note of the "red" in the shoulders, quite visible here.

 After a bit, we drove further along Church Road while still looking for some Kingbirds - in the process I saw a Robin....nice!

 Shortly after, we saw and heard the Towhees - I love these guys.

Aha! A burst of color such as this can only be a male Painted Bunting - seen very well through Binoculars, not so much with the camera lens.

A female Painted Bunting on the other hand graced us with her presence, somewhat in the open - not without having me scratching my head with her orange and yellow hues - some folks indicated that it was a young male. In any event, several Buntings were present and brightened our day.

It is true that we didn't get to see Kingbirds during this outing, however we were blessed with many sightings of great feathered friends. My E-Bird list for this day....43 species in all.

Birding Hendry and Glade w/Caloosa & Collier too!

TGIM - I love Mondays and the promises of observing birds and perhaps even seeing a "lifer" - today was my lucky day because I got to see two of them. 

We started our day by meeting the Caloosa Bird Club group at Barron Park in Labelle.

A beautiful and peaceful setting, one could easily sit here all day and watch as life unfolds. We spent a bit of time and observed some woodpeckers and warblers in the very old oak trees before heading out to Church Road.

A Loggerhead Shrike aka butcher bird because they catch small insects or lizards and smack them before gobbling them up.

Several Woodstorks were seen along the road.

A Wilson Snipe - very well disguised, if you didn't have your eyes on it while it moved, it was very easy to miss it totally.

A male Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in breeding plumage - wow! He stayed within those branches and it was quite difficult to get a good look at it, let alone take a photo.

Along Church Road - cattles/farms and dusty road with heavy machinery/road graders and pickup trucks going by....some were very kind others not so much. When it was time for the group to return to Labelle for lunch, my friends Elaine, Libby and myself decided to travel south to see the Tomato Fields and visit with some ducks.

Many Roseate Spoonbills could be seen off the road in flooded fields.

Woodstorks

The view of the field where the Spoonbills are feeding, notice the pink dots....these are the roseate.

When I zoomed in with my camera (Canon SX50) I was able to make out that there was a Greater Yellowlegs within the group.

My new life bird - Snow Goose - there were 4 of them (2 blue, 2 white). And what timing we had because shortly after we arrived they flew off way to the other side.

I wish there was a hideout spot in the middle of these fields so that we could see those ducks up close and personal and even take some decent photographs, but hey, that's okay ..... take a scope with you and feast your eyes on those beauties.

We were blessed with sunny skies - very warm and balmy temperature. The winds were very gusty, often time shaking our scopes while viewing the ducks.

Canvasback - another lifer for me ..... wow ..... what a beautiful duck that is.

American Avocets were spotted in the distance - several sandpipers too ... my assumption is Yellowlegs here but I'm not 100% sure - I welcome any and all comments.

Ducks, ducks and more ducks - WooHoo

Sometimes I don't realize how many ducks there actually are - but when a Northern Harrier makes an appearance and the ducks lift off - then I get a clearer picture of what is going on.

We observed the Harrier while he held something underwater - we watched as he stayed there for at least 15 minutes....our guess was that a coot was under his talons, being drowned for future consumption. The other ducks - mostly Mottled Ducks - just went about their business without paying no attention to this hawk.

We bid the area farewell with gratefulness in our hearts - and headed out to the corner of Immokalee Road and Oil Well Road....

another pond - this one occupied by Ring-necked Ducks and Merganser.

What a nice bunch they make. At last, it was time to pack up our gear and head on out - a great Monday was had birding with great friends. Till the next time.

 

STA5 in Hendry County with Caloosa Bird Club

I had heard a lot about this area called STA5 by the birding community and it was with great anticipation that I looked forward to this day. It is a bit of a drive from my home but with good friends in the car - it made for a very enjoyable ride. 

Here are the highlights of the day.

As we drove across, we kept our eyes on the road and had our driver, John, stop and pull over while we exited the car to get a tad bit closer. This Meadowlark was very patient while we took his photo. I was so happy to see this bird like this - as it gave me the opportunity to see just how beautiful it is.

Then we saw some woodstork and soon after heard and saw these beautiful Sandhill Cranes fly by.

I had hoped that they would have stopped and stay for awhile but apparently they had better fish to fly.

We soon met up at the gate and joined the rest of the Caloosa Group. We signed up and waited our turn.....there were 2 groups ahead of us.  FYI the Storm Treatment Area 5 has approx 17,000 acres and is located in Eastern Hendry Co. It is a premier bird watching area in Florida and can easily be referred to as an "Oasis for Birds". I highly recommend the trip - just make sure that the area will let you in. More info can be found at www.sfwmd.gov

 

A Spotting Scope is highly recommended if you want to see some of the birds/ducks that can at times be at a distance. This was a great photo opportunity to show the difference between a Greater and a Lesser Yellowlegs.

A very sweet sighting - a Snail Kite sitting still.

Soon we noticed that they were carrying nest material.

Two females came into view - the female has a white face, as you can see.

Soon after, management closed this part of the road - so that the Kites would not be disturbed while tending to their nest.

Oh Sweetness! My FOS sighting of the Black-necked Stilt. I love how this photo turned out to look like a painting ....oh....if only I had this talent.

The bonus of taking photos is taking them home and seeing 'more' in the frame that had not been noticed before....such as those sandpipers. I had heard from another group that they had spotted some Stilt Sandpipers....if those are it, I sure would love to know it.

These 3 were doing the hokey-pokey....and they turned themselves around....

See what I mean....such an Oasis....birds/ducks everywhere...oh, and many gators too.

Some Glossy Ibis - with their shiny plumage.

Ducks, Coots and more ducks and, did I say Coots....wow....this is Coot Central.

Big Sugar's work could be seen in different locations while we were there.

 A Tropical Kingbird (LB#219) Wow...this made my day.

Swallows were seen constantly - dipping/flying/eating on the run. This was a nice opportunity to actually get a photo of one without it being blurry.....because these guys are fasssst.

A bird's eyeview

Do I still have enough daylight?....Oh.....so much to see and so little time to do it in.

On our way out - a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher sat still - "Thanks for coming - See you again soon".

My E-Bird List - A great day, wouldn't you say. http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17362091

81 Species - makes for a Super Saturday at STA5.