Migration time!

Now that it's migration time I tend to spend a bit more time at the Lighthouse Point and the Pond Apple Trail since it seems to be rather productive with sightings of Warblers passing through - come along and see what I've come across for the past week or so....

All right, I know that this male Pileated Woodpecker is not migrating but I couldn't pass him up as he sat on top of this wooden pole.

A Cape May Warbler took me by surprise - at first it was being called a "Prairie" by others but the more I looked at it the more I was questioning the call - I was delighted when I got home and started to study my photos and I was able to come to the conclusion that it was a Cape May.

A Northern Waterthrush has also been seen along the Pond Apple Trail - picking along the small ponds here and there along the trail.

While it happens to be migration - it also coincides with our local birds going into their breeding season - evident here with this Cattle Egret and....

the Tricolored Heron.

A day later - I found myself at the Lighthouse for the first hour only to move to the Pond Apple Trail and for good reasons......

A Yellow-billed Cuckoo made a swell appearance.

and so did the Summer Tanager.

I don't know about you but every time I see a Yellow-billed Cuckoo I am delighted - what's not to love!

The Vireos were in good numbers too - I was able to photograph this White-Eyed Vireo and

this Blue-Headed Vireo.

The Red-eyed Vireo as well as the Yellow-throated Vireo were seen but not photographed.

Another sweet appearance from the Summer Tanager.

I couldn't pass this young Little Blue Heron - they have a special appeal when the blue starts to color its plumage.

Today I found myself at the Lighthouse once more and was delighted to see several Northern Parulas,

and Yellow-throated Warblers

and another Cape May Warbler - this is great! We should have another week of migration and hopefully we'll get more sightings along the way....stay tuned.

Bits and pieces.

I had the opportunity to stop at the Bailey Tract in between days of working with the Sea Turtles and with the Shell Museum - I was rewarded with the sighting of.....

a beautiful Summer Tanager who was feasting on the berries of the Fig Tree.

Within that cluster of Fig Trees was a mini warbler frenzy - I could hardly keep up with them and trying to i.d. them as they flitted by quickly.

In the distance I spotted this Mockingbird which I thought odd because of its brown color but a good source assured me that it was a youngster - I learn something new every day!

A beautiful male Osprey watched us as we went by.

Look at this Anole and how it is color-morphing, just AWEmazing.

A pair of Gulf Frittilary flew by and landed long enough for good views and photos too.

Great views of the outer and inner coloring.

Our last sighting was this Marsh Rabbit that had this huge growth under its chin, he hopped and grazed in a normal manner though - so that was good. You just never know what you'll come across when out in the natural world.

 

Chasing a Chat and a Hummer

A pair of rare species have been reported in Naples: a Broad-billed Hummingbird and a Yellow-breasted Chat, one rare specie is enticing but two is even more alluring. With this temptation dangling in the wings - what's a girl to do!....make plans and meet up with Meg & Elaine...and off we go. Come along and see....

Our first stop was Freedom Park in Naples - it is down right chilly - so much so that we can see our breath. We bundled up for the occasion but when looking at this Squirrel I longed for my long gone fur coat.

Our intentions for this park was to locate the Broad-billed Hummingbird - our pal Meg got a quick glimpse of it but we never saw it. One of our pal from the Caloosa Club shared his theory that the Hummingbird might be finding his food sources across the way in the Naples Zoo and coming across the road on a few occasion. In the mean time, I delighted in watching this Red-bellied Woodpecker in the delicious morning light.

There must be some tasty and juicy morsel in this little nook and cranny - check out his tongue!

After searching for the hummer for over an hour, we decided to move on to our next location....the Sugden Park for the Chat. In the meantime we located a Downy Woodpecker - a busy one at that.

A young Mallard was in the back portion of the park.

And so was the Green Heron.

A Bald Eagle could be seen feeding its chick.

And the lovely Yellow-breasted Chat! We were there for almost two hours and saw him on three separate occasion.

This time I got lucky enough to get a somewhat decent photo - oh what a beauty! We were quite happy to have found our go to specie and decided to have another try at the Freedom Park for the Hummer.

No hummer was found but we did stumbled upon this 1st year male Summer Tanager.

This was a nice find and quite unexpected - what a great way to end a great birding day!

 

Migrants!

A lot of good reports were coming in about Rotary Park in Cape Coral and all the cards fell into place, Elaine and I ended up there this morning - a great idea!

We arrived early and the place was already abuzz with warblers, come and take a look....

A female Summer Tanager

A Downy woodpecker came around too.

Black-throated Blue Warbler - a male.

Another Summer Tanager

An Eastern Wood-Pewee

American Redstart - how lucky to have him sitting long enough for a photo.

A Yellow-throated Warbler.

A Black-and-white Warbler.

 

A Palm Warbler - they have arrived and they are everywhere - and I love it.

 

So, if you get a chance - take it. Check my list - which would have been bigger if I didn't have to leave early.