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.

Kingbirds & Peewee after the storm

After several days of gusty winds and intermittent rain, we were finally blessed with clearing in the weather laced with baby blue sky. 

As I was washing my car I noticed several Eastern Kingbirds in the neighborhood - well needless to say I abandoned my task, quickly grabbed my bins and camera and off I scooted for closer looks....oh boy, come along and see.....

A Yellow-throated Warbler is always a welcomed sight.

Oh My! This is my first time spotting this specie around my house - an Eastern Wood Peewee

A Red-eyed Vireo is also a nice sighting.

Interesting that the Peewee hangs around with the Eastern Kingbird

Quite a looker, wouldn't you say?

I have to be honest, I don't see these very often and I was trying to make it something else - like an Alder Flycatcher....oh well, can't blame a girl for trying.

Here's a few of those Eastern Kingbirds - I counted almost 2 dozen - how cool is that!

Another Peewee - this one has darker feathers around its belly.

I told them to stay in one tree but only a few agreed, you'll just have to take my word that I saw nearly 24 of them.

Can you stand another pic of this Peewee?

Or maybe a mouse? They are cute but not quite my favorite.

And tonight before the sun went down - I stepped outside and revisited with the Kingbirds and Peewee and then I was blessed with 6 Common Nighthawks! I'd say this was a great day and quite nice to have our birds returning! Happy Birding!

 

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.

Sweet Saturday

The sun is back and I am grateful .....and..... I can finally venture out and do some birding. Today's agenda: Meet up with Dottie and go to Six Miles Cypress Slough - sounds like a good plan.

One of our first sighting was by the parking lot - a Yellow-throated Warbler - now, that's a sweet bird to feast your eyes on.

 Then we were granted great views of a few Carolina Wren - singing and jumping/flying to/fro branches.

 We also saw and heard several Blue-gray Gnatcatchers - talk about fast little bullets, they sure are very entertaining.

After a bit we headed back south and before parting ways Dottie mentioned some of the ducks that recently landed near the Golf Course at Shell Point - we opted to check them out.

I like to see ducks and I am excited that soon more will make their way back for the winter and we'll get to enjoy them again.

 There was a nice bunch, we counted 27 Mottled Ducks, 2 Mallards and 1 Blue-winged Teal, they all shared a common area.

 Mottled Ducks have been mixing with other ducks and it's the reason why some of them look really different from others.

There were small bodies of water in low lying areas and I guess we can be thankful for the rain.

The ducks were really feeling ducky about all of this - so much so that they couldn't decide which side to settle on, so they often traded sides with one another.

 After getting our fill with down we started heading out when we spotted some shorebirds in the grass fields...need to investigate!

 Dowitchers! We started watching them when all of a sudden they all took off with a couple of Killdeers in tow. We could only watch and wait.

 They flew several loops around, all together in beautiful harmony. They flew quietly except for the Killdeers

 They finally stopped flying and landed near the duck 'ponds'. I originally thought them to be Long-billed since they were found in fresh water however because we are so close to 'shore' and the fact that their shape is slightly different makes them Short-billed Dowitcher.

See - isn't great that we've had all this rain lately? It certainly provided for many creatures in need. Thanks for reading - here is my E-bird list for the Slough and for the Shell Point area.