Yesterday, I met up with my group at 8:00a.m. - the usual time for the Monday trip. We combined people in cars and had a caravan of sorts travelling to Zemel Road Landfill site, Zemel Road pond, Punta Gorda, Ponce de Leon Park and finished up with Ollie's Pond in Port Charlotte - a very sweet well kept secret of a place.
Overall, we saw about 72 species - a nice variety for sure. The trip bird was the Common Goldeneye at Ollie's Pond - sorry no photo of that duck - however, my own personal highlight was the Great Blue Heron family from the Ponce De Leon Park.
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| An Anhinga at the landfill - seems like he had something stucked on his beak - glued paper....maybe a love note. |
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| Everyone mentioned how quiet it was for a landfill - either way, it was an interesting sight. If you would have told me a couple of years ago that I would be standing by a landfill looking for birds, I would have told you that you were crazy.....LOL.....look at me now! |
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| Once we left the area, we drove down Zemel Road for a couple of miles and then observed some warblers, Wood Storks, waders and more. |
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| Seems like there is a shooting range in that area and gun shots could be heard - rather eerie feeling, if you ask me. |
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| The Common Yellow-throat....I vote for a name change because this little guy is not that common looking to me....he's like a sunrise with the promise of a new day. |
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| We drove some more - headed to Punta Gorda and parked close to the Colony Point - where many ducks, killdeers and seagulls could be observed. |
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| The Hooded Mergansers being my favorite. |
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| From there we went to Ponce de Leon Park where we saw the Great Blue Heron and its family. |
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| More Mergansers |
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| A Spotted Sandpiper was on the edge of the Peace River. |
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| Aren't they precious! |
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| This was my first experience to be in the presence of a Great Blue Heron family and it felt really special...can you tell? |
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| A snake, not too far from our walking path....he was oozing out of the muck from the edges of Ollie's pond....look at the tail, it is still coming out from below - so I'm not quite sure how long it is. |
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| Many ducks species - small groups and bigger groups. The leader brought us here to see the Common Goldeneye - and we saw it....though, it kept diving and I couldn't get a photo to show you. |
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| A beautiful Glossy Ibis |
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| More ducks |
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| A Boat Tail Grackle having a drink at the watering hole with his buddies. | |
All in all, another great birding trip was had - 72 species were recorded. My E-bird list.
You really do get around...lol love all your pictures. There sure are some really interesting birds.
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