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Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Punta Gorda/Port Charlotte Trip with the Caloosa Bird Club

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.

An Anhinga at the landfill - seems like he had something stucked on his beak - glued paper....maybe a love note.

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!



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.

Seems like there is a shooting range in that area and gun shots could be heard - rather eerie feeling, if you ask me.

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.



We drove some more - headed to Punta Gorda and parked close to the Colony Point - where many ducks, killdeers and seagulls could be observed.

The Hooded Mergansers being my favorite.

From there we went to Ponce de Leon Park where we saw the Great Blue Heron and its family.


More Mergansers




A Spotted Sandpiper was on the edge of the Peace River.



Aren't they precious!






This was my first experience to be in the presence of a Great Blue Heron family and it felt really special...can you tell?







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.

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.


A beautiful Glossy Ibis

More ducks

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.

1 comment:

  1. You really do get around...lol love all your pictures. There sure are some really interesting birds.

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