Sunday at the Bailey Tract

I love this time of the year - and at the present we are having beautiful balmy and sunny weather - what's not to love. It started with a bit of fog and it warmed up in no time at all - the trail is void of folks and the birds are waking up, " Let's go!"

The Yellow-rumped Warblers were in great numbers this morning and filled with hyper energy as they zipped by.

The Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were also eager to fill their belly.

There was over two dozen Blue-winged Teals and they were chatting away - they sure were entertaining.

After being seemingly out of sight for a few weeks, the Common Ground Doves have returned and they are feeding along the trails.

The Red Cardinals have become quite melodious and are entertaining to listen and watch.

Several Palm Warblers were observed too - they were feeding heartily - soon they will go back to their breeding grounds.

At least the Mottled Ducks will stay and have their families.

This Tricolored Heron begs for a quirky quote.

Here's a great example of how important it is to learn the bird by shape (Grey Catbird) - especially when it is in a dark recessed corner.

There's something to be said about sunny days and how the colors perk me up.

A young Little Blue Heron was quite focused on getting something else to eat.

A skip over to the Sanibel Garden Preserve provided me with great views of a Kestrel and

an Eastern Phoebe, what a great way to end the day!

Migration time at the Slough

Migration was heating up at the Slough this past week and it makes me wish that I lived nearby so that I could hop over on a daily basis. In any event, I had the opportunity to visit on Monday and enjoyed seeing/being part of this 'heaven on earth' that the slough exhumes while walking over the water - on the boardwalk that is. 

Several photos were taken and some of them were decent, take a look for yourself.....

My first interesting sighting was in the early morning hours and way up at the top of the trees, after watching it for a bit - I started to recognize

that I was admiring a Baltimore Oriole - the size, the shape, the bill and the wing bars were my main clues - the computer helped me to clarify its identity.

And then, toward the end of our boardwalk enjoyment - we were blessed with quite an exciting viewing....

right in front of us - at eye level - we had this large group of birds show up.....this Worm-eating Warbler,

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher,

Yellow Warbler,

Prairie Warbler and

Carolina Wren all of a sudden gathered together and voiced some sort of excitement - they were obviously disturbed over something.....

we watched with excitement and awe and soon realized why they were so....

it was this Yellow Rat Snake that caused all this excitement - eventually the birds left the area, the snake resumed its descent down the trunk and no one was hurt in the process.

And this, my friends, concluded yet another memorable morning at the Slough.

 

The birds are coming!

"The birds are coming back!", that's what I was thinking to myself when I noticed that a few species that I hadn't seen for a couple of months are now making an appearance and that, my friends, is a very good thing.

Come along and see what's happening at the Bailey Tract....

a Pair of Pileated Woodpeckers made themselves known by their kuk kuk keekeekeekeekeekuk kuk high-pitch sound which was followed by their drumming action - don't you just love to watch those as they go up/down/around the trunk while tilting their head in order to hear the insects within the wood!

Nearby, a male Anhinga wondered what the fuss was all about.

Then I came around the corner and right away noticed....

a Gator's head on the alert....

I'd be willing to bet that it saw me before I saw it....

and off it went to the pond across the trail - after all the ponds across the way always look much better, don't they?

A yellow bellied Cooter was leading the way on the path - slow and steady it goes.

A young Red-bellied Woodpecker - it doesn't have any red feathers yet.

Ha! Looks who's back! A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher buzzing by and moving quickly between the branches as it gobbled up insects galore.

Across the path a Carolina Wren with the sunlight hitting it just right - I love it when a photo comes together like that.....pure luck if you ask me.

And look who else is here....

A beautiful Prairie Warbler.

On my way out I finally got to see the family of

Mottled Ducks - 5 of them now and almost all grown up.

A Spotted Sandpiper silently flew in front of me before landing on this grassy weed bed - making me reflect on all the birds that I saw this morning and making me smile with the thoughts that the birds are coming back for the winter - how sweet is that!

Then, just as I get ready to get in my car - I noticed this Buteo at first thinking it was the usual Red-shouldered Hawk until I put my bins up - wait a minute....this is not what I thought! Those birds are a challenge and they are always sending me to my books and my friends ;) to confirm the right identity....

and it was finally figured out that I was looking at a Light Short-tailed Hawk - how sweet is that....and what a great way to end the morning!! I am blessed.

 

 

A Golden-winged Warbler at the Slough

The words started to spread this past Sunday about a Golden-winged Warbler being at the Slough, more of the same was spoken of the following day....so it was with high hopes that I made my way over there this morning.

I arrived before the sunrise and positioned myself near the amphitheater to witness the rookery come alive and leave for the day.

And that was pretty amazing - to see it and hear it as it went over my head and flew toward the new day.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed this Little Blue Heron tiptoeing away - he probably didn't want to be seen "fishing" by the no-fishing zone.

I think he looks kind of guilty, don't you think?

 

The Golden-winged Warbler - what a beauty! He can be seen here, upside down with head on - notice the bright yellow cap (matching with the golden yellow patch on the wing) and the eye mask - a striking fellow.

An underside view of its tail, black throat and eye mask. It was unfortunate that I wasn't able to capture the yellow wing patch but I'm happy never the less to have these glimpses.

A Red-eyed Vireo.

 An Ovenbird with its orange crest visible.

A Carolina Wren - staying put long enough for me to capture its photo.

A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

A Yellow-throated Vireo

All in all it was a terrific day, I was especially grateful that more experienced birders were along the boardwalk .... the more eyes to the sky the better the chances of spotting those fast moving creatures. Get out there and Go Birding!