It's Caloosa Birding time!

I'm happy to report that this is the time of the year when the winter residents return, the birds and ducks are arriving - which also signify that the Caloosa Birding Club is resuming its activities. Today was the first day of the season and for our first outing we found ourselves at the.....

CREW - Bird Rookery Swamp which is located in Naples. This is a combination of dirt path, boardwalk and grassy path - come along and see what we saw this morning.....

One of our first sighting - a Yellow-belly Sapsucker

A lone Pied-billed Grebe was along the beginning of the path.

An Orange-crowned Warbler held the group's attention for quite some time - a bird not often seen and one that doesn't have any markings to speak of.

A lovely little Phoebe - I especially loved the way it sits and the color combination with the reeds/vegetation.

One of many gator babies that were seen along the boardwalk, unbeknownst to us the mama gator was under the boardwalk and she let us know by her roar to stay away from her babies.

One of many Red-shouldered Hawks that reside along the CREW.

This place is AWEsome and it's hard to give it justice with simple photos - it's something you'll need to experience yourself. By the way, the little sign that hangs on the left side of the photo is a warning not to take pets along the dirt/grassy path because of the gators.

We were blessed with many Swallowtail Butterflies that were feeding along the way.

The Bees were too.

Don't you just want to hit that trail? If you were to do the entire thing you'd be walking for 12 miles.

Our fearless and very knowledgeable leaders for the day: Jim and Cynthia. Thank you both for a great first trip!

A bright Yellow-throated Warbler, beautiful!

You know if there are gators, there's turtles too.

A Red-bellied Woodpecker in the Maple Trees.

A Yellow-throated Vireo, sweet! Within that vicinity we also saw the Blue-headed and White-eyed Vireo. Here's my submitted bird list from the CREW location
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S32422666

After a bit we drove to Oil Well Road to see who is feeding in the flooded Tomato Fields - our first sighting were Green-winged Teals among the Blue-winged Teals which were surrounded by many Long-billed Dowitchers.

An American Widgeon.

A Northern Pintail

The concentration of ducks seen from the road.

In the corner and hardly visible was a family of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks.

More ducks at front/center.....

Egrets, Herons and Spoonbills in the back - Raptors flying overhead would often cause a lift such as this.

The club members parked along the road and observing from a different point.

One of several Northern Harriers that we observed today, they practically have a buffet to choose from. Here is my submitted bird list for the Oil Well Road location http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S32422667
Well, folks, this conclude today's outing with the Club - stay tuned, more to come in the very near future.

Birding Hendry and Glade w/Caloosa & Collier too!

TGIM - I love Mondays and the promises of observing birds and perhaps even seeing a "lifer" - today was my lucky day because I got to see two of them. 

We started our day by meeting the Caloosa Bird Club group at Barron Park in Labelle.

A beautiful and peaceful setting, one could easily sit here all day and watch as life unfolds. We spent a bit of time and observed some woodpeckers and warblers in the very old oak trees before heading out to Church Road.

A Loggerhead Shrike aka butcher bird because they catch small insects or lizards and smack them before gobbling them up.

Several Woodstorks were seen along the road.

A Wilson Snipe - very well disguised, if you didn't have your eyes on it while it moved, it was very easy to miss it totally.

A male Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in breeding plumage - wow! He stayed within those branches and it was quite difficult to get a good look at it, let alone take a photo.

Along Church Road - cattles/farms and dusty road with heavy machinery/road graders and pickup trucks going by....some were very kind others not so much. When it was time for the group to return to Labelle for lunch, my friends Elaine, Libby and myself decided to travel south to see the Tomato Fields and visit with some ducks.

Many Roseate Spoonbills could be seen off the road in flooded fields.

Woodstorks

The view of the field where the Spoonbills are feeding, notice the pink dots....these are the roseate.

When I zoomed in with my camera (Canon SX50) I was able to make out that there was a Greater Yellowlegs within the group.

My new life bird - Snow Goose - there were 4 of them (2 blue, 2 white). And what timing we had because shortly after we arrived they flew off way to the other side.

I wish there was a hideout spot in the middle of these fields so that we could see those ducks up close and personal and even take some decent photographs, but hey, that's okay ..... take a scope with you and feast your eyes on those beauties.

We were blessed with sunny skies - very warm and balmy temperature. The winds were very gusty, often time shaking our scopes while viewing the ducks.

Canvasback - another lifer for me ..... wow ..... what a beautiful duck that is.

American Avocets were spotted in the distance - several sandpipers too ... my assumption is Yellowlegs here but I'm not 100% sure - I welcome any and all comments.

Ducks, ducks and more ducks - WooHoo

Sometimes I don't realize how many ducks there actually are - but when a Northern Harrier makes an appearance and the ducks lift off - then I get a clearer picture of what is going on.

We observed the Harrier while he held something underwater - we watched as he stayed there for at least 15 minutes....our guess was that a coot was under his talons, being drowned for future consumption. The other ducks - mostly Mottled Ducks - just went about their business without paying no attention to this hawk.

We bid the area farewell with gratefulness in our hearts - and headed out to the corner of Immokalee Road and Oil Well Road....

another pond - this one occupied by Ring-necked Ducks and Merganser.

What a nice bunch they make. At last, it was time to pack up our gear and head on out - a great Monday was had birding with great friends. Till the next time.