CBC for San-Cap Audubon group in Sanibel

I felt very excited to have been granted a new section for the Christmas Bird Count with the Sanibel-Captiva Audubon group - knowing the area and having two great birding friends to do it with made it even more delicious. Come along.....

The air was a bit crispy this morning however it made for a clear blue sky - and a Bald Eagle in it made it even more special. And off we entered the Pond Apple Trail - this particular trail turned out to be rather quiet this morning, that changed when we made our way around the retention ponds.

We enjoyed watching this Wood Stork working hard at getting ready to swallow its fresh catch.

Not too far away we marveled at the fact that there was a Ring-necked Duck occupying one of the ponds.

A Wren captured our attention for the longest time because it kept away from sight and at times providing small glimpse of parts of its body....

until it stayed long enough for us to study it and to finally be able to call it: Marsh Wren.

Another great sighting was 3 Black-crowned Night Heron with one staying out in the open while looking for some fish to eat.

One of many Green Herons.

An Osprey which seemed to have a lot more white on its head and body than we are used to seeing - Elaine had just attended a lecture the night before and she stated that we might have a Ridgeway Osprey - a sub-specie.

After documenting 4 hours of bird sighting for the Pond Apple Trail and the Shipley Trail, we made our way out and took a bit of time admiring this Great Pondhawk...

its head and thorax are bright green, its wings on the other hand are transparent....what's not to love! Overall I think we had a great morning, here is my E-Bird list that I turned in to the San-Cap Audubon for the Christmas Bird Count. I hope you get to go out and do your part.

 

Punta Gorda with the Caloosa Bird Club

I'm a bit behind in posting and I guess my excuse is that I am now semi-retired and I don't have as much free time as I used to....but better late than never, right?

This outing took place this past Monday - Elaine, Libby and myself met up with the Caloosa Bird Club and set out to explore several different areas as we have in the past....come along and see.....

In the past, this particular trip usually takes place toward the end of December and since we found ourselves at the beginning of the month - we really had to look hard to find ducks.

Nevertheless, a trio of Lesser Scaup was a welcoming sight.

As was the three pairs of Hooded Mergansers.

Shortly after we found ourselves at the Ponce de Leon park - this Great Egret watched as we entered.....

then we had to get passed these Black Vultures...

this one gave us the 'go ahead'.

Ponce de Leon has this facility that holds several types of birds which have been injured and would not otherwise make it out in the world, we entered and delighted on many of the species. This particular Yellow-crowned Night Heron was not caged but seemed to enjoy hanging around.

Though I wondered if it was having a bad day.

Perhaps it didn't appreciate being compared to the Black-crowned Night Heron sitting in the background.

Then we made a visit to Olie's Pond where it seems to be customary to see the Black-bellied Whistling ducks.

I enjoyed the scenery from this angle with the reddish looking tree and the 'pink snow' flowers on the grass.

As we neared the end of the circle around the pond, I took some time to watch this Great Blue Heron amidst the creamy water lilies.

We also spotted a few Ring-necked Ducks and commented among ourselves with wonder as to why it is not called a Ring-billed Duck.

The find of the day was this Least Bittern which was quite a challenge to locate - see how well it blends in?

And as customary to our outings - we always go and have lunch while we do our bird list....however for some unfortunate reason we ended up missing our turn and found ourselves over the bridge....but fear not, our fearless driver found us a quaint spot along the water - we hoped that our group across the way saw us wave to them as we enjoyed our lunch while watching this Spotted Sandpiper along with the beautiful vista.

 

Harn's Marsh with the Caloosa Bird Club

Today turned out to be one of those Florida days - perfectly blue sky and warm sunshine - the type of days that is usually associated with Florida. We left early to arrive at Harn's Marsh with the sunrise, many bird folks beat us to it.

Come along and see some of the highlights of the day....

If I had embedded sound within this photo you would have heard the Limpkins calling.

This one was busy looking for apple snails.

A Tern whizzed on by several times - the sun hitting the bill and making it look like a Royal Tern but with closer study it was obvious that we were looking at a Caspian Tern - a bit bigger with a brighter 'reddish' bill.

Several coots, grebes and ducks were observed - these Ring-necked were particularly sharp looking.

In the distance, a pair of Sandhill Cranes were busy getting their nest in order.

A scope provided us with the perfect tool to observed them without disturbing them.

A Gray-headed Swamphen - aka Purple Swamphen - was in front of us playing peek-a-boo within the reeds. This Swamphen resembles a huge Purple Gallinule  with a reddish bill, frontal shield, iris and legs.

I wish I had a better photo to show you the difference between this Purple Gallinule and the Gray-headed Swamphen - however if you look closely you can see one of the difference being the legs and toes are bright yellow

One of several Savannah Sparrows.

American Wigeon in flight

Some happy yellow flowers - well, at least, that's how it makes me feel.

A Crested Caracara - one of my favorites.

More Sandhill Cranes - several were seen through the 4 mile loop - I never tire of watching them.....a great time for all. My E-Bird List for today.

 

Harn's Marsh in January

We (Elaine and I) had not been to Harns Marsh this year and we thought it would be great to get our list up to speed with species we haven't seen since the new calendar year began. We were blessed with a sunny day - let's go.....

A nice reflection view of the Glossy Ibis.

Savannah Sparrows popped up and graced us with a few minutes and stayed put.

Sandhill Cranes were present - we saw 5 of them on the main path.....and sang for us too - in a sandhill crane kind of way.

Ed caught up with us just about the time when we spotted the Gray-headed Swamphen (or is it gray-faced?) It was in the far away grasses and quite busy eating - never up enough for a decent photo but just in case you're wondering what they look like - here's a photo that I took back in November at Wakodahatchee.

Okay, back to Harn's Marsh - with more views of the Sandhill Cranes...

and some Ring-necked Ducks

What a face, hey?

Another Savannah Sparrow - this one a tad bit more colorful.

The Vultures are quite numerous at this location - most of the time they can be seen perched in the trees - this Black Vulture decided to dry up its feathers on the ground near the walking path.

And a Green Heron - always a nice addition to a bird list before the day is over. My E-Bird List for today with 57 species - a pretty good day!