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.

Migration continues

The wind died down quite a bit and I wondered what would still be around the Lighthouse. Off I go.

I got there just in time to see the sunrise.

The two chicks were waking up, looking at mom and wondering when breakfast was going to take place.

A lonesome Black Scoter was swimming not too far off the pier's end.

Those two were busy cleaning up the remains that was left behind - I got busy too and picked up monofilament with hooks that was left behind. That statement of "leave nothing behind except your foot prints" should be posted on the pier as well. It's a great facility for fishing and loaded with nice amenities such as WC, water station and plenty of garbage containers....paying for parking does not mean we will clean up your mess after you leave. O.K. I'm off my soap box and it's time to get back to nature connections.

 

A nice collection of migrants are still around, such as this Orchard Oriole - brilliant male.

This one I wasn't quite sure about - the masked hood with the yellow on the neck toward the wings - my friend Hugh thinks it has to be an Eastern Kingbird.

The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was still around and that really pleased me.

What a nice surprise - a female Summer Tanager.

The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was back again - along the wooded trail as well as

the Pileated Woodpecker - Dotty, this one's for you.

The male Summer Tanager was there too - what a great burst of color!

A sunshine to see - the female Orchard Oriole.

The blues were here too, a few Blue Grosbeaks and more Indigo Buntings.

A nice capture of the Yellow-throated Vireo....well, perhaps not for a "photographer", but for me it was.

...

The male Hooded Warbler was found in the very same area - I gather that it provides the food that it is looking for. He's a Hoot to watch even though he can't hardly sit still.

The male Indigo Buntings appeared just as I was ready to leave, sweet!

 I will return - very soon. Spring migration is truly a fleeting moment - I think I'm repeating myself....time for some rest. My E-Bird list for today http://ebird.org/ebird /view/checklist?subID=S17827304 38 species for today.