White-crowning Achievement

Just a week after exploring parts of Alachua County during the Florida Ornithological Society’s Fall meeting, I headed toward Florida’s Gulf Coast to meet my friend Dave Goodwin to do some more birding, this time in and around Pasco and Hernando Counties. Mrs. Lonely Birder was attending a sea turtle necropsy workshop, giving me a good opportunity to spend the day looking for birds. My primary goal was to get some wintering sparrows, and perhaps even a lifer or two.

I birded Pasco County for last year’s Christmas Bird Count. As I’ve previously noted, large parts of the county are rural and agricultural, which makes for some pastoral landscapes.

Sunrise found us along Auton Road [map], looking for sparrows. Along with numerous Palm Warblers, we flushed up some Savannah Sparrows and eventually a couple of Vesper Sparrows.

Not too far down the road, we came upon Bill Pranty and Meagan Campbell, who were also looking for sparrows. Many birders (myself included) are not confident when trying to identify sparrows in the field. We rely on the help of accomplished bird watchers like Bill and Dave to help point out the field marks and other characteristics to ID sparrows. Bill was helping Megan, who was hoping to get several sparrows for her life list.

Meanwhile, we came across a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks. From their dark, saturated colors, we could tell these birds are “northern” hawks, as our typical Florida Red-shouldered Hawks are much paler.

red-shouldered-hawk1 — *This adult Red-Shouldered Hawk (and its companion) likely wintering over in Florida.*

Eventually we managed to bring out a few Grasshopper Sparrows, as well as male and female Northern Harriers. A nearby pond provided our first look at a Ring-necked Duck among the coots, gallinules, and ibises.

A few more groups of birders came by and we made a loose aggregation, making our way back along Auton Road. At this point either Bill or Dave decided to play the calls and song of the White-crowned Sparrow, which are notorious for coming out when this is done. Sure enough, after a minute or so several birds came out, aggressively calling back. A new life bird for me!

white-crowned-sparrow1 — *A White-crowned Sparrow, its tail slightly raised and wings pulled down in a territorial display.*

white-crowned-sparrow2 — *According to Bill Pranty, the pale lores and other characteristics mark this bird as the Gambel’s subspecies.*

We had at two subspecies or groups of White-crowned Sparrow – Gambel’s, with pale lores (the area in front of the eyes) – and Eastern Taiga, which have black lores.

I was also excited to find out that with the addition of this species, Megan had added four birds to her life list.

Dave and I made our way out to a few more spots in Pasco County and into Hernando County, looking for Yellow-headed Blackbirds and a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. While looking (unsuccessfully) for the flycatcher, we had a nice mixed flock move through the road-side trees, including Eastern Bluebirds, Palm, Pine, and Prairie Warblers, and even a late-season Yellow-throated Vireo.

lockhart-road — *Lockhart Road, in Hernando County.*

We had still been shadowing Bill and Megan (and running into the other birders from earlier in the morning), but parted ways with them and hit a few more spots around the area.

We ended the day at Kapok Park [map], in Pinellas County. This park had been a poorly kept mobile home park, which was a major point-source of pollution for Tampa Bay. About a decade ago, the city of Clearwater bought out the park and transformed it into a beautiful park, including walking/jogging trails and boardwalks over Alligator Creek.

kapok-park3 — *Cypress trees along a pond in Kapok Park.*

kapok-park2 — *A Live Oak with Spanish Moss overhanging Alligator Creek.*

The bird activity had slowed a bit, but we did see some Common Gallinules and a few Anhingas. It was fitting that the weekend before Thanksgiving I got a good look at this species, sometimes known as a “Water Turkey”, as it swam under the elevated boardwalk in the late-afternoon light.

anhinga-underwater — *The broad tail and body do resemble a turkey, while swimming. The long neck gives this bird its other nickname, “snakebird”, especially when it is the only part of the bird above water.*

The final bird of our day was a surprise light-morph Short-tailed Hawk that got a resident Red-shouldered Hawk in a bit of a snit, chasing the first raptor off with a series of furious screams.

Dave dropped me off, and as I waited for Mrs. Lonely Birder to finish her workshop, I heard the unmistakable shrieks of parrots overhead. There is a small colony of Monk Parakeets on the grounds of Eckerd College [map], and I watched them get ready to settle in for the night, while some gulls and a few other birds made their way by.

Here are the eBird lists for the day (including incidentals) for curious minds:

Auton/Singletary Roads:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S40569964

Lockhart Road:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S40569964

Cortez Blvd (incidental):
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S40572120

Bayport Park:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S40574418

Kapok Park:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S40577724

Avenue of States Drive (near Eckerd College):
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S40579553

As usual, it was a pleasure to bird with Dave out in his neck of the woods. With the added bonus of a life bird, it was really nice day and a good way to lead into the “official” holiday season.

FOS Fall 2017 Field Trips

From the Florida Ornithological Society’s Fall meeting in Alachua County:

Newnans Lake at Sunrise

Live Oak canopy at Newnans Lake

Juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker at Prairie Creek Preserve

Hermit Thrush at Newnans Lake

Prairie Creek Preserve

Sweetwater Wetlands Park

Prairie Creek Preserve

Red-tailed Hawk over Prairie Lake Preserve

Sweetwater Wetlands Park

Great Blue Heron at Sweetwater Wetlands Park

American Bittern at Sweetwater Wetlands Park

Eastern Phoebe at Sweetwater Wetlands Park

Wild Horse at Sweetwater Wetlands Park

Wild Horses at Sweetwater Wetlands Park

Another American Bittern at Sweetwater Wetlands Park

An American Bittern with lunch at Sweetwater Wetlands Park

Sweetwater Wetlands Park at dawn

Big alligator at Sweetwater Wetlands Park

Parrots Plus in South Florida

October 21, 2017

Camille and I headed to Miami last Sunday to see what parrot species we could get. Using Bill Pranty’s “A Birder’s Guide to Florida”, we hoped to beef up our life lists with some “easy” to get exotic birds.

On our way, we couldn’t pass up an opportunity to visit Evergreen Cemetery in Ft. Lauderdale [map]. This cemetery is a lovely spot for migrants and the occasional vagrant or exotic. This is where many birders flocked to see the Variegated Flycatcher a couple of years ago.

The place was hopping with warblers, including American Redstarts, Black-and-White, Bay-breasted, Cape May, and Black-throated Blue Warblers.

black-and-white-warbler — *Black-and-White Warbler hanging out on an oak tree.*

When there are small birds concentrated in an area, you can bet small raptors aren’t far away. This Cooper’s Hawk was trying to hide from mobbing Blue Jays.

A small Peregrine Falcon was also cruising over and around the cemetery, as well as a couple of American Kestrels.

Here’s the complete eBird list from the morning at Evergreen Cemetery:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39933959

From Ft. Lauderdale we headed to South Miami to find exotic parrot species and track down White-crowned Pigeons. These pigeons are always showing up on eBird alerts and in e-mailing list reports, but each trip either of us has made to south Florida has come up with no White-crowned Pigeons. I’ll save you the suspense: We didn’t see any on this trip either.

But we did get some parrots! At the Baptist Hospital [map], we had almost given up on seeing any birds at all, besides the numerous Muscovy Ducks.

muscovy-duck-with-chicks — *There were Muscovy Ducks with chicks of all ages around the ponds at the hospital. These two chicks were part of a group of 8 or so siblings and their mother (standing protectively here).*

But on our second look around, a large flock of loud Mitred Parakeets flew into a tree in the parking lot. Several minutes later, another large flock flew into a second tree. These parrots are extremely loud, and at times they synchronized their calls into a raucous, rollicking cacophony.

mitred-parakeet-1 — *Mitred Parakeet on an exposed branch. Most of the birds stayed hidden (and cool) in the denser foliage.*

mitred-parakeet-0 — *Mitred Parakeet watching the watchers.*

On the opposite side of the larger pond some more Mitred Parakeets flew in, joining a pair of smaller parrots, which turned out to be Yellow-chevroned Parakeets.

yellow-chevroned-parakeet1 — *A pair of Yellow-chevroned Parakeets.*

yellow-chevroned-parakeet2 — *An acrobatic Yellow-chevroned Parakeet eating its lunch.*

A few other feathered friends were around, including a small flock of Egyptian Geese. They were a bit flighty (no pun intended), but one bird was bolder and even struck some poses for us.

eygptian-goose2 — *Egyptian Goose, posing.*

eygptian-goose — *Here’s his “good side”.*

There were some domestic waterfowl, as well. I was hoping for a Greylag Goose, and this bird was the closest I could find.

feral-goose — *The extensive white is evidence of domestication in this bird’s lineage.*

Here’s the eBird list for the Baptist Hosptial Area, including the neighborhood to its north (where we found no White-crowned Pigeons):
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39939715

From the hospital area, we went in to a few of the area neighborhoods, which are known to host warblers as well as established exotics, like Spot-breasted Orioles and Red-whiskered Bulbuls.

At the King’s Creek Village [map] townhouse development, we had some success! The last time we visited this area, we saw a Red-whiskered Bulbul, but were unable to photograph it. This time, we were ready!

red-whiskered-bulbul2 — *One of several Red-whiskered Bulbuls in the neighborhood.*

red-whiskered-bulbul1 — *Bulbuls are native to south Asia, but are doing well in suburban Miami.*

Among the more common Palm Warblers and Northern Parulas, we also saw Cape May and Blackburnian Warblers, and one real rarity: A Nashville Warbler.

nashville-warbler-1 — *A rare Nashville Warbler feeding on an ornamental.*

nashville-warbler-2 — *This Nashville Warbler’s bright yellow belly really stood out in the sunlight*.

The complete eBird list for King’s Creek Village is here (with more good photos from Camille):
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39942003

After King’s Creek Village, we made two more stops, hoping to get White-crowned Pigeons and more parrots. At Ocean Bank [map] (a very urban setting), there have been White-chevroned Parakeets roosting just outside the atrium. We did not see them, but we did see some Common Mynas with nesting materials in a billboard structure.

We then made our way to the Miller Drive parrot roost [map], hoping to get more parrot species as they came in for the night. Unfortunately there were not many parrots, though we were treated to a fly by of a flock Red-masked Parakeets as the sun set. While we were waiting to see what parrots would flock in, we saw more warblers and even some non-avian friends.

iguana2 — *Iguanas are a common introduced species in south Florida. In addition to some large specimens at Evergreen Cemetery, this one was hanging around the canal.*

When it was clear there would be minimal roosting going on at this particular place, we made our way to Fuch’s Park [map], which is often an alternate roost site. But when we arrived there, it was dead quiet, with no parrots (and very few birds) present.

Here are the remaining eBird lists for the day:
Ocean Bank:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39943542

Miller Drive:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S3994528

The sun was setting by now, and it was time to head home. Day trips to south Florida are always long, but rewarding. We never got our White-crowned Pigeon (deemed a “common” bird by some), and I joke that it’s a cryptid, like Big Foot. But I’ll be back to get it, along with the elusive Mangrove Cuckoo. There are plenty of birding adventures to be had before then!

Sunday Doubleheader: Mead Botanical Gardens and Ais Trail Park

October 11, 2017

Fresh from the sea this past Saturday night, I prepared to meet Camille for a trip out to Mead Botanical Gardens in Orlando on Sunday, since we’d heard there was some migrant activity there. I was tired from the previous day’s adventure, but as migration season is short, the promise of warblers was too good to pass up.

I did take my glitchy camera along, just in case I was able to get off a few reasonable shots. Here are the best of what I was able to photograph.

chestnut-sided — *Chestnut-sided Warbler. The yellow wing-bars and cap (not seen here) are diagnostic for this species.*

magnolia — *Fall-plumaged Magnolia Warbler, deep in the foliage.*

swainsons-thrush — *One of several Swainson’s Thrushes.*

Don’t let the scarcity of photographs fool you into thinking the day was a bust. I identified 13 species of warbler that morning (Camille had 11)! Earlier in the week, some birders had 16 species in the park! That’s a pretty good variety. Here’s the complete eBird list (with some of Camille’s photos):

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39619140

After coming home, I got an e-mail from my friends Sarah and Bella who were hoping to try birding in a new location (for them). I suggested Ais Trail Park, in Palm bay, and met up with them in the late afternoon.

It was pretty quiet to start off, but we had some real teases. One was what appeared to be a Blackburnian male, still in bright breeding plumage. I saw the face and head, while Bella saw the large white wing patch. Between the two of us, we had a sighting, but we decided not to count it, since we didn’t each get a good clear look.

Then a warbler with an olive back, yellow underside and blue-gray head hopped up from the ground into some thick brush. I only saw it for the briefest second, The bird felt most like a Connecticut Warbler. It could have been a Nashville, but I wouldn’t have expected it to fly up from the ground onto a low branch before skulking away. I could not tell if the grey hood extended to the throat.

Neither bird was recovered despite some intensive searches.

But the best news of all was seeing a Peregrine Falcon fly over the park and then over Turkey Creek (near the lagoon) with great lighting. The ID was unmistakable, and this was Bella’s 200th ABA countable bird! Congratulations Bella!

She’s got amazing locating skills, and her birding abilities are as good, if not better, than many more experienced birders I know. But she has been doing this since she was a child.

Here’s our relatively short, but totally worth it list:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39651513

What a great end to an epic weekend.

You Belong In A Boat Out At Sea

October 10, 2017

The much anticipated and alway fun pelagic birding trip, run by The Marine Science Center, disembarked from Port Canaveral on board the Canaveral Princess.

boat_canaveral_star — Promotional photo from https://orlandoprincess.com/

I love pelagic trips. Even during the long stretches with no birds in sight, I enjoy the waves and sun (and even the rain, when it’s not been too cold). This trip, we had great weather, and the seas were only moderately rough.

By far, the bird of the day was the Corey’s Shearwater. As a group, we saw over 200 of them (I recorded 77). We perhaps saw more Common Terns, but Shearwaters are obligate pelagic species – that means they are (barring severe weather events, like hurricanes) only found on the open ocean.

The initial leg out of the port was very smooth, and it wasn’t until we started passing some of the off-shore buoys that we started to feel the 6-foot (2-meter) seas. Buoys also provide places for birds to roost and use as a look-out.

magnificent-frigatebird2 — *Magnificent Frigatebird taking advantage of the view.*

The majority of the shearwaters we saw were Corey’s, we also did see the Great and Audubon’s species (I’ve seen all these shearwater species on my whale watch in New England, last summer.)

coreys-shearwater-takeoff — *Shearwaters run on the water’s surface to get up to take-off speed.*

Unlike most of the previous pelagic trips I have been on, we did not have many dolphins visiting us. Just one rode our bow wake as we left the port. We did see a couple of sea turtles, including a large Loggerhead Sea Turtle getting attacked by a Tiger Shark! The shark was unable to get a good angle on the turtle, and gave up as we drew closer. The turtle had it’s front flippers held straight up in the air to keep the shark from being able to grab or bite them. After a couple of minutes, the turtle dove out of view.

We also saw a Leatherback Sea Turtle. It was enormous and attended by several large Cobias and some remoras.

Before too long, I did run into some equipment problems. My current camera – a much loved Fujifilm Finepix S990W – has been having some glitches lately. The back-side buttons would activate without being pressed, or when pressed would cycle quickly through various options on their own. This escalated on Saturday, and the camera started changing settings and formats, as well as locking up entirely. I gave up fighting it, especially after taking a spill near the bow when trying to reach for the railing while protecting my camera. There wasn’t much reason to be holding on to a camera that wasn’t working.

The rest of the trip was fantastic. We came upon large flocks of terns, most of which were Common, but interspersed with Black and Sooty Terns. I saw what probably were some species of storm-petrel, but they were gone behind waves before I could really get a good look. Several Peregrine Falcons cruised by, over 30 km (50 miles) from land.

Here’s my complete eBird list for the trip. The “official” list for the trip, via Michael Brothers has a much higher count and some species I missed (and one species not recorded officially).

My eBird list for the entire trip, there and back again:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39610465

“Official” list, via e-mail from Michael Brothers:
Blue-winged Teal 56
Cory’s Shearwater 235
Great Shearwater 5
Brown Pelican 8
Brown Booby 3
Magnificent Frigatebird 6
Parasitic Jaeger 8
Pomarine Jaeger 1
Black Tern 111
Common Tern 419
Royal Tern 41
Sandwich Tern 16
Laughing Gull 9
Sabine’s Gull 1
Short-billed Dowitcher 3
Wilson’s Snipe 1
Red Phalarope 6
Red-necked Phalarope 21
Peregrine Falcon 4
Barn Swallow 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 1
Warbler sp. 1

Despite the camera glitch and my fall on the deck, I had a spectacular time. I am already looking forward to next year, circumstances willing. I’ll post the few remaining photos that didn’t make the blog, soon.

Driving down the Overstreet

September 30, 2017

Joe Overstreet Road and Landing are among Osceola County’s most interesting birding “hotspots”. The road heads down to the northeastern edge of Lake Kissimmee, through ranch and farm lands. At the landing, wading birds are common, and the lake’s resident Snail Kites are usually around. Last weekend was a good opportunity to check them out.

morning-deer — A White-tailed Deer in the morning mist.

The trees and shrubs along the road edges are often a good place to stop and watch for warblers or other small songbirds. Sometimes the early morning light can be a challenge, especially if the birds are back-lit. But I had some good luck this time around for some White-eyed Vireos and friends.

white-eyed-vireo — *One of several White-eyed Vireos, going about morning duties.*

common-yellowthroat — *This first year male Common Yellowthroat doesn’t have his complete mask, or “domino” yet.*

Wherever small birds are (or other prey items, like large grasshoppers or katydids), you have predators. There were Loggerhead Shrikes staking out the road edges, and further out over the fields I could hear Red-shouldered Hawks calling out.

During Spring and Summer there are usually a large number of Cattle Egrets along with the cattle, but with the advent of Autumn there were very few of any sort of heron or egret species.

Barn Swallows were working the open land and pausing in little groups on the wires and fence lines. Many were youngsters themselves, and trying to beg off of the adults who, to their evolutionary credit, were ignoring them. The young birds were certainly capable of feeding themselves.

barn-swallow2 — *This is a younger Barn Swallow, with some downy feathers still remaining, and a little more tail to grow.*

In addition to the Barn Swallows, there were a few Cliff and Bank Swallows in the mix as the birds swooped and darted around, catching insects.

The wet sod fields near the midpoint of the road had produced reports of shorebirds, including some American Golden Plovers and various sandpipers. I did not see any plovers (besides Killdeers) on the way to the lake, but I did see some Least and Pectoral Sandpipers

least-sandpiper — *Quite a few Least Sandpipers were making use of the flooded sod fields.*

pectoral-sandpipers — *Pectoral Sandpipers are larger than the “peeps”, like Least Sandpipers, and can usually be distinguished by the sharp transition of their breast markings to their bellies.*

At the landing, I was almost immediately greeted by a family of Limpkins. The youngsters were almost full grown, and still looking a bit gangly as they ran to catch up with the adults.

One could liken these birds to “teenage” birds, and it won’t be long before they leave the proverbial nest (they left the actual one weeks ago).

limpkin-legs — *This bird was legging it, to catch up with its siblings.*

A few of them decided to take a rest on a nearby picnic table, fairly unconcerned with the people and boats. They even had a squirrell join in!

The trees around the boat ramp usually have a Yellow Warbler or two around, and I was happy to see both a female and at least two males. One male hadn’t lost his bright yellow breeding colors quite yet. It always amazes me how a bird this bright yellow can be hard to find in a green tree. But they are.

yellow-warbler-female — *Female Yellow Warbler.*

yellow-warbler-male2 — *A male Yellow Warbler, in the sun.*

yellow-warbler-male1 — *In the shade, even these bright birds can blend into the green foliage.*

Snail Kites were catching a large invasive variety of Apple Snail that seems to have taken over the lakes in central Florida. At least they (and the Limpkins) seem to be having no trouble with them. Ecologically, the invasive snails can do a lot of harm and are outcompeting the already threatened native snails.

One the way back up Joe Overstreet Road, I stopped one more time to scope out for American Golden Plovers. It took a while, and the help of two birders with a more stable and functioning scope (my Audubon “Light” scope had some failures), several of these somewhat rare visitors were seen and identified! This is the best photograph I could obtain.

As a final treat, I made it a point to stop on the “main road” by the Double C Bar ranch, in case a Whooping Crane was in view. My life-sighting of this species was on my first Central Florida Specialties trip with David Goodwin at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival, several years ago. Since then, I’ve unsuccessfully tried to find these birds at this ranch (and elsewhere). Fortune favors the prepared, I suppose!

That seemed like the cap on a pretty good birding day. While neither the American Golden Plovers nor the Whooping Crane were life birds, it was a thrill to see them, along with the other resident birds.

Here are the various eBird lists, for those who care.

Joe Overstreet Road (inbound to lake):
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39362311

Joe Overstreet Landing:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39363297

Joe Overstreet Road (incidental, outbound from lake):
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39365025

Double C Bar Ranch:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39365703

End of Summer 2017 Outtakes

Autumn has “officially” started, at least in the astronomical sense. The effects of Hurricane Irma on our area parks are continuing to be dealt with, and the shorter days will eventually lead to cooler temperatures (although the heat index was near 100 this week). Here are several photos taken the second half of this Summer that never made their way into the blog.

willet — *Willet resting on the beach at Indialantic, FL.*

young-royal-tern — *Immature Royal Tern at Indialantic, FL.*

sanderling — *Sanderling (and Ruddy Turnstones) at Juan Ponce de Leon Landing.*

purple-gallinule2 — *Immature Purple Gallinule (alternate view) at Orlando Wetlands Park.*

roseate-spoonbill — *Young Roseate Spoonbill at the Melbourne-Tillman Canal, Palm Bay, FL.*

I’ve already had my first birding adventure of the Fall. Stay tuned for that, coming soon!

Out in the Open at Orlando Wetlands Park

September 19, 2017

Everything is slowly getting back to “normal” here in Florida, and particularly on the Space Coast, where we managed to get through Hurricane Irma without a major catastrophe. Power has been restored to almost everyone in the area, thanks to the hard-working linemen and linewomen from around the country.

The area parks, sanctuaries, and conservation lands are going to have a bit longer of a time getting squared away. Most of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is still closed, and smaller parks, like Turkey Creek Sanctuary are closed as debris is removed and water levels recede.

Out at Lake Apopka the storm damaged infrastructure so severely, there’s no timetable for it to reopen yet. Assessments are still being made there, and at many other public lands. Everyone will need to be patient and work around what’s available as the main part of migration nears.

But some places managed to get through the onslaught relatively unscathed. Orlando Wetlands Park got through the storm with minimal damage and was open within days. I met up with Camille and we headed over to Christmas, Florida for some late-summer birding.

orlando-wetlands-park1 — *Most of Orlando Wetlands Park consists of very large open cells of water with groves of relatively wind resistant (particularly the dead ones!) palms.*

While some early migrants have been through the area since the end of August, most of central Florida is still in between the end of breeding and fledging season and the start of migration. The hurricanes in the region (both Irma and Jose now, and Maria later in the week) have not made for favorable winds to help move birds out from the north, but that will change as Fall begins.

The morning started off comfortable, but the weather would quickly turn oppressive before the end of the morning. We kept our hike short, only doing the main “birding” loop and not the far reaches of the park.

OWP-map — *We mainly stuck to the red-dashed route here on the map. You can see how large the park is – just that loop is 4 kilometers (2.5 miles).*

There were several Red-shouldered Hawks perched, looking for breakfast. All appeared to have adult plumage, but some were missing tail feathers. This is indicative of molting, and in fact many of the other birds in the park were missing all or some of their tails.

By now, most of the Common and Purple Gallinules have raised their broods and the surviving youngsters are getting their adult plumage as well.

Of course there are always late breeders, and there were still a few Common Gallinule pairs that had small chicks, but they were few and far between.

common-gallinule-chick — This chick was probably about a week old. Gallinule chicks are precocious – the hatch with eyes open, covered in down, and able to swim and feed within hours. Any species that shares space with alligators needs to be mobile and alert as soon as possible.

There were not many songbirds present, though several Prairie Warblers (a resident breeder) in fall plumage flew past us a few times, and both Red-eyed and White-eyed Vireos were actively feeding in the woody edges near the park entrance and nature center.

All in all it wasn’t too bad of a morning, for mid-September in central Florida. As a bonus, we saw a small flycatcher on the road just outside the park entrance. There seems to have been an influx of Empidonax flycatchers through the state over the last few weeks. I’ve certainly seen more of this genus this year than previous. This particular bird did not vocalize, though it did seem to perk up at a recorded call of a Willow Flycatcher. Unfortunately, that is not enough to identify this bird beyond its genus.

empid2 — I apologize for the blurry photo here. I was taking this photo while contorted out a vehicle’s window, bracing against the top of the door while the engine was running! But you can see the essential field marks for an Empid – species unknown.

Here’s the complete eBird list, if you’re interested.
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39226562

It was a real treat that this park was open and relatively clear of debris after such a wide-ranging and destructive storm. And of course, just a few years ago this park was closed over the fall and first part of winter. Now it’s open to the public year-round, so it should have a lot to offer as migration gets under way.

[Note: Our friends in the Caribbean, including the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico have been and are being devastated by both Hurricane Irma and Maria. Please donate if you can. Here’s the link to Charity Navigator so you can find somewhere to donate that feels right for you: https://www.charitynavigator.org/]

Battening Down the Hatches

It’s been a tense weekend here at the Lonely Birder Blog. We’ve watched as the forecast track for Monster Hurricane Irma came perilously close to home. While the track is now forecast west of here, this storm is HUGE and impacts will be felt all over the state of Florida. It’s a waiting game now, for most of us in the U.S. mainland. Of course, Puerto Rico and many of the other islands in the Caribbean have sustained major damage and will need help for a long, long time. Here’s a link to Charity Navigator to help you sort out where you might want to give:
https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=5243

Any time there’s a large storm like Irma or Harvey, the question comes up, where do birds (and other animals) go? Forbes posted an informative article about that yesterday. You can read it here:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2017/09/08/where-do-birds-go-in-a-hurricane/
(There is an auto-play, but muted, video/ad that comes up in the upper left, but I promise the article is worth it.)

Once the storm passes and things get back on track, things should return to normal here on the blog. Stay safe and see you soon.

Migration Preamble at MINWR

August 27, 2017

It’s been an Empidonax-filled late summer here in central Florida, with reports of the little flycatchers coming in about every day so far in the last week or so. I saw two Acadian Flycatchers near where I work and have seen several unidentified “Empids” in my travels around Lake and Sumter, and Brevard Counties.

On Sunday, I met up with Camille to check out flycatcher and warbler activity reported at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge’s (MINWR) Pine and Oak Hammock Trails [map].

Yes. Warblers. It turns out that the first vanguard of migrant warblers has already been moving through the state, and we managed to get a nice mixed flock or two along the Pine Hammock trail (the Oak Hammock Trail was closed). We had a couple of dozen (!) American Redstarts, and a good showing of Worm-eating Warblers along with Black-and-whites and Northern Parulas. We did not catch the reported Prothonotary or Cerulean warblers that have been reported, however.

But the star of the day was an Alder Flycatcher (a life bird for me). This species was first reported by Mitchell Harris earlier in the week, and we managed to find the bird on the way out of the trail (well, Camille spotted it and called me back on the trail to her location). At first the bird was quite still and silent (in migration, it is nearly impossible to separate the Empids if they do not vocalize. The visible proportions and field marks overlap too broadly). After watching it fly-catch a few times and change perches, it finally called out a few times, and even answered some limited recordings (yes, I used a recording). The lighting was bad, but I fired off a couple of shots.

alder-flycatcher1 — *Without vocalization, this bird could almost as easily be a Willow Flycatcher (the most similar) or even any other Empid or an Eastern-wood Pewee. Luckily for us, it did call a few times.*

alder-flycatcher2 — *Here’s a good view of the orange/yellow underside of the bill that is common to most Empids and Wood-pewees.*

For those of you interested, here’s the entire eBird list for the trail:
https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S38847183

We finished up the morning by cruising the open part of Peacocks Pocket [map] and East Gator Creek [map].

Peacocks Pocket:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S38848022

East Gator Creek:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S38848439

It was a nice little migration preview, but we’ll have to see how the autumn plays out and if any of this seemingly early movement means anything significant.

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