I just found out that the Black-capped petrels we saw last May off Ponce Inlet were actually in Brevard County!  That means that I already have a new species for Brevard this year and I have achieved my goals of getting 20+ species, recording at least one complete eBird checklist, and adding at least one new species to my life list in each county in Florida this year.  I still may get 50+ in each county through the course of birding and 100+ in more than half the counties.  I have a couple of volunteer opportunities and a birding trip that will push me to those numbers.  Now, if I was really insane, I would try to push my Total Ticks for Florida Counties to 12,000 before the end of the year.  Only 119 ticks to go!

I gotta warn ya.  This story unfurled like container of Pilsbury cresent rolls when you break the seal.  I think I managed to tie it all together, but I didn't take the time to proofread and edit.  I will be too busy in the next week, so it will be awhile before I clean this up.

Friday morning, I was rudely awakened by our alarm.  We have a pretty nifty little alarm device.  It has a light that slowly lights up over the course of about 30 minutes before the alarm time. This way I can slowly come out of slumber and catch the alarm before it wakes up the wife.  She usually ends up awake anyway, but at least it's not so jarring.  I usually awaken sometime around mid-brightness, but after staying up to watch the Angels beat the Yankees the night before, I was pretty well out.  At 0345, I was jolted to life in the full light and sound of our alarm.  I quickly got up, fixed a hearty breakfast, packed up a lunch, and set out to J.W.Corbett Wildiife Management Area in Palm Beach County.  There is a population of Red-cockaded woodpeckers here and at the adjacent DuPuis WMA.  This week, a record 20 birds were moved from Appalachicola National Forest to Corbett and DuPuis.

NOTE:  For those of you familiar with or not interested in Red-cockaded woodpecker life histories you can skip to the next section.

Red-cockaded woodpeckers (RCW's) are an endangered species once common throughout the the pine woods of the southeastern U.S.  Unlike other woodpeckers, RCW's nest in live trees.  The advantage of nesting in live trees is that sap runs through the live wood.  RCW's use this sap as a defense mechanism against predators.  They drill sap wells around the cavity and completely around the trunk of the tree.  The resulting covering of sap deters their primary predator, tree-climbing snakes (primarily rat snakes), from climbing the tress.  Apparently the sap irritates the belly of the snakes causing them to arch their back and thus loose their grip on the tree.  The major disadvantage of live trees is that the wood is very hard.  This makes cavities much more difficult to excavate.  Some birds may take up to two years to create a suitable cavity.  To mitigate for the hard, live wood, RCW's select trees stricken with blackheart disease.  This fungus infects and softens the heartwood of the pine trees.  This gives the RCW's an area in which to carve out a cavity once they dig through the sap woods.  Since the fungus rarely attacks young trees, RCW's are dependent upon older trees.  In pre-Columbian times, the pine flatwoods of the southeast were dominated by old growth Long-leaf pines (South Florida slash pine took over in south Florida).  These woods were kept open and free of hardwoods by frequent lightning-induced fires.  Frequent fires remove debris such as dead leaves and pine needles from the ground.  They expose patches of soil and coat the ground with a dusting of fertilizer in the form of ash.  Hardwood trees and bushes are not able to withstand these frequent fires.  Long-leaf pines, and to some lesser extent, South Florida slash pines, have a unique life cycle that allows them to thrive.  When a lucky seed lands on an exposed patch of soil and germinates, it begins what is called the "grass" stage.  For the first several years of life, the tree looks very much like a tuft of grass.  The spray of dark green needles protect the bud which sits at the ground level.  The growth of the tree is directed downward in a long tap root.  The bud is protected from fires by the surrounding needles.  When fires sweep through, the burning needles release water, extinguishing the fire before it burns and kills the bud.  After 2-7 years, the tree has stored enough energy to move into its next stage of life.  It begins a rapid growth spurt which propels the bud up above the damaging fires.  Frequent fires ensure that the fuel levels are low.  Low fuel levels mean less intense, shorter flames.  Long leaf pines is the growth spurt stage of life are the most vulnerable.   If a fire comes through before the bud is thrust above the flame zone, the tree could die.  Once above the fires, the tree is free to grow to old age.  Long-leaf pines have structural measures that protect against fire.  There are dozens of thin, flaky layers of bark which act as a buffer to fire, keeping the living wood from reaching lethal temperatures.  The lowest branches of mature trees are very high, leaving a gap between the understory and flame zone and the canopy of the trees.  When fire is suppressed, fuel levels increase.  Open patches of sand are reduced to non-existence as pine needles, dead leaves and grasses accumulate.  Hardwoods are allowed to mature, shading out the flammable grasses that promote the fires that maintain the community.  Given enough time, the pine woods will be replaced by hardwoods.  In most areas, fire eventually returns.  The increased fuel levels and higher understory leads to much more intense fires with higher flame lengths, leading to higher mortality among pines.  In some cases, the entire canopy is consumed in the fire.

So what does this have to do with RCW's?  As modern man moved into the woods of the southeastern U.S., the old pines were cut down.  Nearly all of the large trees needed by the RCW's were removed.  Fortunately, some smaller old trees were left in some areas, especially in Florida where areas were often "high-graded."  The biggest and best trees were harvested and other trees were left behind.  This fragmented the RCW population but at least left some refugia in which they could eek out a living.  As development moved into the pine woods, roads and houses began to cut off the landscape wide fires.  Fire suppression activities by man also led to a reduction in fire frequency.  Eventually, even areas that were not converted to pine plantations, pasture, or crop land, succumbed to devastating wildfires that further removed suitable nest trees or simply converted to hardwood dominated woodlands.

Today the healthiest populations of RCW's exist in large tracts of land where timber harvests were limited and fires were relatively frequent.  Appalachicola National Forest in the panhandle of Florida hosts the largest population of RCW's.  Military reservations such as Eglin AFB in west Florida are other important reservoirs for RCW's and many other rare and endangered species.  Smaller tracts of land such as St. Sebastian River Preserve, Corbett and Dupuis WMA's, and Withlacoochee State Forest, have smaller, sometimes isolated populations.  It is these populations that benefit from a peculiar aspect of RCW biology.

Red-cockaded woodpeckers are part of a minority of bird species that participate in cooperative breeding.  Florida scrub jays are one of the most famous cooperative breeders, at least in Florida.  Common moorhens are somewhat cooperative.  Moorhens, at least in Florida, produce several broods of young per year.  The young of earlier broods stick around and help raise subsequent broods throughout the summer and into the fall some years.  By the next breeding season the young are out with their own families.  Amongst Red-cockaded woodpeckers, a breeding pair will often have 1 to 4 "helpers" which participate in the raising of young.  These helpers are most often young male offspring of the breeding pair.  Females rarely stay on as helpers.  Each group of birds has a "cluster" of cavity trees in which they roost at night.  One of the cavities, often that of the breeding male, is selected at the nest cavity.  It is here that the eggs are laid and the young are raised.  After a couple of years, young males will wander off and start a new cluster site.  Young females will usually wander off to find one of these single male clusters within their first year.

A widely used and fairly successful method for recovering populations of RCW's is to move "extra" helper birds from large donor sites to supplement smaller populations that might otherwise disappear.  In some cases, like Withlacoothee State Forest, the takers become the givers.  Populations reach a level that biologists believe they can release birds without affecting its long term survivability.  The managers at Corbett and DuPuis WMA's arranged to bring 20 such extras from Appalachicola NF.  The process is very interesting.  The managers of the donor site identify clusters in which there are multiple helper birds.  The staff from the accepting site will "roost" the birds to determine which birds are entering which cavities.  Individual birds can be identified by the unique combination of color bands on their legs.  Once the targeted birds are roosted, traps are set and they are captured and prepared for travel.  The accepting site is required to prepare several cluster sites.  Artificial cavities are are inserted into suitable trees.  Sometimes these artificial cavities are inserted into existing cluster sites, sometimes entirely new clusters are created.  When the donated birds arrive, they are deposited into these artificial cavities.  A metal screen is tacked over the cavity entrance to keep the birds from flying the coop.  The next morning, the birds are released and hopefully take to their new surroundings.  There are three methods to releasing birds in a new site.  One is to bring an established breeding pair to a new site in the hopes that they will continue to breed in the new site.  This method is usually used when a donor population is too small or the land is not manageable for RCW's.  Rather than taking extra birds from a large population, birds from a doomed population are given one last chance to survive on a site where long term survival is a possibility.  Another method is to bring a female to a single male cluster.  This somewhat mimics what happens in the normal course of things.  The most common tactic is to bring a pair of helpers to a cluster and hope that they make a love connection.  Corbett was set to receive five such pairs.  Yesterday morning I came out to help them release one of the pairs.

NOTE ** And now back to our story

Corbett WMA is very wet, even in dry times.  The main method of transportation is by swamp buggy.  These monster size high rise vehicles can go just about anywhere through water up to eight feet deep.  We headed out into the darkness where I was deposited at my release site.  There were four cavity trees, two of which hosted RCW's whose last glimpse of daylight was in Appalachicola National Forest.  While it was still dark, I checked the strings attached to the metal screens and determined which side of the tree the cavities faced.  Two Whip-poor-wills called in the dark.  Catbirds, mockingbirds, and Pine warblers gradually started stirring as sunrise approached.  Right about sunrise, one of the captives began to protest his containment by tapping at the screen.  The other bird was strangely silent.  I wanted to wait until both birds were pecking before releasing them.  Usually the birds are released together in the hope that they will feel more like staying if they are not alone.  I decided to pull the screen off the silent bird's cavity and release the little troublemaker when the first bird came out.  I hadn't even gotten the screen off the cavity when the bird came out like a shot.  I ran over to the other bird and pulled off it's screen.  The birds took off in different directions, but they did not leave the area.  The anxious one called continuously, but seemed to take to his new place.  I never saw the other bird again, but it called occasionally, letting me know it was still in the area.  When my ride arrived, I think I heard the noise maker change his tone.  It seemed to indicate that he had found the other bird.  I hope so.  They have several months to get acquainted before the breeding season begins next April.  Many of the birds released in this manner eventually disappear.  Some releases lose all the birds, some may retain nearly all of them.  The hope is that eventually enough will remain to make a difference.

After heading back to the office for a rest, I set off with Mike, the biologist at Corbett, to open a couple of other cavities.  This site was located in between a couple of release sites.  Sites accepting woodpeckers are required to have some empty clusters available to act as catch sites if the donated birds bolt from their intended homes.  This particular site was one of the original RCW sites at Corbett.  The managers are taking steps to restore the habitats in these areas to help restore the RCW population.  The understory is being removed mechanically and prescribed fire is used to mimic the natural fires that occurred historically.

In the interest of saving gas, I wanted to hit Highlands County while I was already on the road.  I headed over to the beeline (SR 710) and beelined to Okeechobee.  I had the whole day ahead of me and several relatively easy ticks.  I had picked Limpkin as my most likely new species for Highlands County.  I had pegged Lake Istokpoga as the most likely spot.  I still lacked Veery and Bobolink.  If I had made it over earlier, I could have easily picked them off as nocturnal flyovers, but their time has probably passed for '09.   The plan was to head west from Okeechobee on SR 70 to CR 721 and head north.  If I could add a tick along this road, I would have the option of heading east from Basinger back toward home.  If not, could head west on US 98 and try Lake I.  While tooling along 721 I spied an interesting pond in a pasture.  This happens a lot when county listing.  There were a number of ducks and shorebirds in the pond.  I was somewhat weak on ducks and especially shorebirds in Highlands.  I lacked both dowitchers and a few others.  The most prominent ducks were Mottled ducks, but several Green-winged teal were resting on the pond as well.  Both species of yellowlegs were present as were some Least sandpipers and a flyover Pectoral sandpiper.  Behind a clump of grass, I spied three Long-billed dowitchers.  The teal and dowitcher were new, accomplishing my primary goal of adding at least one species to my Highlands County list this year.  I was getting hungry for lunch and I remembered a little park along the river from the last time I visited the area.  I was looking for Boat Ramp Road, but I remembered that the Gazeteer was labeled incorrectly.  The road is something Bluff Road.  I headed to the end of the road, parked under a tree and started munching on my homemade pizza.  There is a nice clump of oaks in this former campground and I was able to pish in some Palm warblers and gnatcatchers.  The palms came right down on the ground next to me.  They kept circling my truck almost as if they were going to land on or in it.  Eventually I saw my first Blue-headed vireo of the fall and a Black-and-white warbler.  I finished lunch and took a walk around the park and along the river.  There were many shells of freshwater mussels along the water's edge, indicating that Limpkins were present.  I hoped that I would not find one on the other side of the river in Okeechobee.  I did not.  I did not see them on the right side of the river either.  At least I have a closer spot for them.  I headed out and up Underhill Road before hitting the road for home.  Another pond caught my eye.  This pond hosted Mottled duck , Blue-winged teal, and about 20 juvenile Black-bellied whistling ducks.  A few shorebirds were present, both yellowlegs, and Least sandpipers.  More year birds for Highlands but no life birds.  I was getting tired, so I headed on back.

I feel like I should reward anyone who actually read this far.  I'm too tired to think of a reward.  If you read this, maybe you can let me know by sending a suggestion.

I have been laid up with the same virus that got me right before the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival last January.  It is running it's course as before and I should be back to 100% by Monday or late Sunday.  What ever happened to the 24 hour virus?  I have been medicating with rest and lots of fluids.  I think I am suffering from ginger ale poisoning.  The rest time has given me a chance to update my bird records and enter much of my old paper journals into my current database and ultimately into eBird.  Strolling down memory lane has been interesting.  I made over 300 trips to Mud Lake in Cocoa, FL.  The lake was in the woods behind my parents' house.  I didn't get my driver's license on my 16th birthday like most kids because I didn't need it.  I could just walk out the back door and go birding all day long in the woods around the lake.  Who need's a license?  I first discovered the area in November of 1984.  A male Merlin had perched on the fort in the woods behind the house.  I pulled out my trusty National Geographic Field Guide, then only in it's first edition, and identified yet another life bird.  When it flew off, I climbed up on the wooden fence to see where it went and I saw two Red-shouldered hawks flying around in the far distance.  I went off to explore and found the edge of the lake.  The lake proper was hidden from view by a dense growth of marsh vegetation.  There is little or no open water in the lake anymore.  The next week, I headed off with my trusty clipboard and notebook paper and without my binoculars to make my first birding trip, December 4th, 1984 if memory serves me right.  I didn't get much on that trip, but it opened the door to many more trips and adventures over the next four years.  It was a great experience to really learn a site like that.  Eventually I would find over 200 species in the "Mud Lake area" which extended from the yard out to the lake and eventually all around the west side, up to SR 524 and back east as far as SR 528.  That made for some long, long walks.  I spent many a Christmas Bird Count at the lake.  I can remember walking to high school, Cocoa High was right across the road, by way of the lake in order to take a quick sample of the spring migration.  One weekend I discovered a wayward football in the practice field of the high school and tossed it into the bushes to recover the next day.  That Monday, on the way home, I discovered that a fallout had occurred.  I rushed home, deposited the football, gabbed my binoculars and headed back to the lake to discover 12 species of warblers, Rose-breasted grosbeaks, and a whole lot of other treasures.  The football was later destroyed when I decided it would be good target practice to stand at the end of the driveway and throw it at the backboard of the basketball hoop attache to the roof.  After awhile the ball began to resemble a brown egg with laces.  I remember seeing the Broad-winged hawk along SR 524 and remarking at how small they looked compared to Red-shouldered hawks.  That was my fourth Broad-winged at the time.  I remember getting excited at the first winter record of Ovenbird.  I remember finding and describing my first Field sparrow in the weedy field at the edge of the ROTC field.  I remember walking the plank across the concrete spillway along the west side of the lake.  My dad used to drive his jeep across the same spillway when the road was clear and there were two such planks.  I remember how much smaller my world of birds was at the time and how I struggled to ID birds that are commonplace to me now.  Mud Lake was my introduction into record keeping.  I was in Boy Scouts at the time and I had picked up a Bird Study Merit Badge pamphlet.  One of the requirements was to keep records of birds identified by sound and sight in the field.  I used this method on my first birding trips, dividing the notebook paper into two columns.  Each species was recorded in the column by which it was first identified.  The sound column was nearly always in the lead unless I went out in the afternoon.  Later, I read an article in American Birds regarding note taking.  I want to say the article was written by Guy McCaskie, but I could be wrong.  It was someone from California.  This was my first real effort at keeping a bird journal.  I produced a nice hand-written report of species and numbers seen on each trip along with headings for weather, participant lists, general comments, etc.  I highlighted rare species and unusual numbers with single or double underlines depending on the degree of rarity.  I included species accounts, separate pages where more detailed information could be recorded.  It was here that I wrote up the exciting first winter record of Ovenbird for Mud Lake and my memorable Broad-winged hawk along SR 524.  I used these pages to chronicle the sightings of Pine siskins in the invasion winter of 1987-88.  The first sighting in this account was my life bird.  I documented the 200th species found in the area, Red-breasted merganser.  In all my trips, I only found one individual.  It hung out in a receding man-made pond in the back of the Cocoa Bay development from Dec 19, 1987 to February 15th, 1988.  It would take flight every time I came into view.  It flew out of sight every time.  I wondered if it would come back and every time it did, until that last sighting in February.  Mud Lake was in the path of the birds heading from the Port Canaveral to the landfill out by I-95 north of Cocoa.  Some days I would count 1000's of gulls, White ibises, Fish crows, and Cattle egrets.  I sampled the gulls, primarily Laughing and Ring-billed, and found that there was nearly always 90% Laughing and 10% Ring-billed.  I would estimate the total size of the passing flocks by counting in 5's and count the actual number of Ring-billed.  If the sample size was over 500, the ring-bills would be right there at 10%.  It was so consistent that I began just counting the gulls and splitting the numbers at the end of the day.  Every spring there would be an increasing number of Little blue herons flying west over the lake.  The number of immature birds would increase faster than adults.  The numbers peaked around mid-April and declined thereafter.  One year there was a consistent westward movement of Mottled ducks for about six weeks in late summer.  I picked up such oddities at Common loons flying overhead several times.  I even got shorebirds overhead during migration.  I think I remember getting Upland sandpiper.  Spotted sandpipers were regular as were yellowlegs and even Stilt sandpipers.  In 300+ trips you hit on some of those low percentage birds.

It was quite a trip down Memory Lane.  I should write down more while I can still remember.  I wonder how today's memories will be 22 years from now.  Today I keep notes in four letter band codes and numbers in dots, slashes, and Roman numerals.  More detailed accounts are often typed into the computer.  No doubt this is more efficient and environmentally friendly than a giant hand written account on notebook paper, but not quite as colorful.  I should end this now before I start sounding like Grampa Simpson.  I can't wait to get out there and cut a new Memory Lane.

As I get the time, I am going to start depositing my knowledge of Florida birding into blog posts about specific areas or counties that strike my fancy.  The format will be somewhat haphazard at first as I brainstorm my way through this project.  Eventually, hopefully, it will congeal into a useful guide to birding around the state with an eye toward county listing.  Given the recent Big Sit at Sebastian Inlet, my fancy is currently drifting toward that neat little birding gem only 20 miles from my house.

St. Sebastian Inlet (north side)

Tidal Pool - Along the north side of the inlet there is a man-made tidal pool.  This spot is popular for beach goers and can be completely devoid of birds during weekends and summer time.  If the tides are right, there can be a nice variety of waders, shorebirds, gulls and terns.  Wood storks, Reddish egret, Roseate spoonbill (rare), and Wilson's plover (rare fall/winter) can be found here.  Lesser black-backed gulls show up in small and unpredictable numbers primarily from October to March.  Black skimmers are often here when they are not cruising the inlet or loafing on the beach.  At night, Black-crowned and Yellow-crowned night-herons can be found on the flats or on the rock jetties that border the mouth of the tidal pool.

Feild area

There is a fairly large field to the west and northwest of the tidal pool.  I road runs through and around the field.  Parking is available in the field.  There are Gopher tortoises in the field.  This is particularly good for birders because this means the field is not mowed to the ground on a regular basis.  There are a number of overgrown clumps of vegetation including several ficus tress, Florida privets, and others, particularly toward the northeast side of the field.  Park staff regularly deposits branches and cuttings in the north section of the field.  There is a large, overgrown dirt pile in the northeast side of the field.  Surrounding this pile are some of the larger ficus tress and several clumps of bushes.  From the top of the field you can see many of the major parts of the inlet.  Andy Bankert once identified over 90 species of birds from the top of this hill in less than 24 hours during the peak of migration.  60-75 species in a day during October is not unusual.  The border of the field is mostly mangroves on the north, west, and south sides.  The east side has vegetation more typical of tropical hammocks in early succession.  Exotic plant control activities in the area often result in paths or roads into the bordering vegetation.  Dead Australian pines surrounding the field offer roosting spots for hawks, flycatchers, herons, and sometimes owls.  This field is one of the more promising sites at the inlet given the relative size and coastal location.  It could harbor anything during migration, especially around cold fronts or tropical storms.

Jetty

The conrete jetty can be a good spot to look for pelandgics in fall and winter or during tropical storms.  For county listers, note that the end of the jetty turns south while the county line continues straight east.  This means that when you are at the end of the jetty, you are pretty much on the Brevard/Indian River line.  Inlets like this seem to attract wayward sea waifs.  Brown noddies have been know to hang out on the jetty.  Gannets sometimes find their way into the inlet here.  Sandwich and Common terns often accumulate here, the Common tern mostly from August to November.  Black-legged kitiwake and Black-headed gull have shown up in this inlet as well.

Beach

When the beach is not overcrowded during surf competitions or with regular users, it can harbor the usual suspects for gulls and terns.

Concession and Picnic area

Between the main parking area and the beach is a picnic area with several large ficus and Sea grape trees.  When the Sea grapes are flowering (spring) or fruiting (summer/fall) they can be good for migrant warblers, tanagers, vireos, etc.  The flowering Sea grapes are particularly good for hummingbirds when they are in town as well as Cape May warblers.

North beach parking lot and bike trail

From the northernmost parking lot on the beach side you can wander north along the back side of the dunes on the bike trail.  The trail is a wide two rut road safe for walking if you take the proper precautions regarding bike riders.  The first section is dominated by trees and somewhat of a Maritime Hammock area.  There is a weedy, fenced in storage area with shrubby edges where Clay-colored sparrows, and Painted buntings are known to be found.  There is good potential for any wayward sparrow or sparrow-type bird to show here.  Kirtland's warbler could even show here given the right time and right winds.  I have had one on the south side of the inlet in Indian River County.

So that is it for now.  I will continue this brainstorm as I get the time and inspiration.  I hope to collect this information and distribute it in some form in the future.  I welcome any comments.

I found out yesterday that the Big Sit was today.  http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/funbirds/bigsit/bigsit.aspx  I quickly registered and headed out this morning to try the hill at Sebastian Inlet State Park.  The north side of Sebastian Inlet State Park offers a multitude of different habitats in close proximity.  There is a tidal pool with a couple of rock jetties along the inlet.  The bridge over the inlet used to have House sparrows.  There is beach habitat, mangrove impoundments, a fairly large field with clumps of shrubs and bushes, several large dead trees and towers that serve as perches for hawks and Olive-sided flycatchers.  in the northeast part of the field, there is a fairly high, overgrown dirt pile surrounded by clumps of trees and bushes.  From here you can see at least parts of all the habitats plus a distant view of the mainland across the lagoon.  It was here that Andy Bankert saw 90+ species of birds on a Big Sit some years ago.  That day produced a massive flight of songbirds at night, 15 species of warblers, oddities like Fulvous whistling duck and Glossy ibis (rare on the barrier island) and a Painted bunting actually in the circle with Andy.

Big Sit 2009 was hampered by a stalled front in the panhandle of Florida.  There were some radar returns over this part of the state, but most of the action was bottled up to the north.  I set up about 0620, about 25 minutes before the first mockingbirds began to call.  In the dark I tallied three Bobolinks, and that was it.  In the daylight I tallied five more Bobolinks.  There were a few warblers in the field and surrounding woods.  The best of the bunch was a couple of Cape mays, not easy to find in the fall.  I got two different Peregrine falcons and two Merlins.  There were herons, egrets, pelicans, gulls, and pelicans flying up and down the lagoon and inlet making it impossible to get an accurate count.  I got a nice flight of 13 Roseate spoonbills and a Reddish egret taking advantage of the receding tide in the tidal pool.  Most of the waders were represented.  Glossy ibises are rare on the mainland as are Cattle egrets.  Green herons can be tough as well.  I did not get any of these in the three hours, 15 minutes that I spent sitting.  Thrushes, orioles, tanagers, buntings, and flycatchers were absent.  Northern rough-winged swallows were the champion swallow of the morning beating out Tree and Barn 11-10-6.  Interestingly, Andy got several Cliff swallows 10 miles north on the barrier island.  From the mound it can be difficult to see birds flying low over the dunes.

I managed to turn up 60 species and take some pictures of and from the site.  I'll see about posting them here or to Facebook.  Andy went out this afternoon and had several species that I had not seen.  He found 53 species when I last talked to him, including probably 10-15 that I did not have.  We'll compare notes and compile a total.  70-75 seems likely, maybe more.  Next year I hope to get some more people together and make an all day effort.  It would definitely help to have more sets of eyes in the morning.

I headed over to my cousin's housewarming in Seffner this afternoon.  After depositing the wife, I headed over to Steve Backes' house to see his famous place for hummers.  There were only Ruby-throats around, but it was good to see the set up.  I got a few seeds to start some things in our yard.  Afterward, I headed down to Lythia Springs just to check it out.  I think I had been there way back when I was a kid.  A hot afternoon is not the best time to bird this popular swimming spot.

We had made a stop at a small lake in Lake Wales to add a tick for Polk County.  The target species was Black-bellied whistling duck.  We spied a family in the SW corner of the lake.  On the way back, I got another tick on the way back when I spied a Merlin along SR 60.  Sometime next week I will head to Highlands County to get at least one new tick there.

05 Oct 09

It's a good thing I usually pack for an extra day when I go birding!

Now had I not fumbled the ball and passed on Black Creek Trails in Clay, I would have started the morning at Edgefield Conservation Area in Putnam, then on to Ravine Gardens, and the Welaka area.  However, I had met my goal of adding at least one in Putnam and I was so close to taking the lead in Clay.  I had such easy additions as Ovenbird and Northern waterthrush.  I also lacked some of the thrushes, so I decided to set out for Bayard Conservation Area on the west side of the St. John's River and south side of SR 16.

Bayard Conservation Area

This isn't necessarily the best area for birding.  It is dominated by pine lands with a few creeks running through to the river.  I only needed a couple to take the lead and it was easy enough to pop back down to Palatka from here and try for some more Putnam County birds.  I arrived before dawn and was able to add Veery and Gray-cheeked to my list in the dark.  The dawn chorus brought out a couple of Bachman's sparrows, bluebirds, Brown-headed nuthatches, and Barred owls.  A creek crosses the main road at a camp area and here I was able to add Ovenbird to my list.  I checked a shrubby field area southeast of the camp.  Some years ago the Water Management District had cleared an area of Loblolly pines to control the spread of Southern Pine Beetle.  I did not pick up much, but it has some nice low spots that could produce some interesting stuff as winter gets closer.  There is a road leading out to the river here, but that will have to wait for another visit.  I checked a couple of flocks of birds on the way back and found an Eastern pewee for the fourth county tick.  I also added Lenore McCullagh to my list.  It is nice to add faces to names.  Now if only I could keep both in my brain at the same time.

Green Cove Springs

On the way back to US 17, I did a double take.  There appeared to be a shrike on a wire back off the road.  I made a U-turn and headed back to the entrance to some kind of warehouse area.  Sure enough, it was a shrike.  Now I only lack Franklin and Liberty counties for the all-county list.

Starbuck's Green Cove Springs

There is a Starbuck's in Green Cove Springs.  It is inconveniently located on the east side of US 17 where SR 16 turns west toward wherever SR 16 goes.  I managed to get the last parking space and headed in for my usual repast of Pumpkin and Cream Cheese muffin and a tall Mocha Frappucino.  After this, I had to wait for the light to turn so I could back out of the parking space in time to get caught by the next red light.

Twice the Ice  Green Cove Springs

I stopped by one of those Twice the Ice places where SR 16 heads east from US 17 south of Green Cove Springs.  While loading up the ice chest, I spied another or the same Loggerhead shrike on the wire across the road.  I would even see another one further south along US 17.  I guess the dam has burst.

Putnam

Ravine Gardens State Park

I headed on down to Ravine in hopes of turning up more stuff for Putnam.  After some walking, I heard a screech owl.  A mechanical screech owl.  On a bench near the source of the call was a John Hintermister.  I talked with him for a little while and found out that he and Judy Bryan, the current leader in Clay, had found some pretty good stuff at Black Creek Trails yesterday.  D'oh!  I told John of the tanager and oriole yesterday and we parted ways.  I ran into him once more and he had found a flock including redstarts, a pewee, and Scarlet tanager near the springs.  I think I found the flock, but the pewee eluded me.

Clay

Black Creek Trails

I had to backtrack to get here and it was after noon when I arrived, but I had to get back while I was nearby.  I didn't figure to be near Clay again anytime soon and who knows when I will get the chance to hit it in the peak of fall migration again?  So I spent a good deal of time tracking down flocks of birds.  There was a tree covered in Virginia creeper in the parking area.  Four Red-eyed vireos were helping themselves to the berries as well as a Swainson's thrush.  I hoped for a Rose-breasted grosbeak, but did not see any while I was there.  I found several flocks of birds on the paved and unpaved trails as well as in the untracked woods.  This was the first place where I found numbers of thrushes on the ground.  There were seven Swainson's and a Veery total.  I also found Hooded and Black-throated blue warblers in a quiet flock along the paved trail.  Scarlet tanager was new for the county but I still lacked waterthrush.  I am now closer to 150 but it will take another couple of visits to get over the hump.

Putnam

Welaka Town Park

This little known but very productive spot is sandwiched between the Welaka State Forest and The Welaka National Fish Hatchery on the south side of Welaka on CR 309 in Putnam County.  It has a stick and ball section up front.  The back part of the park consists of several old fish ponds, some of which are being cleared out.  The combination of water and trees and cleared fields make for a nice variety of species.  I have pulled out Western tanager in the past.  In the back of the park you can peek into an active hatchery pond where I found a couple of Solitary sandpipers and Killdeer.  There is a very large pond also in the back of the park.  Moorhens breed here and Wood ducks can be found.  It has potential for other interesting species but not on this day.

Welaka National Fish Hatchery

I was running out of time and energy but a quick stop at the south end of the hatchery was in order.  Most of the ponds were pretty full.  A couple were completely dry and one had some wet spots.  Waders were in evidence as were the local flock of turkeys.  I did not get much else around.  The birding is pretty variable here, but it can be spectacular.

I didn't do any birding on the way back home.  I managed to get home not too long after dark and began to decompress.  This will be the last trip for awhile as my energies are turning toward business planning and marketing.  This weekend we will be in Seffner Saturday afternoon and possibly Circle B Bar Ranch on the way home.  I might make a trip over to Highlands/Okeechobee to check out the thrush migration from an inland point.  At that point, my main goals should be accomplished.  The normal course of birding should yield 34+ counties above 100 for the year.  I'll eventually make it to 12,000 total ticks in Florida.

04 Oct 09

Swift Creek at CR 245

Union County was the last county below the 125 mark.  I was at 122 with a swiss cheese like list of fall birds.  Hitting 125 was a no brainer, most likely I would make it before first light.  I still had a few holes in neighboring Columbia County, so I decided to hit a few spots across the line.  Swift Creek is the county line, so I figured to get some bi-county birds.  The night calls yielded Swainson's, Veery, and Gray-cheeked.  All three were new for Union, putting me at 125, two of them were new for Columbia.  A Screech owl called from the woods nearby in response to my iPod.  This put me at 98 for the year and 149 life time in Columbia County.  One of my side goals is to get to 100 for the year in more than half of the counties.  I had more time so I hit a few more spots in Columbia before heading to my dawn spot in Union.

CR 245 N. or CR 349 and CR 349 W. of CR 245

I was hoping for Great horned owl.  Osceola National Forest comprises thousands of acres of Columbia County, yet I have not ever gotten GHOW in the county.  Columbia is what I might call a double gap county.  When I decided to pursue county listing in Florida I found that there were several counties that had been skipped over in my Big Year and Big Day pursuits of years past.  St. Lucie and Martin Counties were skipped as I headed to Palm Beach County.  Broward was skipped while I headed to Dade and Monroe Counties.  I only birded Flagler and St. John's in migration while I hit Duval and Nassau at all times of the year.  This resulted in many counties with low lists and lots of fun trips.  Columbia is right there where I-10 and I-75 come together, so I had been there many times, but I had rarely birded in the county.  I had not heard of Alligator Lake until recent years.  When I decided to pursue 100 species in each county, I was able to quickly pump Columbia to 100 through the magic of Alligator Lake.  Later I would set the bar to 125 in each county and Columbia easily hit that mark.  I was able to add such things as Masked duck, White-faced ibis, and Ruff to the list but was still missing Eastern kingbird, Chipping sparrow, Indigo bunting, and other birds that breed or winter in huge numbers in the county.  Columbia was less of a target for me since I had achieved the major thresholds there but not in surrounding counties.  Now the list was approaching 150, and I was in suitable habitat for GHOW, so maybe I would manage to finally get them.  October is a good month for owls, although GHOW often don't call until dawn.  I planned to be in Union at that time, but I hoped for some calls in the dark.  Anyway, in two stops I got eight more Barred owls, and three more screech owls, all calling without the benefit of my iPod.  I did get to 100 for the year and 150 for life when I heard three Indigo buntings calling overhead.  What a strange time to get Indigo bunting?!?

SW 85th Path

This little gem of a wetland is the kind of spot county listers dream of.  It is a man-made pond near a floundering development at the corner of SR 241 and SR 238 in northwestern Union County.  SW 85th Path heads east from CR 241 just south of SR 238.  At the cul de sac there is a single house with an overgrown yard and a weedy wet field surrounding the pond.  Wood ducks and Little blue herons frequent the area.  Common moorhens breed here, a tough bird to find in Union.  Pied-billed grebes, ditto.  I hoped for such things as Marsh wren, Least bittern, Snowy egret, and maybe even a few other things.  The thrush migration had kicked into high gear.  There were hundreds of Swainson's overhead with a sprinkling of other thrushes but no warblers or even Bobolinks.  I positioned myself to see the pond and the various clumps of cattails and willows.  Marsh wrens were present, even singing.  I heard a Northern waterthrush at the south end of the pond.  A sora called, also from the south end.  There was a Blue-winged teal among the Wood ducks and I even saw an American bittern standing in the open.  I failed to find Least bittern but American was a nice consolation prize.  I left the area a little before 0800 in order to check Chastain-Seay Park along the river south of Worthington Springs.

Chastain-Seay Park

I got to the park just before 0800 and the gates were open.  No other birders were present,  Unknown to me, the Alachua County Audubon Society had scheduled a field trip here this morning.  I headed down one of the trails and heard a couple of vehicles pull in.  Upon inspection I found John Hintermister and Bob Knight and his wife.  They had come in prior to the field trip.  I tagged along with them for a little while and was able to add a few more migrants to my burgeoning Union County list.  Eastern pewee was actually new for me in Union and I got some more Northern waterthrushes.  Chestnut-sided and Magnolia warblers initially eluded me, but I was able to get them later.  I crossed paths with Gator Bob and the Alachau Audubon group and Hintermister a few more times and got most species that were seen that day.  I never ran across the Scartlet tanager which would have been new for me, but I did OK.  I still have some easy migrants left and I hope to get to 150 some day.  I wanted to stay longer, but I had more goals to pursue.  I needed to do a loop through Duval to get a complete eBird checklist in 2009 in every county.  I also wanted to hit some of Baker and Clay to get them off of 125 before heading to St. Augustine for the night.

Lake Butler

I headed up to Lake Butler, another one of those county listing gems.  There is a sandy beach and a fair amount of vegetation next to the park on the south side of the lake.  The lake has yielded good numbers of ducks in the past and I have managed a few shorebirds at times on the beach.  This is also one of the better spots to find Rock dove, and tough bird in Union.  I added a pair of Muscovies to my list as I drove up to the park.  I found another Marsh wren, a Yellow warbler and a couple more Chimney swifts, but no Great egrets, Great blue herons, no Red-winged blackbirds, and only two Boat-tailed grackles.  I was keeping a day list in order to submit a new Big Day record for Union County.  I was doing well, but I was also missing some common stuff.

Swift Creek Pond

Heading north out of town on SR 238, I stopped at one of the boat ramps on Swift Creek Pond.  There are one or two Osprey nests on the lake and I still need that for Union.  Just before getting to the ramp, I spied an Osprey in a flock of Turkey vultures.  The lake itself did not produce much, not even a Pine warbler or nuthatch along the wooded edge.  I did get 68 species for the day and added 15 to my life list.  I also got to 100 for the year, the 28th county to reach that mark for the year.

Baker

SR 228

This area in eastern Baker County offers some unique habitats.  There are a number of settling ponds associated with a mining operation.  A landfill in Duval County is right next door, so you can pick up some overflow from the gulls.  Great and Lesser black-backed gulls have turned up here as well as Great white-fronted goose, Lapland longspur, and a few others have shown up here.  It is theoretically the best shorebirding spot in Baker but I have not hit it at the right time.  It is highly dependent on mining operations.  It is a good spot for Fish crow, Laughing gull, and Boat-tailed grackle in Baker.  I still needed Cliff and Bank swallows for Baker, but nothing was forthcoming on this quick swing through Baker.  Baker would stay at 125 for the time being.

Duval

Pope Duval Park

Somehow I had not managed to submit a complete eBird checklist for Duval, ever.  I decided I did not want to go back over to the coast today, so I picked Pope Duval Park of the map and headed there for a life park and eBird checklist.  The park is kind of a run down little place between I-10 and US 90 east of Baldwin.  There are some ponds that look as if they were dug out.  They are shallow enough and graded to mimic natural basin marshes.  There is a barely repaired boardwalk running through pine flatwoods and cypress swamp with a view of one of the ponds.  I think there must be a deeper pond with some fishing opportunities.  There were a number of other visitors with boat trailers.  I walked the boardwalk, got my complete checklist of 10 species and even added Yellow-billed cuckoo to my Duval list.  Mission accomplished, I headed on to Clay County to try to move that county off of 125.

Clay

I have some neat birds in Clay from spending many a spring break at Goldhead Branch Sate Park in years past.  I had Pine siskin during an invasion year in the 1980's and I had my life Golden-crowned kinglet.  I actually made it to 108 species in Clay before adding any exotic species.  In March of 2007, Greg Kauffaman and I visited Goldhead Branch State Park and headed up SR 21 through Orange Park on the way to Jacksonville for a park service biologist meeting.  I was at 99 for the county and we searched around for anything, including exotics, to push me to 100.  We saw nothing.  Not even a starling.  Needless to say, with only 125 on my list and most of my birding in spring, there were many potential new species for Clay.  I headed down US 17 through Orange Park en route to Palatka and Ravine Gardens State Park.  I fumbled the ball when I passed on Black Creek Trails south of Orange Park.  There is a nice buffer strip of vegetation along the creek west of US 17 where many a county bird lurked.  I hit the boat ramp at Magnolia Springs overlooking the St. John's River.  The river was dead.  Really dead.  It is scary to look at all of those docks and that huge expanse of water and see no gulls, terns, pelicans, ducks, anything.  The only birds I got was a pair of cardinals in the woods and an eagle along the water's edge.  A quick check of Camp Chowenwaw Park to the west of US 17 was slightly more productive but no new county ticks.  It was afternoon and I was not in the mood to bang my head against the wall trying for more county ticks.  I still needed Ovenbird, Cliff and Bank swallow, Eastern pewee, waterthrushes, and many other easy ticks.  I made another stop at a pond along US 17 south of Green Cove Springs and found a few waders and some turkeys.  This is probably the same group of turkeys that served as species #125 back in August.  I needed one species to tie for the lead in Clay and two to take the lead.  However, I had met my goals for the year in this county, so I headed on to Putnam to try for a new tick there.

Putnam

Ravine Gardens State Park

Ravine can be good for fall migrants and I had five or six relatively easy ticks left.  I hit Putnam pretty hard last year tallying 182 species for the year.  I had only 184 life time at the end of the year.  If I had known of the breeding Mississippi kites in Palatka I could have gotten 183 last year.  Anyway, I had some hope of getting a new tick or two at Ravine. I spent most of my time on the perimeter road searching out migrant flocks.  Several were present, but they were very quiet and secretive.  I did manage a brief look at a male Scarlet tanager and a Baltimore Oriole.  That was a nice relief.  Only three counties left to add at least one tick this year.  I may already have Brevard, but that will require some more research.  Polk and Highlands are easy.  Anyway, I did not get much else here, but I was happy with the results.

Edgefield Conservation Area

I ate supper here and scoped out the wetlands for the next day.  I had hopes of American bittern here and maybe even Mottled duck.  Not much doing this evening.  I called Matt Hafner to get directions to his place and headed on to stay the night at his place.

St. Jonhs

St. Augustine

I got to Matt's around dark.  We talked a bit of eBird and birds in general for awhile.  They have a new kitten since the last time I was there.  I taught him (the kitten) how to dance.

03 Oct 09

Loblolly Nature Center - Hogtown Creek South

Among the choices availble, this was the field trip that interested me most.  I had been to Bolen Bluff many times in the past.  San Felasco Hammock is one of my favorite places, but I had been there many times before.  This trip was led by one of the managers of the site, so it offered a chance to learn more than just he birds.  It was interesting to see this watershed preserve right in the middle of Gainesville.  A fairly extensive buffer had been preserved around Hogtown Creek and others to allow the natural function of the watershed to continue.  The trails are relatively free of exotic vegetation and are very much used by the town residents.  It is a great place for migrant songbirds, especially in the fall, and we were not disappointed.  We tallied 10 species of warblers including a Blue-winged which was new for me in Alachua.  In addition to warblers, we had a Baltimore oriole, Rose-breasted grosbeak (new for Alachua), Yellow-billed cuckoo, Summer tanager, and a Traill's type flycatcher.  It was a nice variety of migrant types as well as species.  I was able to push another county to the 200 mark.

Home Depot Ponds

Before heading to the paper sessions at the meeting, I decided to check the large retention pond behind The Home Depot off Newberry Road.  I noticed from the highway that there was good shorebird habitat in the pond.  I spent about a half hour looking and found 10 Least sandpipers, and four Pectoral sandpipers along with a few Killdeer and a Lesser yellowlegs.  Waders were dominated by White ibis with 40 individuals.  Four dark ibises were all Glossies, no White-faced.  This is the famous place for Muscovy ducks in Gainesville.  There were 43 of them resting under trees around the pond and in the parking lot.  12 more ducks were judged to be Muscovy X Mallard hybrids and two domestic Mallards were present.  Years ago, Scott and I hit this pond near midnight to tick Muscovies on our way to setting the Florida October Big Day record of 158.  This was the third Big Day in a row, starting with a paltry 140 on Sep 30.  Clearly September has more potential, but I have never gone back and raised the record.

The rest of the day was spent at the meeting.  The skin quiz consisted of 30 wings.  Not the kind with sauce on them.  Andy B. and I both got 25 right.  I made a few stupid mistakes as always and Adam Kent beat us out by one, as always.  I didn't do any other birding that day, just paper sessions and socializing.  I skipped the banquet in favor of sleep and an early day of birding on Sunday.

02 Oct 09

Green Key Causeway

Scott and I started in the dark on the causeway leading to Green Key Park in Pasco County.  I started the day with 186 species lifetime in Pasco and slim hopes of getting to 200.  In the pursuit of my goals, I needed to add at least one species of bird to my list.  Not a problem considering the holes in my list.  I had done little birding in Pasco in fall, so I had such easy species as all the thrushes, Pectoral sandpiper, Bobolink, and redstart on the target list.

Swainson's thrush calls dominated the river of flight calls passing overhead.  A few Veeries and a Gray-cheeked (or two?) were heard, but no Bobolinks or warblers.  Among the dozen or so Clapper rails were a Sora and a couple of Least bitterns.  As dawn progressed and the day birds became more vocal, we headed to the main park to check the tiny beach before the day users came to stake their claim.  Sandy beaches are rare north of Pinellas County and east of Franklin County on the gulf coast of Florida.  Man-made sandy beaches such as the one at Green Key can be a boon for county listers.  This is the only place that I have found Sanderling in this county.  Low tide was upon us and we were able to see several Semipalmated plovers, a Willet, and a Western sandpiper among the Laughing gulls.  Hundreds of waders were taking advantage of the mud flats all around the bay including a Roseate spoonbill, new for my list.  Ken Tracey showed up and informed us of recent sightings of Sanderling and Whimbrel.  Whimbrel would be new for me.  None would show for us this day.  Songbirds were not abundant, but I did get a redstart.  Prairie warblers and Marsh wrens are resident at Green Key and we had a few of each.  Small numbers of swallows present including a very vocal Northern rough-winged swallow, new for the list.  After a second check of the beach, we headed on to the Gulf Harbor golf course.  Ken had seen Pectoral Sandpipers every day since September 13th.  Yesterday there were dozens of swallows including Bank swallows, new for me.

Gulf Harbors golf course

A small group of Barn swallows greeted us in the parking lot.  One Cliff and a Northern rough-winged was with them but no Banks.  Monk parakeets, 14 total, and House finches were heard and seen all around the place.  The proprietor gave us permission to walk to the back of the golf course.  Behind the main building was a low wet spot complete with three Pectorals sandpipers, Willets, and a couple of American green-winged teal.  The teal and Pectoral were new for me in Pasco.  One member of the pair of Bald eagles was sitting in a Eucalyptus tree next to the course.  It somehow seemed bigger than usual.  The only Bobolinks of the day were a flock of five that flew over.  The trees and bushes around the greens and ponds held a few migrant warblers.  We saw three Yellows, eight palms, two Common yellowthroats, and a Yellow-throated warbler.  In the far back pond I spied a small wren that might have been Sedge.  It was content with it's ID of me and felt not the need to reciprocate.   I got a lifer of sorts when a Red-shouldered hawk flew across the green with something in it's claw.  When it landed, we scoped it and determined that it had caught a Yellow warbler.  We kept checking the swallows for Bank, but I would come up short this day.  Banks are generally more common than Cliff, but I do have five counties where I have had Cliff and not Bank.  There are eight where I have Bank and not Cliff.  Right now, Bank is ahead:  39-36.  Migrant swallows are relatively easy to get along the coast, but inland they can be hit or miss.  I have a couple clusters of inland counties where I am missing both.

Ponds at the west end of SR 54

If you head west of US 19 on SR 54 there are some ponds and canals that contain Limpkin.  I still have not found them here, but maybe the fourth time will be a charm.

Green Key

We came back to Green Key to kill some time before heading to A Taste of Philly in Port Richey.  We walked up and down the road and produced nothing new for the day.

A Taste of Philly - Port Richey, FL

The place opens at 1100 and we got there at 1055.  The cheesesteaks were pretty good as promised.  I had a mushroom cheesesteak sub and a celebratory libation of birch beer.  Little hole in the wall places like this are one of the many benefits of county listing. The place is located on the east side of US 19 right after you cross the bridge heading north into Port Richey.  The guy is definitely from Philly which must have been difficult when the Bucs were crushing the Eagles in the playoffs some years back.  I guess he got his revenge last year in the World Series. 

After a very filling lunch, Scott and I parted ways and I began to wander on to the FOS meeting.

Moon Lake Park

One more stop on the way out of Pasco.  I wanted to see the famous beach where Florida's first White wagtail was seen.  Otherwise this is one of those places only visited by county listers and Christmas bird counters.  There were several Laughing gulls on the beach but no wagtails.  The habitat along the edge of the lake looks good for Limpkin and Purple Gallinule.  I even saw an Apple snail shell in the playground.  In the heat of the day, I did not see any gallinules or Limpkin.  Not even a Bank swallow.  I wasn't the only one disappointed; the herd of Peking ducks did not get any food from me despite their cautiously curious approach.

Sumter

Lake Panasoffkee Wildlife Management Area

Ah, Lake Panasoffkee WMA.  So many good birds seen in such short spurts of time.  Many a time I have visited this site in the wee hours of the evening.  It is located just three miles west of I-75 on SR 44, just north of where the turnpike merges with I-75.  On many trips to north Florida, I have had but an hour or less of light left when I pulled onto the entrance road to pad my Sumter list.  There is a nice variety of habitats in short order between SR 44 and the check station.  Next to SR 44 is a hay field and pasture that can be good for winter sparrows.  A couple of large depression marshes are found on the east side of the road.  I have had American bittern and Virginia rail, but not Least bittern and King rail in past visits.  The west side of the road has a dug out ditch, a remnant island of sandhill, and more pasture.  Further on toward the check station, the habitat changes back to pasture.  I usually walk the wooded section and check around the pastures.  On the wires near the check station, I saw a flock of swallows perched.  I decided to head on to the station and was rewarded with a Bank and a Cliff among the 30 or so Barn swallows.  I spent 45 minutes on this mid-day visit and tallied 25 species including the two new swallows for my Sumter list.

Marion

Blue Run of Dunellon

This little park is the epitome of county listing.  I was heading down the road, making my way toward Rainbow Springs State Park when I spied this little gem.  It is situated on SR 484 across the Rainbow River from Dunellon.  The park consists of several trails around an oxbow of the Rainbow River and into the surrounding uplands.  I spent some time tooling through the Pond Trail and down to the bridge in hopes of nudging my list toward 150.  I got five wood ducks in the oxbow and a hooded warbler among the 14 species seen here.  I got my life Wood duck in Marion County over 30 years ago when we made our first trip to Silver Springs.  While walking across the parking lot, we saw a female Wood duck with eight babies in tow.  They were making their way into the park as we were.  Later, on the glass-bottomed boat rides, we would see many other Wood ducks and a nesting pair of Ostriches.

Alachua

Chapman's Pond

I had never been to this locally famous birding spot.  Gainesville Regional Utilities has a series of ponds used to hold excess water from their operations.  Fortunately for birders and outdoor enthusiasts the area has been developed into a park with paths and a raised earthen platform overlooking the main pond.  It was here that I spent about a half hour before heading on to the initial flocking of the FOS meeting.  The pond was fairly full of water, too deep for shorebirds.  Submerged vegetation filled the water giving the wading birds sufficient footing to follow the ducks around the pond.  A flock of about 30 Blue-winged teal were very actively feeding, scurrying around the pond.  A few Liitle blue herons and Tricolored herons were following them.  Among the Blue-wings was a possible Cinnamon teal.  It was an adult female bird that was distinctly larger than the BWTE.  The body, neck, and bill were all slightly and noticeably longer.  The face was plain with a dark line through the eye.  There was no trace of eye arcs evident.  The bill was noticeably longer and deeper at the base and longer.  I was able to see the bill from directly in front and from the side several times.  I did not seem any wider than the BWTE's.  I have spent a lot of time studying the facial patterns of Blue-winged teal and it seems that all have at least some white eye-arcs.  The lack of eye arcs in this bird along with the longer bill and neck and larger size lead me to believe that it is probably a Cinnamon teal.  I think we can all agree that Blue-winged X Cinnamon teal hybrids are all infertile males so we don't have to consider the possibility of female hybrids or back-crosses.

Side note:  I am missing Chimney swift in only two of 67 counties.  These counties are Sumter and Marion, two counties that I visited this week.  I have however found them multiple times in the neighboring counties of Hernando and Alachua.  Just one of the weird little quirks of county listing.

Stay tuned for Day three.

01 Oct 09

Mead Gardens

An RFI to the Florida listserves produced many good pointers and tips for Mead Gardens.  I also found out that I would be seeing many of my old friends who had come out to look for the bounty of birds reported at this gem of a park.  I stood a good chance to fill in some gaps in my Orange County list.  Somehow, in spite of many days spent birding the Lake Apopka/Zellwood area, I was missing many easy fall migrants in Orange.  No doubt, I have seen a good deal of them, but without specific recollection or notes from the past, I am forced to leave those spaces blank.

It wasn't long before Dot Freeman found me and caught me up with the main group of birders.  I got a quick rundown of what was there yesterday and today.  I spent some time with the group and split off to check out the area.  I was as much interested in seeing the park as seeing the birds.  Exploring new places is sometimes the real reason for going out.  The possibility of adding new county ticks sometimes takes on the role of added incentive rather than primary goal.  This day I was able to do both.  Most of the birds from the day before had vacated, but I was able to add such things as Scarlet tanager and Swainson's thrush to my list.  After lunch, sitting in the amphitheater, and some nice cookies (thanks to Dot Freeman) for dessert, I left for other adventures.

Marsh Bend Park, Lake Panasoffkee

This is a neat little park along CR 470 on the west side of Lake Panasoffkee in the city of Lake Panasoffkee.  The south end of the park is bordered by the outlet canal, draining water from Lake Panasoffkee west to the Withlacootchee River.  In past years I have found up to eight Limpkins along the canal.  The higher waters of late seem to have moved them to other hunting grounds.  The park itself has lots of big trees, attractive to songbirds in migration.  Bordering the park to the west and north is a tract of land owned by Southwest Florida Water Management District.  There are trails available for exploration in daylight hours.  I tooled around the park and walked a few of the trails in search of flocking songbirds.  There were a few gnatcatchers, but no new county ticks.  It seems that the barn door was left open and the birds ran out overnight.

Dade Battlefield Historic State Park

This park is on the Great Florida Birding Trail but is little known and seldom visited by birders.  Sites like this can be attractive to county listers, however.  There is not much to offer in terms of unique birds or habitats on a state level, but often there are county specialties in the form of habitats or species not found elsewhere within the county lines.  Dade Battlefield is not one of these sites.  The main battlegrounds feature many large trees that can be good for migrants.  The western part of the park is marginally decent pine flatwoods.  There is a nice pasture pond outside the park to the east and a wet spot on the north boundary that produced a Northern waterthrush.  There were plenty of birds to be seen and it may hold a few new county ticks in the future.  I fully enjoyed the 2.5 miles of hiking around the perimeter of the park and parts of the nature trail.  After having worked for so long in the Florida Park Service, I like to see what other folks are doing for land management.  This being an historical state park, you would think that prescribed burning would not be as important.  However, maintaining the aspect of the landscape necessitates frequent prescribed burning.  Otherwise the open, pine lands become overgrown with oaks and other hardwoods.  An interpretive sign at the beginning of the nature trail says as much.  There are no recent signs of burning, but the woods are not too backlogged.  The boundaries are easily defended.  Given proper funding and motivation from management, it could be restored back to what it looked like in the time of battle.

Bystre Lake

I was feeling a bit tired and was facing the Florida Ornithological meeting the next three days, so I wanted to pace myself.  I was heading to Temple Terrace to stay with Scott Boderieux for the night.  We were scheduled to bird Green Key and other parts of Pasco County the next day.  After a lunch of Philly Cheesesteaks in Port Richey, we would part ways.  I would head to Gainesville for the FOS meeting.  This gave me a chance to bird eastern Hernando, Sumter, and Marion en route.  I figured the logical thing to do would be to head to the coast of Hernando and fill in some of the ridiculous holes in my list.  The reality was that there was an accident on SR 50 east of Brooksville.  After trying to detour around the accident, I decided to ditch the coast and head back to Bytre Lake east of Brooksville.  There is a little, unassuming park on the south side of the lake.  It offers a good view of the lake and access to some wooded edges.  I found 39 species in 45 minutes including Yellow warbler and Black-bellied whistling duck, new for the county.  I still inexplicably lack such species as turkey, quail, nighthawk, Chuck-will's widow, and Indigo bunting in this county.  I had a turkey just feet from the county line in Citrus County last March.  It walked across the power line right of way and turned north, staying in Citrus.

Scott's yard

After catching up with Scott, we took a flashlight tour of the yard.  I'll have to come back in the daylight and collect some seeds and cuttings for our yard.  Lots of nice natives and a few pesky exotics.  We heard Veery overhead.  In the morning we heard Swainson's and Veery but no Gray-cheeked.

I think we need to start shaving the cats.  I replaced the AC filter after six weeks and it was covered with hair.  Maybe we don't need to shave them all.  We could start with just one per month.  That way they would only have to endure it once every five months.  Nummy is sitting here right now.  Maybe I'll start with him.

Hi all,

I had a couple of days to poke around in the Everglades, Miami, and Palm Beach County.  Sunday was a social day.  Dee and I went down to visit my Aunt and Uncle in Delray Beach.  We had lunch Sunday and headed to Green Cay to take a slightly warm hike around the boardwalk.  I didn't get any new Palm Beach County birds, but it was interesting nonetheless.  We didn't get any Painted buntings this time although they are arriving in their south Florida haunts now.  The Common moorhens were out in force.  I counted 400, which means that there were probably at least 500 present.  Interestingly, the NW corner of the place was devoid of moorhens, as far as I could see.  We had a nice family of Black-bellied whistling ducks right next to the boardwalk.  The parents both flew up onto the railing leaving the babies to fend for themselves.  Eventually they went back to attending their brood.  Dee got some nice shots. http://homepage.mac.com/deefairbanks/nature/nature.html She noticed something interesting. If you look at the top of the bill head on, it looks almost like a face. http://homepage.mac.com/deefairbanks/nature/nature-Pages/Image0.html The nostrils form the eyes and the nail on the bill tip looks like a nose.  After Green Cay, we headed back and helped Uncle Sherm with some computer issues, watched some football, had supper, and headed back home.  It was a long day but a good one.

The original plan for Monday was to head to Corbett WMA in Palm Beach to track down some pine woods specialties and hopefully get over the 250 hump in that county and then work my way down to Miami to meet up with Beer Bird Bithorn to get schooled in Aratingas.  After that I was going to camp at Long Pine Key and look for the Spindalis and maybe the Alder Flycatchers at Lucky Hammock.  Not being one to go with Plan A, I decided to flip the itinerary and head to Lucky Hammock Monday morning.  I got to The Annex area right about first light.  I had hoped for a fallout of warblers given the numbers passing overhead.  If so, I would head to Flamingo to see what showed up and maybe add a few for Monroe County.  The numbers were not coming, but I did get three Alder flycatchers calling at the first speed bump.  They started up all at once, called for a minute or so, then stopped.  I wanted to get on to Long Pine Key before it got too late, so I skipped the hammock area and went into the park.  I parked in the day use area and headed back to Gate 3 where Larry has last seen the male Spindalis.  The birds nested in the area this summer for the first U.S. nesting record.  They fledged four weeks ago and have become increasingly difficult to find since then.  The last known sighting was September 22.  I have seen this species a few times, including Dade County, but I hoped to get a handle on these birds.  It could be good for business.  I spent about two hours looking.  A fellow birder from Washington was looking as well.  He had been there all day the day before with no luck.  Neither of us found the bird on this day.  There are a number of fruiting trees in the area.  They could still be around, but they are difficult to find.  All of the ones I have seen were located by sound first.  The closest I came to hearing one this day was the many Pine warblers buzzing in the trees.  They have one call that is annoyingly similar to Spindalis, especially when you are keyed in on Spindalis calls.

Next on the agenda was Government Road.  Government Road runs north from Alligator Alley though the Micosukee and Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservations.  The habitat is mostly pasture, ponds, and tree islands.  This type of habitat is not rare in Florida, but it is the only such habitat left in Broward County.  For us dedicated county listers, this is an important area for such things as Caracara, quail, American crows, titmice, cranes, and other ranch land birds.  I have had Caracara and quail in the past.  American crow and titmouse are the most in interesting birds.  Both can be found easily in the Big Cypress Preserve and Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park to the west in Collier County.  The habitat runs out, especially for the titmouse, as you cross the county line into Broward.  Both are particularly difficult to find in Broward.  Titmice, for some reason, are virtually absent from St. Lucie to Broward Counties.  They can be found, but they are very localized in the western parts of the counties.  American Crow can be found in every county except Broward.  In many counties you may have to make a special effort to find them, but you can do it.  I recently added American Crow in eastern Charlotte County and only lacked Broward for the All-County list.  The shoulders along Government Road are pretty narrow, making it difficult to bird along the road.  There are occasionally wide spots, and roads leading into the surrounding ranch land.  It was in those spots that I stopped and looked for songbirds, pasture birds, or whatever.  After about five stops, I heard an American crow calling in the distance.  That made my day.  I had a few other birds on the day including 20+ Cliff swallows among the 400 or so Barns.  I also got Bank, rough-winged, Tree swallows, and Purple martins.  Cliff was new for Broward.  I have a strategy for getting titmouse in Broward.  There is a spot on the south side of Alligator Alley at the exit for Government Road.  You can drive off the exit road and head down to a gate.  Beyond the gate is an extensive area of cypress strand and woods which may have titmice.  I think if I sneak down there in the morning some day, I might manage to tick one for Broward.  There might be some in the NW parts of Palm Beach County at Corbett or Dupuis WMA's.  I'm pretty sure there are some in the western parts of St. Lucie county at places like Bluefield Ranch or Teague Hammock.  I'm not quite sure about Martin, but I think there may be some at Johnathon Dickinson State Park along the Loxatatchee River.  This could be a good area for Palm Beach as well.  It's a good thing I don't have an obsessive personality.

After a successful trip to Government Road, I headed to Miami Springs for school.  I met up with Paul near the nursing home and we headed off to search for Aratingas.  The rain made it difficult, but eventually it let up.  We got on a couple of flocks and I was able to add Green, White-eyed, Scarlet-fronted, and Red-fronted to my "life list".  None of them are established or countable, but they are neat to see.  The juveniles will drive you nuts.  I need to spend a lot more time looking at them before I will feel somewhat confident.  At least I have a better foundation now.

Tuesday morning I went out to J.W. Corbett WMA in Palm Beach County.  I gave myself lots and lots of time to get to the RCWO colonies.  I headed in from the north entrance down to where Trail 8 intersects the main grade.  The woodpeckers are out where Trial 8 bends south and eventually loops back to the main road.  The gate is open on Trail 8, but unless you have a swamp buggy, it is not advisable to drive it.  Mike Baranski, the RCW biologist told me the road was wet.  He wasn't kidding.  I immediately plunged into the water in the darkness.  I don't usually worry about Alligators, but the road skirted several large ponds where I tried my best not to look like a quadriped coming for a drink.  I was not sure in the dark if I was even on the road.  Swamp buggies have the run of the place and they tend to go everywhere.  I could have gone off on a side road somewhere along the way.  I stopped near a stand of pines and waited for a little more light.  Nocturnal birding was pretty interesting.  I had a total of 10 Barred owls and no Great-horned owls despite the preponderance of pines in the area.  I guess the wetness favors Barred owls even in the pine woods.  As light came, I found that I was still on Trail 8.  The nocturnal flight calls of thrushes became more evident as the flight descended with the coming light.  The dominant species was Swainson's with Veeries coming in second.  I heard three Gray-cheecked in the mix.  Gray-cheeked was new for Palm Beach.  Seeing that I was not where I wanted to be, I continued east along Trail 8.  I spied a good stand for Hairy woodpeckers along the way and got Bluebirds, new for the county, as dawn broke.  I heard a singing Bachman's sparrow, a new late date for me, and a few calling Bachman's.  Eventually I got to the large stand of pines that loomed at the eastern horizon.  White banded trees showed that I was in the midst of the RCWO colonies.  It was after sunrise and I hoped that the woodpeckers had not flown the coop.  They often hang around the cavities for awhile after coming out, but I have seen them take off right away.  After a few minutes, I heard one in the distance.  I also heard a Hairy woodpecker, new for the county.  Inexplicably, there are no Brown-headed nuthatches in this area.  I figure if the RCWO biologist, who is also a birder, has not seen any, they must not exist.  So having gotten my main target, and located at least one active nest tree, I turned back to the main road.  It had taken two hours to get out this far.  It took almost as long to get back.  I had two herds of Pine warblers totalling nearly 50 birds.  Palm warblers were back.  I got a total of eight bluebirds and another Hairy woodpecker at the previously targeted stand of dead pines.  It was a bit exhausting and wet, but it was fun.  I drove the rest of the way out of the WMA and made my way home after that.  I was tired enough to take a nap yesterday afternoon.

The next adventure will be this afternoon when I head to Oak Hammock Trail to tick the Alder flycatcher for Brevard.  Maybe I can get Yellow-throated and Philadelphia vireos for my refuge list while I am there.  This weekend (Thursday- Monday), I will head to Mead Gardens to get a complete eBird checklist for Orange, Dade Battlefield Historic State Park for do some Sumter County birding and visit a new park, and over to Lutz to stay with Scott Borderiaux for the night.  Friday I plan to bird Pasco and get some new species, maybe even get up to 200 for the county.  I may hit a few spots in Hernando, Lake, and Marion on the way to the FOS meeting in Gainesville.  If I can get Chimney swift in Sumter and Marion, I can get another all-county bird.  After the FOS meeting, where I hope to get to 200 in Alachua and another compete eBird Checklist, I plan to bird Union and get from 122 to 125+ in that county.  I might swing through Baker, and Clay en route to St. Augustine Sunday night.  Monday I'll head to Putnam to try to add a species to that list.  If all goes well, I'll be left with adding species to Highlands and Polk to complete my list of goals.  I am lacking Bobolink among other easy targets in Highlands, and I lack Great-horned owl and Balck-bellied whistling duck in Polk.  Both easy targets.

I have lots of non-bird stuff happening right now, but that is not so interesting, so I will set off to get those things done now.

NOTE:  This took a long time to type and I don't have time to proofread it.  Please enjoy my typos.

I had a lot of holes in my list of goals and many of them were in SW Florida.  I set out last weekend to fill in the gaps.

Me and Glades County go way back.  In the late 1990's I spent quite a bit of time on Lake Okeechobee conducting bird and herp surveys.  This was in the early days of the Everglades Restoration and the Army Corps wanted to establish a baseline for bird and herp usage in the lake at differing water levels.  My list for Glades was a moderately impressive 141 at the start of the day.  Despite having a nice list, there were plenty of holes left to be filled.  Most of my past experience was on and around the lake, so there were plenty of opportunities for upland ticks.

The day started at the "Observation Tower" at Harney Pond Canal.  The tower consists of a raised boardwalk that just ends.  I think there used to be an actual tower.  I started the day in the dark, surveying the Audubon Preserve that spans the edge of the NW corner of the lake.  The lake had been kept at unnaturally high levels for many years in the past.  This led to a situation where the marsh grasses in the littoral zone were drowned out and the muck and dead vegetation accumulated on the lake bed.  Some years ago, the lake went through a series of record lows which exposed much of the former marshes.  The managing agencies took advantage of this situation and removed much of the accumulated muck through scraping and burning.  From my vantage point on the tower, I could see the results of this reclamation project.  As the sun rose, I could see a nice broad swath of marsh vegetation ringing the lake.  Most of it was Dotted smartweed which gave a nice frosted look to the marsh.  It was a bit short for marsh birds, but I did hear a few Least bitterns in the dawn chorus.  Herons came by in scattered groups as the other counters arrived.  We spied both species of whistling ducks in small groups.  When we started the migration on to other sites, I had tallied 34 species, none of which were new for the county.  I had managed 20+ species and a complete eBird checklist and only lacked adding a new species for the county in order to satisfy my goals.

At our next stop, Curry Island, I would add that new tick and meet my goal.  Curry Island is inside the Hoover Dike that surrounds the lake.  It is across the road from the east entrance to Fisheating Creek WMA.  There is a large flat area of mowed grass surrounded by weedy marsh.  Within the mowed area are several clumps of trees including many many Hackberries.  It seems like a good place to pick up birds in fall migration.  I ran into a small flock of migrants that included an Ovenbird.  I did not realize until later that Ovenbird was actually new for the county.

I'll skim over the rest of the sites in the interest of getting though this before I get on to the next adventure.  We hit several more spots along the edge of the lake before heading to Lightsey's Restaurant in Okee-Tantie, across the Kissimmee River in Okeechobee County.  We had a nice lunch and discussed the possibility of my helping with the BIg O Festival centered in Clewiston next spring.  After lunch, the remaining three of us hit a few spots in the Brighton Indian Reservation.  I hoped to add Black and White warbler and Red-eyed vireo to my list, but no avail.

After a couple of stops at the reservation, I headed out on my own.  I needed to add a species to my Highlands list in order to meet my goal.  I made a few stops here and there and found some species, but was not able to add anything new.  I did find the entrance to Platt Station WEA near Venus where there is a stand of old growth Longleaf pine complete with Red-cockaded woodpeckers.  I did not have the time or energy to make the three mile round trip hike to check it out.  Maybe another day.  I am still missing things like Snail kite, Limpkin, and Burrowing owl in that county, so I should not have too much trouble adding something new.

Supper was provided for us at Clewiston Inn.  I came, I ate, I left.  I did get the chance to meet Alan Murray from Collier County.  I was getting a bit tired and needed to get to Cape Coral to stay at Charlie Ewells and Arlyne Salcedo's place.  I wanted to get there in time to catch up a bit.  I was also hoping to get a new tick and 20+ species in Lee County.  I got to the ponds on Parkinson Road NW or Alva in Lee County before it was too dark to see.  I was hoping to add Least bittern or Snail kite.  I only got seven species including Great horned owl, but no new species for Lee.  After catching up with Charlie, and getting directions, I decided that Harn's Marsh would be the best starting point for Sunday morning.

I arrived at Harn's Marsh, which is somewhat difficult to find without directions.  Before light, I heard four Least bitterns in the patches of cattail.  A pale-breasted bird perched in the cypress across the way turned out to be a Peregrine falcon.  A flock of Blue-winged teal, which was actually new for me in Lee, flew past.  A bobwhite called from the neighborhood nearby and there were many herons flying in and past.  Three snail kites arrived all at once and spent the rest of my time there.  I ended up with well over 20 species for the year and seven new ones (starting at 141) for Lee County.  So close to 150.

I decided to take a quick shot at Collier County to hope for a new tick.  Getting an eBird checklist and 20+ species was no problem, but my Collier list was pretty solid.  Cliff swallow was a good bet for a new tick.  I headed to Lake Trafford, north of Immokalee and tired my luck.  I found a nice suite of species.  Mourning dove was the first species I saw in this the last county to be visited by me this year.  It was also the first species to be seen by me in every county in Florida this year.  Turkey vulture is one behind, missing only in Hamilton County.  On the way back from Lake Trafford, I tried a likely spot for Red-headed woodpecker.  Many nice looking dead trees, but none of the conspicuous cavities characteristic of this species.  On the way north on US 29, I found a nice flooded field and picked up Cliff swallow as well as Black-bellied whistling duck for Collier.  Now I had Lee and Collier out of the way and could head on to Charlotte and Sarasota.

Being so close to 150, I had to try a few spots in Lee en route to Charlotte.  I birded along SR 78 from Alva across to SR 31 in hopes of adding such things as Bank or Cliff Swallow or Lesser yellowlegs.  No such luck this day.

Despite my prodigious Charlotte County list, I had many holes in fall.  I did not anticipate any problem adding anything in the fall.  Most of my list consisted of birds from past birdathons in March.  Many things, like Bobolink, were missing from the list.  One species of particular interest was American Crow.  This species is found fairly easily in all but two counties in the state.  Palm Beach and Broward are only counties where they are nearly impossible to find.  This can be seen in the maps from the Breeding Bird Atlas conducted from 1986-1991.  I picked up American crow in Palm Beach some years ago when a pair or two spent some time on the south side of Lake Okeechobee.  The only place in Broward where you might see them is along Alligator Alley (I-75) near the Collier County (where they are common) line or along Government Road in extreme western Broward.  I have gotten Fish Crow in every county in Florida.  Monroe is the stickler for this species, but there is a small Isolated population in the southern keys.  American Crow is a bit more of a challenge.  Getting them in Charlotte County would leave only Broward in the way of another closeout species.  I stopped a few spots along SR 31 en route to the junction with SR 74.  Nice habitat.  Maybe a bit too wet for American crows, but it seemed OK.  I hit the junction with SR 74 and had a decision to make.  Should I head west toward Punta Gorda and get an easy tick for Charlotte on the way to Sarasota?  Should I head east aways into the drier areas in the east end of the county, then loop back to SR 31?  Should I just continue up SR 31 toward Arcadia and work on getting DeSoto up to 125?  I decided to head east on SR 74 and try a couple spots.  At the second spot, I finally heard an American Crow.  I also added Bobolink flying overhead.  I tried for Yellow warbler in the willows along the road, but to no avail.  I'd like to stay in the county and push it on toward 200, but I had to keep the other goals in mind.  So I pushed on back to SR 31 and north toward De Soto.

The goal for DeSoto is to get up to 125.  De Soto and Union are the only two counties left below that milestone.  I have so many holes in my Union list (122) that I could probably get to 125 in the dark when I am up there for the FOS meeting in early October.  DeSoto in the heat of the day was a bit more of a challenge.  I need a lot of fall migrants, but the timing was not good this day.  I did visit Morgan Park in Arcadia and found lots of gnatcatchers along with a few other migrants.  I did not add anything to the list and I was getting very tired and hot.  I decided that I would head west on SR 72 to Sarasota, the toughest nut to crack.  Not only do I have a pretty good list, but I have spent quite a bit of time there in the fall.  My warbler list is very complete.  I need Bank and Cliff swallows and Eastern pewee and a few coastal birds, so I figure I have a chance.  So I shelved DeSoto and headed on out. On the way west, I noted that the habitat was pretty good for turkeys.  I thought maybe I would head back to DeSoto if I could get a quick tick in Sarasota.  Before crossing the line into Sarasota, I spied a flock of swallows over a field.  I got out and began scanning in the far distance.  Among the 100 or so Barn swallows, I finally got on a Cliff swallow.  Now I only needed Bank.  Right after I got the Cliff, another swallow buzzed into view.  It looked interesting.  I followed it in the scope and was able to confirm it's ID as a Bank.  Nice.  I got the main goal of 125 species.  I could use two more to take the lead in the county, but that will wait.  Right before leaving the county, I saw a flock of turkeys in a field which tied me with Goodwin.  Now I was really tempted to turn around, but I had to keep my eye on the prize.

The objective for Sarasota was to add at least one species to the list.  I had already seen 47 species this year and had a complete eBird checklist form April.  I was missing Cliff and Bank swallows in Sarasota, so I really hoped to turn one or both of those up and U-turn back into DeSoto for the rest of the day.  That did not happen.  I hit Myakka River SP on the way west and hoped to pick up a migrant.  No such luck.  I went clear across to the beach in hopes of getting some things like Common or Black tern, Short-billed dowitcher, Marbled godwit, or swallows.  Siesta Key was not the place to find them this day, at least not on a Sunday afternoon.  I had another choice to make.  Should I head north to Longboat Key and keep looking for coastal stuff or head on to Celery Fields in search of swallows and maybe something else.  The problem with Celery Fields is that I have spent a good deal of time there and there is not much I can add for Sarasota.  I spent a good bit of time searching through Glossy ibises for White-faced.  Celery Fields was not in the mood to add a new species to my list and I was again faced with a choice.  Do I head back west to the coast or keep inland? I had to pull the trigger soon or it would be too late.  Going back west and north would mean getting back home much later.  If it worked, I could write off this area and concentrate on Lee and Collier, having satisfied most of my SWFL goals.  If it didn't, I would be right back up here the next day.  I decided to head on east and south and try my luck with swallows and maybe a Caracara on SR 72.  I might even get back to break the tie in DeSoto.  I headed east on Palmer Road and south on Bee Ridge Road to SR 72.  Right where Bee Ridge started, there was a new park to the east.  I headed over and was impressed with the possibilities.  The park is an old landfill that has been converted to a multi-use park.  There are a number of ponds around the perimeter as well as some nice old hammock.  The old landfill is covered in grass which is regularly mowed.  There are terraces along the edges of the "hill" where water accumulates.  This could be a good spot to look for such things as LeConte's sparrows, or even Yellow rails at the right times.  You would think it would be good for swallows, but no.  The ranch south of the intersection with Bee Ridge Road and SR 72 is perfect habitat for Caracaras.  No doubt they inhabit the area, but I was not able to confirm on this day.  It was getting dark, there were many storms in the area, I was tired, so I decided to head on "home" to Cape Coral.

Once again, it was decision time.  Do I head to DeSoto first and add a few more species to take the lead, then on to Sarasota for a new tick?  Do I postpone Sarasota to winter when I have a much better chance of getting new species and start at Platt Branch and make the three mile trek for RCWO?  Do I start in Sarasota on the coast and try to get that out of the way?  Eventually, I decided on South Lido Key in Sarasota.  I set the alarms and got some much needed sleep.

I arrived at the Nature Center entrance to South Lido Key Nature Park before light.  The park is open 5am to 11pm, so there was no problem getting in.  I had some breakfast and set out to explore the park.  The best birding was right there around the parking lot in the Australian pines and field.  I got a few warblers, adding Louisiana waterthrush for Sarasota.  I also added Gray kingbird and House finch.  I hiked the nature trail through the mangroves and did not add much.  I had met my goal, but I wanted to check out the rest of the park as long as I was here.  I headed on to the main entrance and walked the beach in hopes of adding some new stuff.  I got a few shorebirds and lots of gulls and terns, but nothing new.  A small flock on migrants on the nature trail turned up a couple of Blackburnian warblers among the more common species.  The surprise of the day was an American bittern flushed from the brush along the north end of the trail.  This park will never compete with the likes of Fort DeSoto or Fort Pickens, but it is on the south end of an island.  It has some potential for weird migrants, as evidenced by the wayward bittern.  It has one big advantage over the other sites:  I can add this stuff to my Sarasota County list!

I decided against heading up to Longboat Key and into Manatee County even though Manatee is one of my most anemic county lists.  I needed an eBird checklist from Hillsborough and a new species for Polk, and I was tired.  I figured I could hit Little Manatee River State Park in Hillsborough and head across to Bowling Green in Hardee and up to Countyline Road on the border with Polk and maybe pick up rough-winged or Cliff Swallow.  I could also hit the sod farms along Avon Park Cutoff Road in Polk and maybe pick up an Upland Sandpiper.  Little Manatee was uneventful save for a Short-tailed hawk, but I was able to satisfy the goal of a eBird checklist form Hillsborough.  I made a stop along County Line Road and checked a flooded field on Hardee.  Nothing new, but lots of birds.  A flooded field along W. Bereah Road south of Avon Park Cutoff Road hosted many Glossy ibises, no confirmed White-faced, and a feral Mallard with signs of Peking or simply albinism.  Nearby there was a family of Red-headed woodpeckers.  The sod farm at the junction of Avon Park Cutoff Road and Singletary Road yielded eight Buff-breasted sandpipers but no Upland sandpipers.  I now have 14 Buff-breasted and 0 Uplands in Polk.  One last desperate attempt at Polk at the SR 60 bridge over the Kissimmee River yielded no new Polk birds.  I did get Limpkin and Snail kite in Osceola County.  I was pretty well beat so I headed home.  I still need new ticks for Polk and Highalnds, but I don't see a problem in getting them.  The ace in the hole for Polk is Great horned owl, and I hope to make the hike to the RCW's in Platt Branch.

So that was last weekend.  This weekend we will be spending some time out with friends and family.  I'll be heading south to Corbett WMA on Monday to add a few to Palm Beach, maybe getting to 250 in that county.  I'll be hooking up with Beer Bird Bithorn for some parrot searching in Miami Monday night.  Tuesday - Thursday I'll head out to Big Cypress for some volunteering.  Friday, I'll do some birding with Scott Bordereaux in Pasco before heading up to Gainesville for the FOS meeting.  After that, I hope to head to Jacksonville to get a checklist out of Duval, then head down to St. Augustine for the night.  After that, I hope to head over to Putnam to add a tick to that county and maybe slip on a disguise and head into Lake County and push that list toward 200.  I'll try to knock out a checklist in Orange on the way home as well.

If all goes well, ten days from now I will have submitted at least one complete eBird checklist from every county in Florida this year, have seen 20+ species of birds in every county of Florida this year, and have added at least one species to every county list in Florida except Polk, Highlands, and Brevard.  Brevard will be the toughest, but it is also the closest.  Time will tell.

Two days, two misses.  I failed to add any species to my Putnam County list toady.  Three species that would have been new for Putnam were seen by members of another group.  No worries though.  I had a great time.  I got to see some new places and as predicted I saw old friends and made new ones.

The birding at Caravelle Ranch was fairly standard for mid-September.  I did find a couple new places to add to the insurmountable list of places I need to visit more often.  Our driver and guide was Jeff Jones who works at Caravelle Ranch.  He has a pretty good job.  He spends most of his time doing species inventories to help fill out the management plan lists.  Sounds like my first year or two at St. Sebastian, many long years ago.

Once we parted ways at Caravelle Ranch, I headed to Ravine Gardens State Park.  When I got there, one of the rangers said, "Are you hungry?"  Well, duh, I'm awake aren't I?  I thought it was a strange question.  Perhaps this is a new thing since I left the park service.  Turns out that they were recruiting new members for their CSO (Citizen Support Organization).  They offered a free lunch to folks if they would take home some information and consider joining.  So I had a really good BBQ pork sandwich.  It must have been good because I was not really that hungry.  I got to talk to Donna, the ranger of the new greeting, and a small core of dedicated volunteers.  I found out about some interesting upcoming events.  Dunn's Creek Preserve is having an open house in early October.  Dunns Creek is a really nice place, although I have spent very little time there.  I hope Dee and I can go up for this event.  In February, there will be a couple of events of interest.  One is the annual Air potato roundup.

***
Air potato is an invasive exotic pest plant that is trying to take over the park.  It grows in the form of a vine.  The vines clamber over every other form of vegetation in their quest to for photosynthesis.  Their shiny, green, heart-shaped leaves are considered by some to be quite pretty, making them a minor player in the landscaping market.  They are a major problem in many of our parks and natural areas.  In the early fall, as in now, the vines form aerial tubers which look very much like potatoes.  As the year's vines dry up and shrivel, the tubers fall to the ground and lay dormant until some time the next year.  Any time from late March to June, new vines will spring forth and a new invasion begins.  I suspect that the earlier sprouts come from established vines that have formed a new, underground tuber and root ball.  New fallen tubers from the previous year take longer to sprout, I think.  I think a few early forming tubers (some may form as early as late July) may actually sprout in the same year.  I found no less than eight small Air potato vines in the yard recently.  They are all dead now.
***

So anyway, Ravine Gardens Sate Park has an annual event where the public is invited to come in and fight the green power.  The event, by the way, is sponsored by the CSO.  There are prizes for the kids who gather the most air potatoes, T shirts for the first 100 people to show up, etc., etc.  I have heard of this event and I hope to get out and help with the next one.  Also, the District Three Volunteer Appreciation Picnic will be held at Ravine Gardens SP later in the month.  I may come out and do a talk of some sort.  Maybe about birds, who knows?

So it was a pretty nice day despite missing my goal and fighting an increasingly annoying earache.  Tonight I will get a good night's rest (the USC-Ohio State game is on ESPN and we only have basic cable.)  Tomorrow I celebrate my first 39th birthday or my 11th 29th birthday.  It will start with breakfast at Marsh Landing (the usual: Eggs Benendict with home fries, large cranberry juice, and water, followed by a Starbuck's Frapuccino.)  Then off to Home Depot to rent a manly brush mower to shape up the front and side yard for the appraiser on Monday.  Then I'm on the couch to watch at least one Florida professional football team win, I hope.  I did not see the surprise that is in the big freezer in the garage.  I'm sure it will be good after or in place of lunch.

Brevard is the toughest nut to crack in my quest.  Yesterday two species that would have been Brevard County birds for me were seen.  Andy's Olive-sided flycatcher and Mitchell Harris's South Polar skua at Playalinda Beach.  The east winds were still blowing, so Mitchell and I set out to the beach first thing in the morning.  We spent about an hour and a half scanning the oceans from crossover #12.  We had a few glimpses of things in the far distance.  Two of them were jaegers, probably Parasitic.  I saw a fast-moving dark bird sweep up in an arc and disappear.  I can safely eliminate many of the 8600+ species of birds on earth.  I can safely say it was not an Ostrich.  It can safely say it was not a parrot.  We can rule out herons, frigatebirds, hummingbirds, warblers, and most other birds.  I cannot rule out Skua.  I also cannot rule out boobies, jaegers, dark shearwaters, big honkin' dark petrels, or maybe even young Herring gulls.  I don't think dark bird species can be added to my Brevard list since several other species on that ilk are already on my list, so I will have to keep trying.


After trying the beach, we set out to find some songbirds along the back dunes and lagoon edge. 

SUB BORING  STUFF

Most (all?) of the mosquito control ditches along the east side of Mosquito Lagoon have been removed.  During the 1940's and 1950's nearly all of the salt marshes and much of the mangrove islands were impounded, dredged, and spoiled upon in order to provide mosquito control.  The idea was to continuously cover the mud flats and mangrove swamps with water throughout the breeding season of the salt marsh breeding mosquitoes.  Female mosquitoes need wet mud flats to lay their eggs.  When the mud is submerged, the mosquitoes' chances of breeding are much reduced.  Mangrove Islands were run through with ditches, the spoil of which was piled on the remaining mangroves to raise the ground level above the water.  Salt marshes were traced by ditches, the spoil of which was formed into dikes which held back runoff from the land as well as water pumped from the lagoon into the impoundments.  Most of these dikes exist today as the primary access to these impoundments.  Blackpoint Wildlife Drive is part of a series of dikes controlling a large expanse of salt marsh on the west side of the Indian River Lagoon.  Well, it wasn't long before people began to realize the unintended consequences.  There are many such consequences, and I won't get too bogged down with them.  Let's just say that juvenile fish and other marine life were not allowed to complete their life cycles.  Many juvenile fish and other life forms live and develop in the mangroves and salt marshes.  During the 1980's and continuing on to today, several agencies, including the US Fish and Wildlife Service began a plan to mitigate the effects of this major reworking of the Indian River Lagoon Estuary.  A complete removal of the dikes is not practical.  A compromise is to reconnect the impoundments to the lagoon through flood control gates.  This allows marine organisms to complete their life cycles while keeping the mosquito control districts' ability to do their job.  In some cases, as in the east side of Mosquito Lagoon, it was possible to nearly or completely obliterate the dikes and let the salt marshes revert back to natural.  Some examples of this can be seen north of Eddy Creek at Playalinda Beach and south from Apollo Beach (north end of Canaveral National Seashore in New Smyrna Beach.)  These areas are great for an old Florida native naturalist like me to get out and explore, but remember, the mosquito control was removed with the dikes.  It can get scary in late summer and fall.

END SUB BORING STUFF

Did I do that right?  It's been awhile since I have programmed.

So Mitchell and I walked some of this restored marsh area in search of shorebirds.  Hudsonian Godwit was on the radar, but not on the ground.  We saw a couple of things, but not what we wanted.  We also checked the beaches and parking lots along the road in hopes of turning up a Wheatear.  There have been a few reports this year north of Florida and this is the time to find them.  Well, maybe tomorrow is the time.  Maybe we didn't go to the right patches of grass.  We spent another hour looking at the beach from crossover #4.  Not nearly as much activity this time.  A couple pairs of Blue-winged teal flew by and we tallied another jaeger.  The drive back out to SR 3 produced some nice congregations of waders but not too many shorebirds.  On Bio Lab Dike we encountered a photographer from the Food Network.  I think he said something about 101 recipes for Hudsonian Godwit.  His alibi was that he was shooting some wildlife shots as background for a documentary on a local resident.  Also on the drive was a couple from Jacksonville who were searching for the White-rumped sandpipers that have been reported from this area.  The numbers were reported to have been down in the last couple days.  Mitchell and I searched through the very jumpy groups of shorebirds.  The presence of grasses makes it difficult to fully assess the shorebird diversity in the area.  We picked out many Semipalmated and Least sandpipers, a few Westerns, Lesser yellowlegs, and Pectorals were also present.  We gave a few tips for distinguishing White-rumped and moved on up the dike.  The first pond we came to hosted a single White-rumped sandpiper.  Some Semipalmateds came in for comparison and when our new found friends came up to us, we were able to show them a new bird.   After this, we checked the flats on the south end of Mosquito Lagoon to no avail.  We scouted out Center Road west of SR 3 and concluded that it is worth checking for migrants this fall.  Not in the middle of the day, however.  Our last stop on the refuge was a fruitless walk down Pumphouse Road.  The impoundments were all completely full.  Not too good for shorebirds.  We did see a few Mottled ducks and no Gull-billed terns.  All that was left was to tour Mitchell's yard and give some advice to kill or not to kill (plants that is.)

It was a long and hot day and I have another one ahead tomorrow.  I have a three hour plus drive ahead of me before doing a bird survey at Caravelle Ranch WMA in Putnam County.  It will be nice to see some old friends, make some new ones and bird in one of my favorite counties in Florida.

Sunday I get a year older, rent a brush mower in the morning to finish the major yard work, watch football all afternoon, hope that at least one Florida team wins, and eat a football-shaped ice cream cake.

Now, I sleep.

Andy "The Punk" Bankert called to tell me that he found a bird in Brevard County that would have been a county bird for me.  Arrghh!  Brevard is the toughest county for me get new ticks.  He saw an Olive-sided flycatcher while canoeing on Crane Creek in Melbourne.  Unfortunately it was difficult to tell where exactly and access to the creek is limited.  Given that these birds tend not to stay overnight, I think I'll pass on chasing this one.

I still have some work left in the yard.  We filled an 18 yard dumpster the other day and there is still more!  But I have been given a pass to go birding tomorrow.  I think I will try Merrit Island NWR for a half day and maybe Viera on the way home.  If I have time I might swing over to the inlet for an Olive-sided flycatcher at dusk.  I must say, I had not expected Olive-sided this week with the strong northeast winds.  Hudsonian godwit is more on the radar.  Olive-sided flycatchers tend to go down through the central flyway.  Most often they are seen in the panhandle and the west coast of Florida.  Northeast winds would theoretically blow them in the direction of Texas.  Hudsonian godwits on the other hand tend to fly out over the Atlantic Ocean.  Northeast winds may divert them to the east coast of Florida where I can tick them on my Brevard County list.  The that end, I am currently planning to head to Playalinda Beach in the early morning and maybe hit Bio Lab Dike, Dummitt Grove, who knows?  Possible county ticks beside Hudsonian godwits are Alder, Willow, Yellow-bellied, and Olive-sided flycatchers or maybe Sooty shearwater.  It's a little early for Harlequin duck, Henslow's sparrow, junco, alcids, albatrosses, redpolls, ravens, ptarmigans, Gyrfalcons...  Well I guy can have dreams. 

I'll post a story when I get back.

I am a goal-oriented person.  I don't always have my eye on the long-term goal, but I always have a series of goals in mind.  To that end, I have a series of bird-oriented goals for this year.  Don't worry dear, there are goals including you, but I am not going to post them here.  What bird-oriented goals you say?  By the end of 2009, I hope to:

1)  Have at least 125 species on every county list in Florida.

Currently I have 125 or more in 65 of 67 counites.  I am at 123 in DeSoto and 122 in Union.  I will be in DeSoto ca. Sep 20 and should manage at least two new species, I hope.  No specific plans for Union, but I will be next door in Alachua for the FOS meeting in early October.

2)  Submit at least one complete checklist to eBird from each county in Florida.

I have submitted complete checklists from 56 counties so far.  I should manage to get several counties on a trip to SW Florida ca. Sep 20.

3)  Find a reportable number of species in each county in Florida.

By reportable, I mean breaking the 20 species threshold for posting to the Bob Carrol's Florida County Listing website. (http://www.geocities.com/gatorbob23/)  So far 61 counties qualify.

4)  Find one species (or more) in every county in Florida.

Currently Mourning dove is in the lead with 64 of 67 counties.  Turkey vulture is right behind with 63.  I somehow missed them in Hamilton even though I have a BBS route with 24 stops in Hamilton County. Both of these species were on my original five closeout species for Florida.  Northern cardinal (57 in 2009) was first.  Turkey vulture (63 in 2009) almost beat out cardinal.  Carolina wren (52 in 2009), Northern mockingbird (62 in 2009) and Mourning dove (64 in 2009) rounded out the top five.

5)  Add at least one new species to every Florida county list.  I have managed 57 so far.  A suite of six SW Florida counties should be knocked out by Sep 21.  Pasco is very easy in the fall.  I can hit this on the way to the FOS meeting.  Putnam might be tough given as much time as I have spent, but I am somehow missing Eastern pewee in that county.  There is a bird survey on Sep 12 that should take care of that.  Palm Beach should be as easy as getting down to Jupiter Inlet with a northeast wind this fall and picking up something easy like Lesser scaup.  Brevard is the tough one.  I grew up there and there are no low-hanging fruit.  I don't think there are even any leaves left.  I hope to pick out something easy like Thayer's or California gull or maybe Henslow's sparrow or Harlequin duck.  Maybe something like Olive-sided flycatcher, Willow/Alder flycatcher or Yellow-bellied flycatcher will show up this fall on the north side of Sebastian Inlet.  The south side, in Indian River County, has produced Harlequin Duck and Kirtland's warbler for me in the past.

That should keep me busy for the rest of the year.

Dee and I spent the last couple days trying to wrestle a yard out the the jungle where we live.  It is hard work, but I enjoy it.  It's nothing I haven't done for years and years with the park service.  Dee is wondering if it is worthwhile.  Working with a chainsaw has it's ups and downs.  One of the trees I cut down appeared to be a Laurel oak, but I think it may have been an Ironwood, judging from the difficulty the chainsaw was having.  I thought maybe the chain was dull, but it seemed fine with the rest of the trees and bushes.  Anyway, chainsaw work is tough but at least I got to take a break every five minutes when the chainsaw broke down.  I finally got the chain to stop coming loose.  Not to be deterred, the chainsaw took the next step.  It barely caught hold of the fence.  The fence then got between the chain and the bar and forced the chain inside the tip of the bar causing it to split.  This is why I don't own a chainsaw and why I got the $9 damage waiver.  I have had many chainsaw malfunctions in the past, but in hundreds of hours working with them, I have never seen this before.  At least I won't be collecting any new scars.  I lucked out in renting the chainsaw Saturday morning.  The rental place is closed Sunday and on Monday for the holiday, so I got three days for the price of one.  Of course I barely got one day's worth of work out of it.  If I could get a new bar, I could continue working.  I don't know how you can run a lawnmower shop without being open on Sundays, but apparently every shop within 100 miles does.  So I am sunk until Tuesday morning.  We do have a lot of trimming and hauling of branches and logs.  The transfer stations are closed tomorrow so we have to get on it today.  For now, we are enjoying a rain delay.

Yesterday, I took the opportunity to hike around one of my favorite spots in Florida.  Garcon Point juts out between Escambia Bay and East Bay in Santa Rosa County.  The habitat grades from pine flatwoods to a broad swath of freshwater wet prairie then another broad swath of salt marsh and eventually saltwater bay.  It is a fantastic spot for sparrows in winter.  it is widely known for Henslow's and LeConte's sparrows.  It is also known to house Yellow rails like the one that flushed at my feet in early March of 2007.  This was early August of 2009 and I was not expecting a repeat performance.

Now, when you see a sign at the beginning of the trail warning that ticks can be abundant in warmer months, you know they must be bad.  However, being a man, I was not going to let what turned out to be hundreds of little eight-legged grass-dwellers interfere with my plans.  The south loop trail was about 1.5 miles long.  It started out pretty well.  Not a lot of birds, but it was mid-day in August.  The sign said there were ticks, right?  Well, when I looked down at my legs, I realized they weren't kidding.  Fortunately, the little buggers were not uniform.  There were sections of the trail where I literally brushed 10-12 ticks off my pants after every half dozen steps.  The northern loop was much more forgiving.  The good thing was that the ticks were all on the front of my legs.  They jumped on when I brushed the thick grass on the trail.  As long as I didn't start walking backward, I was OK.  When not brushing ticks off my pants, I was swatting deer flies.  I found nines species of birds in the 1.5 miles.  Six species per mile.  When I explore the environs of our state, I don't just look for good birding sites.  Having worked in land management for so many years, I like to snoop around and see what other folks are up to.  The folks here seem to be getting it done in the prescribed burning department.  This is pretty important if they are to keep the pines and oaks from encroaching on the wet prairies that make this sight so unique.  So I had a good time, as I nearly always do, and I only had three ticks left on me on the drive home.  None managed to get a mouthhold on me.