Post Storm Birding

Irma came and did bring a few good birds with it but not too many rare birds to be found but access to many places were impossible. Please note many of these locations are CLOSED to public still.

Some highlights found–

Magnificent Frigatebird and Royal Tern on Lake Apopka from Trusket park

Royal Tern at McDonald Canal Boat Ramp

Black Tern and Laughing Gull at Astatula Wet Fields on CR48

Sandwhich (1), Black, Caspian (1), Common (1), Foster’s Terns, Laughing Gulls, Pectoral Sandpipers at Lake Jem Sod Farm on CR48.

Lake May Reserve right before the storm had 38 species including Worm-eating Warbler.

 

Be safe and good birding.

Gallus

Kissimmee Prairie, Florida Key, and Ellis Acres

Since my last post I have gained a year in age unfortunately but also did not short trips southwards in the state.

July 8 I joined Rebecca Smith doing a NABA Survey at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve SP where I used to work back in 2005-2006. It was a very hot day and an adventure of sorts too. Started off by us locking her keys in the car, my fault sort of since she put her keys in her backpack which once we were told we were driving I put on backseat and someone (not me) politely closed the doors. So her friend with a spare key nicely drove 2 hours to rescue us. I did manage 33 bird species including a Burrowing Owl and I am not sure how many butterfly species we had but I did see a bunch I never saw before and so did Rebecca. Had a late lunch or early dinner at this hole in the wall Mexican place on US 441 that rocked it big time. Also played some Pokemon in Okeechobee too.

After a night in Florida City we headed south to Big Pine Key to private residence who has a number of rare butterflies. Saw lots of new butterflies and Rebecca got several new one too, on way we stopped in Marathon for Roseate Tern which were a lifer for Rebecca.

Our Florida Keys adventure continued with playing Pokemon and adding lots of new Gym Badges along with other stops in search of some Silver-banded Hairstreak which only resulted in being eaten alive by insects. Unfortunately we couldn’t stay late as originally planned due to me getting called into work on Monday my normal day off. we stopped at her favorite restaurant for a Vegan Grilled Cheese and headed home arriving about 1:00AM

July 15 was the Quarterly Bird & Butterfly Survey which only 1 person came out to endure the heat on the 3.0 mile hike. We have 29 birds species and 22 butterfly species, which for July is not too bad.

Next is August 19th at PEAR Park-WCA 7:30-11:00

Good Birding

Gallus

Ellis Acres Reserve

Well in the midst of G.I.JoeCon weekend

 I had to take a morning to lead a Bird & Butterfly Survey at Ellis Acres Reserve. Six participants hiked the ~3 miles in what became some pretty hot weather observing 32 species of birds and 20 species of butterfly. Highlights included 7 Swallow-tailed Kites, Blue Grosbeak, Summer Tanager, and Yellow-throated Vireo for birds and Hackberry Emperor for butterflies. That however was not the true highlight of the day but a Florida Black Bear with cub and a White-tailed Deer with fawn also added to the day.

Next Survey date is Saturday July 15 at 7:30AM also at Ellis Acres Reserve. We should see increased number of Swallow-tailed Kite and hopefully lots of fledged babies with a few early migrants mixed in.

Good Birding

Gallus Quigley

Cuckoo for….

May 27 7 birders hiked Lake May Reserve for the Bird & Butterfly survey. We had 37 birds and 8 butterfly species. Highlight was Yellow-throated Vireo which gave very nice look to everyone.

After the survey Rebecca Smith and I headed for Miami, as she had signed up for a Butterfly Survey on Key Largo which she hoped would get her a few life butterflies. Priority however was to the main target bird of the trip Mangrove Cuckoo. We arrived at Bicanye Bay NP in hopes of getting one that tends to be there but the gates were closed and so we walked down and of course failed to find the bird. So next stop was Black Point Marina which we had very good directions to a recent sighting. It took about a minute to get the bird, a lifer for Rebecca.

Spent night in Florida City and early headed to Key Largo with some time to spare for birding before butterfly survey started. Hit up Caryfort Circle where I got my life Mangrove Cuckoo years ago and sure enough we nailed two more!

Met group of butterflies, I tagged along for birding…lol Rebecca want a Florida Purplewing so it seemed logical that Purplewing Trail would be the place. As a birder I was looking for birds and instead ended up finding the first Florida Purplewing! I also added 3 more Mangrove Cuckoos, yes they are getting thick here.

Next site was Nike Missile Site 40 where we got brief views of Schaus’s Swallowtail an endangered species and 8 more Mangrove Cuckoo, plus 2 Yellow-billed Cuckoo! The mosquitoes however were terrible and Rebecca had worn shorts and got at least 100 bites and decided to leave early and save some blood, plus she wanted to see some Hairstreak I can’t recall name of that uses Balloon Vine as a host plant. So we hit up 2 spots where they’d been reported and failed but I did get another Mangrove Cuckoo!

Then was the long drive home for that trip.

Next trip was May 29 to Viera Wetlands for Rebecca needed White-rumped Sandpiper that had been reported there the day before so we arrived around 9am and began birding. As we headed down the last leg before the exit there was some mud flats with a bunch of “peeps” which I immediately began looking through.

That flock had a dozen White-rumped plus Semipalmated and Western Sandpipers. So Rebecca got another lifer, must be nice to get those in Florida…lol

Chased the Fork-tailed Flycatcher at Lake Apopke but dipped on that and also chased the Brown-chested Martin at the SR 50 bridge between Orange and Brevard but it was a no show that evening.

Next was a chase of reported Snail Kite in Lake County, I still needed this bird for the county and have dipped many times chasing reports. So Rebecca joined me and headed over to Lake Catherine and at first it seemed to be a failure but I said give it 5 more minutes and then out popped the Snail Kite! A juvenile bird hunting and returning to perch over and over! COUNTY TICK!

Sunday June 11 I led an OVAS trip to PEAR Park with Rebecca Smith for Hummingbirds and Butterflies, the Hummingbirds were a no show but we did get 36 species of birds and 11 species of butterflies for the 13 people who joined us.

Next trip is Quarterly Bird & Butterfly Survey at Ellis Acres Reserve 7:30-11:00 we should get nesting Indigo Bunting and Blue Grosbeaks. Plus it is usually a great spot for Swallow-tailed Kites. So come join me since I am giving up a morning at G.I.JoeCon to lead this..lol

Good Birding

Gallus

I really need to do better with this…lol

Well since Texas back in February I have had many surveys around Lake County and led my year trip to the Dry Tortugas for Florida Nature Tours which this year was by far the worst trip, weather made for rough passage, especially on way back where even my sea sickness patch did not help me enough. Birding was slow due to strong east winds but once they broke later trips did extremely well bird wise. Time to start saving for next year folks, it is a must for every birder at least once.

Most recently I chased the Bahama Woodstar in Brevard County a Maritime Hammock Sanctuary and nailed it after a very long wait. Florida bird number 431!

Next big trip is South Africa officially booked including a pelagic trip!

Next Bird & Butterfly Surveys are May 27 at Lake May Reserve and June 17 at Ellis Acres please come out and join me! Both location are great birding and hiking.

Presentation on “A Birder’s Guide to Lake County” for Highlands Chapter of Florida Trails hiking group at Leesburg Public Library 6:00-8:00pm on May 25 Thursday.

Also watch for and check out http://www.Birdinginlake.com which is Lake County’s go to site for birding, it look a little off right now but give me some time to work with them and it will be a great resource for everyone who loves Birding In Lake.

 

Quick note– added Chuck-wills-widow to my yard list #129.

Good Birding

Gallus

The Great Texas Bird Run

I flew out to Texas on February 5 with Rebecca Smith and arrived in Austin about 11:00AM CST picked up rental car and headed off to Granger to meet with Carlos Ross in search of Mountain Plover. I soon spotted a flock of 17 flying in and then landing in a nearby field. Carlos joined us soon after and we all got some nice views. Lifer #1 and I’ve been in Texas for 60 minutes!

Next off to Dallas/Fort Worth area for my main target Smith’s Longspur. With Carlos following behind we made the 3.5 hours trek to some fields where more that 1000 Smith;s Longspur had been reported and we soon spotted the first flock of a hundred or so, then a huge flock flushed, likely from patrolling Northern Harrier, of about 1000 individuals! Great way to see an often tough to find lifer!

Now 6:00PM CST and decided to forgo a hotel and drive straight to Midland so we could get the reported Lewis’s Woodpecker. Arrived about 2:00AM at a nearby Wal-Mart and slept in car till daylight and headed the about 4 miles to the sports park where bird had been seen. Parked car and stepped out to a dark woodpecker flying towards us, Lewis’s Woodpecker! Lifer #3. While birding area got some nice views of Ladderbacked Woodpecker, Pyrruloxia, and Curve-billed Thrasher.

Next stop was another 3.5 hours west to Balmorhea Cemetery for Sagebrush Sparrow but it was hot and windy so dipped on it. So we headed to Balmorhea Lake and got Western and Clark’s Grebes, Black and Say’s Phoebe, and Vermilion Flycatcher in addition to numerous duck species.

Getting late so we headed off towards Alpine and Bill Sein’s house where he and his wife kindly let us stay and on the way made made a quick stop at Davis Mountain SP where several more species were added to list.

Next morning Bill took us out to Dixie Water Fountain–Mimms Ranch to meet with 2 of the field staff doing radio telemetry on Baird’s and Grasshopper Sparrows, which most of you know I did similar work with Florida Grasshopper Sparrows in Okeechobee. Thanks to the little radio tags we got Baird’s Sparrow and then found 2 others plus Chestnut-collared Longspurs adding 2 more lifers to my list. Also had Black-throated Sparrow and Horned Larks.

Continuing our day we drove along finding raptors including Ferruginous Hawk in addition to more Chestnut-collared Longspurs and Brewer’s Sparrow.

Stopped at local Mexican place for lunch that totally rocked food wise, I ate there on my last trip as well, and then headed again to Davis Mountain SP  for more new species for the trip list and then birding around Bill’s house.

Next morning headed to Big Bend NP bright and early and nailed Crissel Thrasher in same place I got one in May, also got Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Greater Roadrunner, Lark Bunting, Mexican Jay, Phainopepla, Varied Bunting, and ate at the Chisos Mountain Restaurant before turning south towards Del Rio.

Early rise again heading for Laredo where our only stop added Audubon’s Oriole, Green Jay, and Olive Sparrow before continuing on to McAllen.

McAllen Area hit up Estero Llano Grande SP and Santa Anna NWR adding Couch’s Kingbird, Olive Sparrow, Cinnamon Teal, Harris’s Hawk, and Altamira Oriole. Plus large numbers of shorebirds and ducks. Ate a Nana’s which was wonderful again. Hit of McAllen Parot Roost adding Red-crowned (Lifer) and Yellow-headed Parrots as well as stunning views of a Zone-tailed Hawk.

Stopped at the National Butterfly Center in Mission in hopes of Hook-billed Kite but only added some nice photos of Green Jays and many new butterfly species.

Now off in a race before sunset to Aransas NWR area with a stop for Aplomado Falcon which we added fairly quickly. however we failed to make it to the Whooping Cranes before dark and so we passed up those and the Golden-crowned Warbler (not a lifer) in hopes of Greater Prairie-chicken at Attwater Greater Prairie-chicken NWR but with much searching at sunrise and they should have been “booming” on leks we dipped on them and added some new list birds including Snow and Greater White-fronted Goose before heading back to Austin and grabbing “brunch” at a local Vegan restaurant where I had fake Chicken and Waffles, which were okay, I am still a meat and potatoes guy…lol Met Carlos after for some local birding followed by a stop at a local Game Store that also had drinks, I had Hummingbird Nectar which was pretty good and then on way back to hotel stopped at In and Out Burger for some double doubles and fries of which one came home with me  and was lunch back in Florida.

Trip total was 180 species, covered some 1500 miles, and I added 6 lifers.

Mountain Plover

Smith’s Longspur

Lewis’s Woodpecker

Baird’s Sparrow

Chestnut-collared Longspur

Red-crowned Parrot

 

Local News

Lake May Bird & Butterfly Survey netted 40 species with 12 participants

Chased the Kirtland’s Warbler at Bill Bagged SP but dipped on it.

Next Bird & Butterfly Survey is 3/11 at Pasture Reserve 7:30AM start

I will be doing “A Birder’s Guide to Lake County” at Wildbirds Unlimited in Eustis at 3:00Pm on March 25.

 

Good Birding

Gallus

Birdapalooza Weekend

Birdapalooza was January 20-22 and I helped lead several tours during the festival.

Friday was at Ferndale Preserve and we had 50 species including multiple Grasshopper Sparrow and Painted Bunting, with highlight of an Ash-throated Flycatcher.

Friday night was a great talk by Gian Bissili about Lake Apopka and its history.

Saturday I manned the scope at the Pumphouse in the morning followed by a bus tour in the afternoon tallying 47 species between the two, including a flyby Cavasback female.

Saturday night was Greg Miller from the book The Big Year who is an amazing and funny speaker.

Sunday was an all day Lake Apopka Field Trip with high winds really hurting our passerine counts but we saw or heard 71 species for the day including Barn Owl, Limpkin, and Green-winged Teal. Best bird was still the Groove-billed Ani at the Marsh Tower on Clay Island. Spent the day with Greg Miller, David Simpson, Rebecca Smith, and Lorne Marlo as co-leader for the day.

My personal total was 93 species for the weekend and getting to meet lots of other birders.

Good Birding

Gallus

 

First Bird & Butterfly Survey of the year

1/14 was the first Bird & Butterfly Survey of the year at PEAR Park, the surveys are done quarterly at 5 different properties in the Lake County Parks System, PEAR Park, Ferndale Preserve, Lake May, Ellis Acres, and Pasture Reserves. These are done to help us see how our land management is effecting certain species and birds & butterflies are easy to find and there is always an interest in seeing them.

So on Saturday a small group headed out on a 2.3 mile hike and found 52 species of birds and half a dozen butterfly species, which for winter is good for butterflies in which we often find zero. Highlights were 7 species of sparrow, if you count Eastern Towhee. These included White-crowned, Swamp, Vesper, Savannah, Chipping, and Field Sparrow. Overall it was a good day even with notable misses like Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

The next Bird & Butterfly Survey is January 28 at Ferndale Preserve and you can go to http://www.lakecountyfl.gov/parks to sign up.

This weekend is Birdapalooza and I will be leading two field trips, manning the Historic Pumphouse Scope and doing a bus tour for those interested.

Also if you want to have your input on Parks & Trails Master Plans including anything regarding birds and wildlife you input is wanted. You can do the survey on the Parks & Trails page and/or attend one of the upcoming Public Meetings.

1/18 at 6:00PM at the Ag Center on Woodlea Rd in Tavares

3/2 at 6:00PM at the Minneola City Hall in Minneola

2/23 at 6:00PM at Venetian Gardens Community Center East Room in Leesburg

 

Good Birding

Gallus

New Year Century Run

Well finished up the last Christmas Bird Count of the season with the Clermont CBC on 12/30 and tallied a mere 88 species but they included American Woodcock and Ash-throated Flycatcher both at Ferndale Preserve.

On 1/1/2017 the day started at 5:00AM with a drive out to the North Shore Trailhead with Rebecca, Lynn was supposed to join us to but canceled. We started day off with calling Common Gallinule and Great Horned Owl but first seen bird were 3 American Woodcock heading off to roost for the day from the marsh. The day continued with calling Virginia Rail, both species of Whistling-duck, flyover Canvasback hen, and your typical assortment of waders. Additional stops added Vesper Sparrows, Least & Spotted Sandpipers, American Pipit, and many other species finishing the day with 103 species of which 4 were lifers/re-lifers for Rebecca. Not a bad way to kick off the New Year.

Good Birding

Gallus

A Wild Goose Chase

On Saturday after work Beki Smith and I headed for Bunch Beach in hopes of finding the 2 Brant that have been reported for the last week. Arriving with only an hour of good light we quickly found the 2 Brant feeding on the mud flat with thousands of other birds. The Brant was # 429 for Florida for me and a “re-lifer” for Beki Smith. The Brant could add an “armchair” state bird since there were 2 subspecies present, 1 Atlantic Brant and 1 Black Brant, the Black Brant is considered a separate species by Europe already and is a likely split by the AOU as well.

After that we got a report of an Smith’s Longspur at Flamingo in Everglades NP and so we trekked the 3.5 hours south in hopes of seeing Florida’s 2nd record for this species. Sleeping in the car we rose early and joined many other birders in searching to no avail.

Monday we did the Econlockhatchee CBC tallying 67 species and 2 non-countable on a hot and windy day. After we hit a pond in Leesburg to get Whooping Crane for Beki Smith, which we found the three reported there, 2 adult and 1 immature.

Next CBC is 12/30 Clermont area and I hope to hit 100 for the day again this year.

Good Birding

Gallus