Birding Bunche Beach in Fort Myers Florida

Long Billed Curlew at Bunche Beach

I spent the last week vacationing in Fort Myers Florida. The first few hours of my trip to Florida started with an early morning visit to Bunche Beach in Fort Myers. This little municipal preserve hosts 718 acres of natural tidal wetlands and beach [link]. I knew Bunche Beach was good, but I did not anticipate getting 3 lifers in the upcoming hour!

Great Southern White

Mangrove Buckeye - Distinguished by the orange bordering of the forewing eye

Upon arrival, I  had stopped along the road and photographed a few butterfly species. Mangrove Buckeye and Great Southern White were seen. At the beach I noted many many shorebirds particularily as you walk a 100m from the main beach access point. Mainly, shorebirds seen were:

100 Dunlin
70 Western Sandpipers (lifer!)
10 Piping Plovers
2 Black Bellied Plover
7 Semipalmated Plover
25 Willets
150 Sanderlings
1 Long billed Curlew (lifer!)

[2 Marbled Godwits *Second walk]
[2 American Oystercatchers *Second walk]

1 Redish Egret
1 Snowy Egret
1 Little Blue Heron
1 Tricoloured Heron

50 Black Skimmers
50 Royal Terns
15 Laughing Gulls
2 Brown Pelicans

1 Prairie Warbler (Life bird!)
3 Palm Warbler
1 Yellow Rumped Warbler
X Fish Crow

Western Sandpiper - Not the best photo, but I had only taken my 55-250mm lens. Not my 400mm!!!

I had read on a local birding listserve that Mangrove Cuckoo's were present but I did not hear or see any. I had met a few birders on the beach and asked them if Western Sandpipers were present, and they were like - Yes, they are the most abundant shorebird out there! I was all too happy to lifer that species!  I started talking to another man about Bunche Beach and he mentioned some other highlights from the beach such as an overwintering Long Billed Curlew! He mentioned it was on the other end of the beach, perhaps 1km from where we were standing. Just as was about to leave, I heard the ascending call of a warbler I missed last summer in the Georgian Bay Islands.... Prairie Warbler! I pished for a minute only to realize the bird was right above me in a tree along the beach's edge!

Prairie Warbler at Bunche Beach

Finding this Prairie Warbler was particularly exciting because honest to goodness, I heard it singing and recognized its song. I knew its song because it was one of my target birds last summer at Georgian Bay Islands National Park. Readers may remember that I never made it to the North end of the island, and only got to 'hear' them as the ferry driver drove by the north dock but did not have time to dock and explore.

A surprise find at Bunche Beach - A small trail from the beach edge lead me to this small pond full of Fiddler Crabs!

Black Skimmers & Royal Terns

So, three life birds in the first hour of my trip. The birding gods were good to me on my first morning, but my luck would not be so great as the rest of the week continued.


Another visit later in the week to Bunche Beach resulted in views of two Marbled Godwits and two American Oystercatchers! I also had an amazing walk with my son in the low tide waters of Bunche Beach...

Marbled Godwits

American Oystercatchers

Willets - attempting to mate

I will try to limit the remainder of my trip to one more posting. Stay tuned for part two.
Good birding!

Lifer summary:
Western Sandpiper 339
Prairie Warbler 340
Long billed Curlew 341

Ebird Checklist
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17429458

Lake St Clair Winter Birding & Life list for 2010

After work Friday (and Thursday) I stopped by Lakeview Marina where Lake St Clair funnels into the Detroit River. Visiting this area has become a January tradition. This posting shows a few selected photos of various ducks and waterfowl.

Common Goldeneye is Common!

 The ducks (and swans, geese, mergansers) weren't as skittish as they normally were. I guess they are more confident when more are around.

 Redhead ducks (lifer #220), Canvasback & Greater Scaup are blog lifers.

 

Above, you can see  some Great Blue Herons in the distance (on the snow-bank to the left). I wish I had a scope, because there were huge rafts of ducks in the distance. I'm not really identifying gulls yet, but I did see a Black-backed in the photo below ... probably a Greater Black Backed Gull.

 

It would be awesome to have a scope and spend some time sifting through all these ducks. I would love to list out all the species but I feel the few I can identify just with my camera are probably a fraction of what is out there. Besides, along the Windsor shore, it seems there are different birds that further out, or along the shore of Peche Island.

 This is a highly cropped photo of the Peche island shore. Can you find a hooded merganser in this group?


Life List

Last January (Jan 2010), I compiled my life list which was at 81 birds! This was after about seven months of birding, and without binoculars and a field guide (I was only using allaboutbirds.org).  In 2010, I've seen 218 bird species! I don't want to list too much, so I will make this a January-only tradition.

This year, I am hoping to go to BC for the first time in my life, and plan to pick up a few western goodies. I will also try to make it out to Florida, possibly in March.

Black Skimmers in Florida... Florida, I miss you!

	2010
1	Bittern, Least
2	Blackbird, Red-winged
3	Blackbird, Rusty
4	Blackbird, Yellow-headed (MI)
5	Bluebird, Eastern
6	Bobolink
7	Brown Pelican (FL)
8	Bufflehead
9	Bunting, Indigo
10	Bunting, Snow
11	Canvasback
12	Cardinal, Northern
13	Catbird, Gray
14	Chickadee, Black-capped
15	Coot, American
16	Cormorant, Double-crested
17	Cowbird, Brown-headed
18	Crane, Sandhill (FL, MI)
19	Creeper, Brown
20	Crow, American
21	Cuckoo, Black-billed
22	Cuckoo, Yellow-billed
23	Dove, Eurasian Collared (FL)
24	Dove, Mourning
25	Dowitcher, Short-billed
26	Duck, American Black
27	Duck, Ring-necked
28	Duck, Ruddy
29	Duck, Wood
30	Dunlin
31	Eagle, Bald
32	Eagle, Golden
33	Egret, Cattle (FL)
34	Egret, Great
35	Egret, Snowy (FL)
36	Falcon, Peregrine
37	Finch, House
38	Finch, Purple
39	Flicker, Northern
40	Flycatcher, Alder
41	Flycatcher, Great Crested
42	Flycatcher, Least
43	Gadwall
44	Gallinule, Purple (FL)
45	Gnatcatcher, Blue-grey
46	Godwit, Marbled (MI)
47	Goldeneye, Common
48	Goldfinch, American
49	Goose, Canada
50	Grebe, Pied-billed
51	Grosbeak, Rose-breasted
52	Gull, Bonaparte's
53	Gull, Great Black-backed
54	Gull, Herring
55	Gull, Laughing (FL)
56	Gull, Ring-billed
57	Harrier, Northern
58	Hawk, Broad-winged
59	Hawk, Cooper's
60	Hawk, Red-shouldered
61	Hawk, Red-tailed
62	Hawk, Rough-legged
63	Hawk, Sharp-shinned
64	Heron, Great Blue
65	Heron, Green
66	Heron, Little Blue (FL)
67	Heron, Tricolored (FL)
68	Hummingbird, Ruby-throated
69	Ibis, Glossy (FL)
70	Ibis, White (FL)
71	Ibis, White-faced (Big creek)
72	Jay, Blue
74	Junco, Dark-eyed
75	Kestrel, American
76	Killdeer
77	Kingbird, Eastern
78	Kingfisher, Belted
79	Kinglet, Golden-crowned
80	Kinglet, Ruby-crowned
81	Knot, red
82	Lark, Horned
83	Longspur, Lapland
84	Loon, Common
85	Mallard
86	Martin, Purple
87	Meadowlark, Eastern (FL)
88	Merganser, Common
89	Merganser, Hooded
90	Merganser, Red-breasted
91	Merlin
92	Mockingbird, Northern
93	Moorhen, Common
94	Nighthawk, Common
95	Night-heron, Black-crowned
96	Nuthatch, Red-breasted
97	Nuthatch, White-breasted
98	Oriole, Baltimore
99	Oriole, Orchard
100	Osprey
101	Ovenbird
102	Owl, Eastern Screech
103	Owl, Great Horned
104	Parula, Northern
105	Pelican, American White (FL)
106	Phalarope, Red-necked (MI)
107	Phalarope, Wilson's (MI)
108	Phoebe, Eastern
109	Pigeon, Rock
110	Pintail, Northern
111	Plover, Black-bellied
112	Redhead
113	Redstart, American
114	Robin, American
115	Sanderling
116	Sandpiper, Baird's
117	Sandpiper, Buff-breasted
118	Sandpiper, Least
119	Sandpiper, Pectoral
120	Sandpiper, Semipalmated
121	Sandpiper, Solitary
122	Sandpiper, Spotted
123	Sandpiper, Stilt
124	Sapsucker, Yellow-bellied
125	Scaup, Greater
126	Scaup, Lesser
127	Scoter, Surf
128	Shoveler, Northern
129	Shrike, Loggerhead (FL)
130	Shrike, Northern
131	Siskin, Pine
132	Skimmer, Black (FL)
133	Snipe, Wilson's
134	Sora
135	Sparrow, American Tree
136	Sparrow, Chipping
137	Sparrow, Clay-coloured
138	Sparrow, Field
139	Sparrow, Fox
140	Sparrow, House
141
142	Sparrow, Lincoln's
143	Sparrow, Savannah
144	Sparrow, Song
145	Sparrow, Swamp
146	Sparrow, White-crowned
147	Sparrow, White-throated
148	Starling, European
149	Swallow, Barn
150	Swallow, Northern Rough-winged
151	Swallow, Tree
152	Swan, Mute
153	Swan, Tundra
154	Tanager, Scarlet
155	Tanager, Summer
156	Teal, Blue-winged (FL)
157	Teal, Green-winged (MI)
158	Tern, Black
159	Tern, Caspian
160	Tern, Common
161	Thrasher, Brown
162	Thrush, Hermit
163	Thrush, Swainson's (FL)
164	Thrush, Wood
165	Titmouse, Tufted
166	Towhee, Eastern
167	Turkey, Wild (Local Rarety)
168	Turnstone, Ruddy (FL)
169	Vireo, Blue-headed
170	Vireo, Red-eyed
171	Vireo, Warbling
172	Vireo, White-eyed
173	Vulture, Black (FL)
174	Vulture, Turkey
175	Warbler, Bay-breasted
176	Warbler, Black-and-white
177	Warbler, Blackburnian
178	Warbler, Blackpoll
179	Warbler, Black-throated Blue
180	Warbler, Black-throated Green
181	Warbler, Blue-winged
182	Warbler, Canada
183	Warbler, Cape May
184	Warbler, Chestnut-sided
185	Warbler, Connecticut
186	Warbler, Hooded
187	Warbler, Magnolia
188	Warbler, Mourning
189	Warbler, Nashville
190	Warbler, Orange-crowned
191	Warbler, Palm
192	Warbler, Pine
193	Warbler, Tennessee
194	Warbler, Wilson's
195	Warbler, Yellow
196	Warbler, Yellow-rumped
197	Waterthrush, Northern
198	Waxwing, Cedar
199	Wigeon, American
200	Willet
201	Woodpecker, Downy
202	Woodpecker, Hairy
203	Woodpecker, Pileated
204	Woodpecker, Red-bellied
205	Woodpecker, Red-headed
206	Wood-pewee, Eastern
207	Wren, Carolina
208	Wren, House
209	Wren, Marsh
210	Wren, Winter
211	Yellowlegs, Greater
212	Yellowlegs, Lesser
213	Yellowthroat, Common
214	Wood Stork (FL)
215	Roseate Spoonbill (FL)
216	Redish Egret (FL)
217	Anahinga (FL)
218	Boat Tailed Grackle (FL)
219	Yellow Throated Warbler (FL)

I bought a suet feeder for the Red breasted Nuthatch and it seems to be well received by the BC Chickadees, Downy Woodpeckers and of course, the guest of honour! I see a White breasted Nuthatch around on occasion, but its funny, I have never seen him at a feeder. He seems more interested in foraging the trees.

Good birding,
Dwayne