Harris' Sparrow Lifer!?!? And some recent birding highlights

 

Harris's Sparrow at Holiday Beach in Amherstburg ON

Almost 1 week ago, a local birder (Kory R) found a Harris' Sparrow at Holiday Beach in Amherstburg. Slowly over the last 3 or 4 days other birders had found it in the same spot it had been originally seen. It was being generous in its migratory stay at Holiday Beach. Today after work, I figured I would try for a second time to see it.

I had stood around on the road in the prescribed area with several other birders. Initially I had obtained a brief and heavily obstructed view.  Paul P, Rick M, Andew and Kara W, even Jeremy B was there. After a long wait - and incredibly birders not pishing or using playback --- the bird flew across the scene from left to right and briefly alighted on a branch. I snapped a few photos with my camera and yes... this is a life bird for me!

While waiting, I had views of some birds that were around. Bald Eagle, Blue Herons, Great Egrets, my FOY Warbling Vireo and I had a stunning look at a Ruby-throated hummingbird. It had alighted in the the air about 4' away from my face at eye level. It twisted mid air and its "gorget" briefly went from black it stunning iridescent ruby red. It was a wonderful birding moment only to later be eclipsed by face melting views of Harris' Sparrow.

This past Sunday, I went to bird at Point Pelee for the first time in quite some time. I had been birding alot locally closer to my house since gasoline is so expensive. 

I had some good birds at the park even though it was "slow".  

I had found at least two White eyed vireos, Red headed Woodpecker, Hooded Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler, Kentucky Warbler along with about 70 species.

Good birding!

Dwayne

My last ten life birds:

Lifer Summary - Last 10 species:

Western Screech Owl 453 (AZ)

 Scaled Quail 454  (AZ)
 Graces Warbler 455  (AZ)
 Painted Redstart 456  (AZ)
 Yellow Eyed Junco 457  (AZ)
 Blue throated Hummingbird 458 (AZ)
Elegant Trogon 459 (AZ)
King Rail 460
Red Phalarope 461
Scissor tailed Flycatcher 462
Hoary Redpoll  463
Cave Swallow 464
Harris' Sparrow 465

May 10th Birding at Point Pelee

*Note: This posting was written on May 10th so its already a little dated in terms of context etc*

I took a "personal day" today (May 10th) and had the day off from work. After reading predictions from Ken Kaufman's blog and hearing all the rain last night, I figured that today would be a pretty good day at Point Pelee. I did get 85 or so species --- not bad considering I didn't even go to the Hillman Marsh shorebird cell.

Its strange - I don't know if the years of experience under my belt, or if its because I'm getting older, but I just don't seem to feel like there are many birds to look at when I go out. Its almost like I start to get  a little bored and I want to go home after lunch time. Maybe this Saturday will be a major "wave" day ... who knows.

One of my day's highlights was to see a Philadelphia Vireo near White Pine.  I also saw a White eyed vireo - which I think has been several years since I've seen one.  I found the Phily Vireo when I walked back to White Pine to put my jacket away. I found the white-eyed vireo by following a strange call that I was hearing out on woodland nature trail. The call sounded a little like "Quick three beers" --- but not convincingly enough like an Olive sided Flycatcher call. I ended up seeing the White eyed a surprisingly close views.

Other quick observations:
*Another bird that I have not seen for a while (years) was a Northern Mockingbird.
*I've had 2/2 attempts at seeing Kentucky Warbler on my last two trips to Point Pelee.
*I dipped on a reported female Cerulean Warbler today. I don't think I've ever photographed one - although I feel that I saw one many years ago at Skunks Misery.

On a side note, my phone - (LG G5) has an "LG Health App" which kind of acts like a "fit bit". One thing that my phone does is count my steps on a daily basis. Today I had the most steps I've ever taken since I've started using that option --- 22,000 steps --- over 16km!


Good birding!
Dwayne

https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45533788

Birding in Fort Myers Florida (Part 2 of 2)

Red cockaded Woodpecker (pronounced caw-caided)

This second posting on my recent Florida Vacation birding highlights covers some of my newest lifers. One of the best birds I was able to observe was a single (endangered) Red cockaded Woodpecker (RCW) at the 80,000 acre Babcock Webb WMA [link][map]. Admittedly, there are two areas/colonies that biologists have placed artificial nestholes into the sides of large Long-key Pine trees to help these woodpeckers have easy/ideal nesting habitat.  Red cockaded Woodpeckers are endangered because their habitat is endangered. Large mature pine tree habitat, with prescibed burning-induced clearings to improve biodiversity.

On my third visit to the Babcock Webb WMA (my first visit was in March 2011), I had arrived at sunrise. While driving down the north end of Oilwell Grade road, I had seen a large raptor cross the road ahead of me. I stopped for a moment to see a Great-horned Owl perched on a pine limb. No RCW was found at the first RCW area, so myself and another pair of birders decided to join forces and move on to the other RCW area, which was on another road called Tram Grade road. Enroute to the second area, the other car took a wrong turn, so I stopped at the intersection of the two roads mentioned above and scanned three trees with white rings painted around their base to indicated that they have RCW nests. One of those three trees had a medium sized woodpecker with barring along its back and huge white cheek patches... RCW!!!

Perhaps the quick cellphone video I took in one of the other birder's scopes shows the woodpecker better than my photo. The video is not that great, as the other two ladies can be heard talking and taking photos. We were about 40 meters away from the bird and remained on the roadway while observing the bird. The bird flew eastward moments later and was not seen again.

Another highlight of my Southwest Florida birding was a morning walk at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary [http://corkscrew.audubon.org/]. This pristine 13,000 acre Audubon preserve is a breathtaking walk through several habitats, including the "largest remaining virgin bald cypress forest in the world (approximately 700 acres)" ... some of the trees had signs indicating they were over 400 years old!

Crappy photo of YCNH... A hard-fought lifer!

Two lifer species for me were the Yellow-crowned Night Heron and the Barred Owl. I found the YCNH to be a difficult bird to find for some reason. I don't think I would have found it without the help of a naturalist that was walking around. Luckily, it was dry season and only two small lakes remained, concentrating most of the birds to two smaller areas.

Barred Owl... Finally!

Other birds seen at Corkscrew Swamp were Indigo Bunting, Blue grey Gnatcatcher, Yellow rumped Warbler (lots of un-identified warblers at one point), Red shouldered Hawks, Pileated Woodpecker (heard), Yellow bellied Sapsucker, Roseate Spoonbill, Wood Stork, Swallow tailed Kites ( some overhead and circling in the distance). Near the parking lot, a calling bird near our picnic table turned out to be a White eyed vireo. The scrubby area near the parking lot was birdy and included Ruby crowned kinglets, Pine Warblers, Great Crested Flycather and more.

 

I found this bird while driving on a pretty major highway.  Pileated Woodpeckers were seen at  at Lover Key Park Beach, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and this one while driving to Lehigh Acres.

Fish Crow: Cool to hear the different call this bird makes, especially after reading about Ontario birders hearing it near Fort Erie.  It's a softer "ka".

Poor photo taken in the mid-day sun. This bittern foraged in a thicket of reeds next to a walkway I was standing on.

This female Least Bittern was seen a Lakes Park, a nice municipal park in Fort Myers. I watched this bird forage for a while. At one point, I caught a minow and just held it in its beak for a minute before eating it. A Common Moorehen and Green Heron, as well as many Boat tailed Grackels were around. At one point, a Grackel started gesturing and pecking towards the Bittern. The Bittern pecked back and held its ground, but ... it just bugged me that the Grackel was being so aggressive towards it. Kinda felt bad, but both parties went back to foraging. It was incredible to watch this forage from 10 feet away. Not a lifer but still an amazing bird!

Good birding!
Dwaynejava

Lifer recap Since Dec 31st 2012:

Purple Sandpiper- Point Pelee #314
Glaucous Gull - Lighthouse Cove #315
Iceland Gull -Wheatley #316
White winged Dove - Rondeau #317

Swallowtailed Kite -SW Florida #318

Barred Owl-SW Florida #319

Yellow Crowned Night Heron -SW Florida #320

Red Cockaded Woodpecker SW Florida #321

American Oystercatcher - SW Florida #322

Burrowing Owl - SW Florida #323

Fish Crow -SW Florida #324

Eurasian Wigeon - Point Pelee#325

Fort Myers Birding Hotspots:

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary & Blair Audubon Center 375 Sanctuary Road West Naples, FL 34120 Phone: 239-348-9151

SAN CARLOS BAY/BUNCHE BEACH PRESERVE 18201 John Morris Road Fort Myers, FL 33908 (Tide: http://www.capeweather.com/carlos-point-tide.html )

Babcock-Webb WMA Charlotte County near Punta Gorda and Ft. Myers. From I-75, take exit 158 east 1/4 mile to the entrance;

Lovers Key State Park 8700 Estero Boulevard Fort Myers Beach, Florida 33931 (239) 463-4588

Harns Marsh Preserve 38th Street West / Ruth Avenue North, Lehigh Acres, Florida, United States This site, located in Lehigh Acres east of Ft Myers, has become known to birders as one of the most accessible places in Lee County to find Snail Kite, Limpkin, and other wading birds.  From 1-75, Exit 136, drive east on Colonial/Lee Blvd (CR 884) to Lehigh Acres.  Turn left on Sunshine Blvd and drive north past the Able Canal.  Just beyond the canal, the road curves and 31st St is on the left.  Turn left on 31st and make an immediate right on Ruth St.  Drive north on Ruth St to 38th St.  Turn left on 38th and drive west to the dirt parking area at the end of the road.  There are no restrooms at the site. Reminders: Bring sunscreen, water, lunch/snacks and a scope.

Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve 7791 Penzance Blvd, Fort Myers, FL 33966, United States

J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge Address: 1 Wildlife Dr, Sanibel, FL 33957, United States

 

Early May Birding at Pelee

So many things to talk about bird-wise! Took a personal day on Friday (May 4th) and spent a good day birding Point Pelee. Some personal highlights for me were seeing Red headed Woodpeckers and 5 species of Vireo ( White eyed, Yellow throated, Warbling, Red eyed, Blue headed) along with... 80 species of birds. I didn't really count or list them, but you get the point.

Some Random Thoughts (in point form for brevity and clarity):

• I was mucking around with my "blog templates" and irreversibly changed my original template to the "newer style" of templates.  I really liked my old template, so I spent much time trying to customize my new template to look like my old one, but still... its not the same. :-(
• I must have 70 photos that I would like to share, but I only chose 8 or so to add to this posting. 
• I just bought a new cellphone and this was the first time I was birding while texting. More on the subject of "Technobirding" later.
• Butterflies are everywhere this year. Amazing variety and its only the first week of May.
• Its amazing how different people will see a completely different set of birds. A flickr friend had YB Chats and Summer Tanagers on this same Friday May 4th. 
• Every year, it seems different birds seem to be more present than others. Last year, I hardly saw any Black throated blue Warblers, where this year, I've seen many. Same with Yellow throated Vireos. I guess its this randomness that keeps things interesting. 
• Lots of variety at Pelee, but seemingly low numbers. It seems that each bird was hard fought for this year. It seems also to be slower than previous years, but perhaps things are the same, the only change being the lack of 'life bird rush' that I was getting in the previous years.
• I did not hear or see a Wood Thrush yet this season... Seems odd no? I did see Hermit, Veery and Swainson's.

I had breathtaking looks at this beautiful yellow throated vireo... nuff said.

 

I was on West Beach Trail when I heard a "Fitz-Bew" call of a Flycatcher. I pished a little and a few warblers came to inspect the noise. I must have taken 15 photos of this white eyed vireo each as amazing as the next. What an amazing bird... I never saw the flycatcher until further down the path. I think it was a Least Flycatcher, based on the eye-rings.

A Point Pelee Specialty... Also seen at Ojibway in Windsor

Even though pretty common, and a local breeder, its always nice to see GCFs.

 Hillman Marsh

After Pelee, I drove over to Hillman Marsh proudly bearing a scope over my shoulder. Nothing super rare I guess, but a few nice birds included Green winged Teal, seasonal Terns, Black bellied Plover in stunning breeding plumage.  American Golden Plovers and Long billed Dowitcher were the highlights, and seeing them through my new scope was awesome.

American Golden Plover in a heavily cropped photo. Notice the greenish golden coloured plovers behind the horizontal row of bonaparte's gulls & terns. Black bellied Plovers in the foreground.

While shorebirding at Hillman, I realized I was standing next to and talking to Jean Iron. Wow! I realized it was her as she had mentioned Blenheim SL and I had just read her Ontbirds posting a few hours earlier.  The birding community is pretty small isn't it?

Good birding,
Dwaynejava