Carrie did not want to go birding on Tuesday, July 3, but my brother Greg and I had talked about going to Fort DeSoto together, and I was able to talk him into going with me when I went back on Tuesday. Greg notices the birds and enjoys them, but does not know what they are called. I knew that he would enjoy the birds and the adventure, and that we would both enjoy spending time with each other. I was hoping to stop at the Sunshine Skyway Bridge North Rest Area on the way, if I could find it, because two sightings of a Whimbrel at the rest area had been reported on ebird. This was my most wanted bird in Florida. I was also surprised I had not seen a Roseate Spoonbill yet and was hoping to see one at DeSoto.
After Greg bought me breakfast at Chick-fil-a, we drove toward the park. When we were getting close, we did not take the exit to DeSoto, but stayed on the highway to go on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge so that we could exit at the rest area. We thought the exit would be before the toll to get on the bridge, but there were no signs for the rest area at the last exit before the toll. We went ahead and took the last exit anyway thinking the people who reported the sighting on ebird might not have meant a literal "rest area." There was no rest area at this exit, but there was a park I had seen online called Maximo Point. Perhaps this was what they were talking about. As we drove around the park looking for a beach, we quickly located this Roseate Spoonbill feeding from a puddle next to this Snowy Egret. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Greg had seen these amazing creatures in his backyard detention pond, and I had high hopes of seeing one, but they had not been around his house for some time.
While we were watching these birds, some chattering parakeets flew out of the trees, and over our heads. Unfortunately, I could not get a good look at them, and I had not yet taken the time to learn parakeet calls. So once again, I could not identify the species. But what a relief to find a spoonbill. Now if only Carrie could see one at some point during our vacation.
Though we had a promising start, there were not many birds at Maximo, and there was not much of a beach for shorebirds. We found enough conch-type shells by the shore to start a collection. Greg picked up several of these to take home. I knew that Carrie would have no use for them, so I did not keep any of them. Then we found one adult Brown Pelican in beautiful chocolate breeding plumage.
After getting back on the highway, we decided to get on the bridge and pay the toll so that we could make sure we had not gotten off at the wrong place. Once we paid the toll, there were signs for a rest area. We exited and parked in the rest area parking lot. Then we diligently searched the shore, which was partially roped off so that damages from the tropical storm could be repaired and debris removed. We walked North to a wooded area and found a small peninsula that jutted out from the shore. In the wooded area, there were several waders. As Greg and I were walking around looking, I spotted an adult Yellow-crowned Night-Heron. It was highly inconspicuous, hiding and not allowing good looks. Then Greg called me over so I could see the juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-Heron he had found. This one allowed a better photo opportunity.
Other waders started flying in and landing in the trees around us; however, we did not see any Whimbrels.
As we drove under the bridge and headed back to the interstate, I noticed on the side of the highway opposite the rest area, a road extending from the highway that led to a small pull-off beach area. I wondered if this beach was the beach where the Whimbrel had been seen. At this time, unbeknownst to me, Greg was praying that I would find the Whimbrel. We pulled off the road to photograph the Osprey shown at the beginning of this post. While I was photographing the Osprey, Greg was noticing large fish jumping two to three feet out of the water. I would say, "holy mackerel," but these fish were mullets. After checking out the Osprey, we got back on the road and drove to the pull-off beach area I had seen from the highway. There were huge potholes and puddles in the sand as we drove through the parking area, but right away we noticed a funny looking bird walking up shore around a giant puddle. Wow! It was the Whimbrel! Thank you Lord!
We watched this bird for several minutes in amazement and were able to get pretty close to it while remaining in the car. There were also a few Ruddy Turnstones and Black-bellied Plovers closer to the shore. Once we left the pull-off area and arrived at DeSoto, we drove straight toward the North Beach. On our way to the beach, we saw a Common Ground-dove drop from a power line to the ground just across the road from the old fort. I pulled over and snapped a couple of shots.
By the time we got to the North beach, the tide was already up, but I was prepared. I was wearing my swimming trunks and flip-flops. I took my flip-flops off and carried them so that I could wade across the pool. As we walked North, we met a new birder, who had been watching the Reddish Egret, which was back today, fishing again in the same pool I had crossed the previous day. The birder's name was Lance Marvel. Lance, who was from Georgia, was visiting his daughter, who was attending college in town. This gave him a great opportunity to enjoy his new hobby at Fort DeSoto. As we waded past the Reddish Egret, it gave us quite a show, displaying it's fishing dance. The bird seemed very unconcerned with and undistracted by our presence.
As we continued North, we reached a roped off area, called the North Beach Protected Area. The ropes were put up to protect nesting American Oystercatchers. However, we did not see any nests, and many of the stakes holding the rope up had come up out of the ground. The nests had probably been washed away by the recent tropical storm. We did see three Wilson's Plovers and a Least Flycatcher on the other side of the ropes. On the East side of this area, which had become a small island, there were a variety of birds roosting. We walked around the roped off area to get closer to these birds. Lance had already been over to see this group of birds, but had not been able to identify them. So I helped him out. There were Marbled Godwits, Willets, American Oystercatchers, Black Skimmers, Short-billed Dowitchers, and Ruddy Turnstones.
As we walked a little closer, I noticed these small, gray shorebirds--Red Knots! Unfortunately they had already molted back to nonbreeding plumage, but it was still nice to finally see this endangered species.
On our way back to the parking lot, we found this beautiful shell, but it was still occupied, so I took it out of the water to photograph it, but then I put it back in. As we continued toward the parking lot, a Whimbrel flew by at eye level. Another one, and it was nice to see it flying!
Next Greg and I decided to explore the actual fort. The fort was built as a defense for Tampa during the Spanish-American War. Construction of the fort began in 1898 and was completed the following year. The area between the fort and the road and even the trees around the fort had several Gray Kingbirds, Loggerhead Shrikes, and Northern Mockingbirds.
On our way to check Turnaround Beach, we pulled off at the East Beach parking lot to get a closer look at this beautiful Wood Stork from the car. Again I was impressed with the stocky build of this large wader. There was not much to see at Turnaround Beach, and it was time to get back to the house so we left the park.
Greg and I had a wonderful time together talking and birding. I was reminded of the hikes we went on together when he had been my pastor, and we had lived in the same town for a period of two years right after I had graduated from college. As brothers, we are much alike, both sharing the joy of a good adventure and the delight in the beauty of God's creation.
On day three, I added six more lifers, including the bird I wanted most to see--Whimbrel!
1. Roseate Spoonbill
2. Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
3. Whimbrel
4. Common Ground-dove
5. Red Knot
6. Gray Kingbird
Below is a list of the birds we saw on July 3 at Fort DeSoto.
Fort DeSoto County Park, Pinellas, US-FL
Jul 3, 2012 10:14 AM - 11:34 AM
Protocol: Traveling
10.0 mile(s)
29 species
Wood Stork 1
Magnificent Frigatebird 1
Double-crested Cormorant 4
Brown Pelican 4
Great Blue Heron 4
Great Egret 12
Snowy Egret 18
Reddish Egret 2
White Ibis 24
Osprey 12
Black-bellied Plover 3
Wilson's Plover 3
American Oystercatcher 2
Willet 15
Whimbrel 1
Marbled Godwit 9
Ruddy Turnstone 10
Red Knot 8
Short-billed Dowitcher 9
Laughing Gull 58
Least Tern 1
Black Skimmer 2
Mourning Dove 6
Common Ground-Dove 1
Gray Kingbird 6
Loggerhead Shrike 4
Northern Mockingbird 7
European Starling 1
Northern Cardinal 2
Written and published on July 21, 2012
love the picture of the bird with the fish in its mouth
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kim!
ReplyDelete