Day Two - Fort DeSoto County Park in Pinellas County, FL

I woke up early, before 6:00 a.m., and could not go back to sleep. Perhaps, I did not want to go back to sleep. I was in Florida, a birder's paradise, and I wanted to go somewhere and see some birds. Greg, Lynn, and the girls were still asleep, but Carrie woke up as she heard me getting ready to leave. I was pleased to hear that she wanted to go birding with me. I had heard that Fort DeSoto was the best place to bird in the Tampa, FL area, and I had seen reports on ebird.com of sightings of a variety of shorebirds there that I had been hoping to see. I was particularly hoping to see Whimbrel, Red Knot, Wilson's Plover, Snowy Plover, and Marbled Godwit. Why not start off with the best place to bird? We packed our sunblock, bug spray, and some food and water and headed out the door.

It took Carrie and I 45 minutes to an hour to get to Fort DeSoto, but the drive was spectacular since we saw lots of birds on the way. As we crossed the bridge into St. Petersburg, there was an Osprey on top of every other light pole. For someone accustomed to getting one or two brief glimpses of Osprey a year, this was amazing!

As we approached the entrance to the park, there were numerous Laughing Gulls, and a Great Blue Heron was standing on the bridge right next to the road. After we paid the $5.00 fee at the gate, we drove straight until the road came to a T. Then we turned left and headed for Turnaround Beach. This beach is so named because it is at the end of the island, and there is a sort of cul-de-sac there so that you can turn around and go the other way. This was a wonderful place because there was a variety of species there, and you could see them from the road so you did not even have to get out of your though we did get out.

The first birds we noticed were the Wood Storks--another lifer for both of us. These birds looked like sentries guarding the beach. Carrie thought they were ugly, but I thought them impressive. They seemed much larger and bulkier than I had imagined them to be. Later on our trip Carrie commented that they were much more beautiful in flight.





Willets were walking around and lying on the beach.





Next we noticed a group of terns and gulls by the water, including a Royal Tern, the larger bird with the orange bill, three Sandwich Terns, and several Laughing Gulls. Sandwich Terns are smaller than Royal Terns, and have black bills with yellow tips.



While I was looking at these gulls and terns by the water, Carrie noticed two tiny Least Terns further up the beach. One of them was an adult and the other, a juvenile.





Other shorebirds on the beach included two Black-bellied Plover, a Wilson's Plover, and a Ruddy Turnstone.







It took me a while to recognize these Short-billed Dowitchers when I first saw them along the shore because I was used to seeing them in breeding plumage in Illinois in the Spring.



Carrie had some great looks at a Tricolored Heron that flew in while I was photographing shorebirds. As we left this beach to check out another area of the park, I snapped this shot of a Great Blue Heron, who had been standing by the beach the whole time we were there.



As Carrie and I drove toward the North beach on the other end of the park, we saw several more Ospreys including this one.





As we pulled up to the far end of the North Beach parking lot, we noticed a couple of Magnificent Frigatebirds flying overhead.



As we walked North along the beach, we noticed that much of the area was under water. The tide was coming in, but as I later discovered the water levels were higher than usual due to the recent tropical storm. A Reddish Egret flew past us, and we ran into a couple of photographers who had been photographing the Reddish Egret. They were now facing a group of shorebirds and other birds that were separated from us by a pool of water. We spoke with one of them named Bill Long. Carrie continued talking with him while I rolled up the legs on my jeans and waded through the pool to get closer to the birds. Bill asked for Carrie's email so that he could send us some of the pictures he took including the one of me photographing the birds at the beginning of this post. Bill later gave me permission to post this picture.

Once I had waded across the pool, I very happily discovered about twelve Marbled Godwits amongst the numerous Willets. Some of these were in breeding plumage and therefore had orange bills, while others had the nonbreeding pink bills. They were all beautiful!







Many of the shorebirds were standing on one leg.



Other birds in this group included a Mottled Duck, three Black Skimmers, and six or seven Short-billed Dowitchers.



This Short-billed Dowitcher was still in breeding plumage.



In this photo, it looks like the Marbled Godwit is telling the Short-billed Dowitcher, "Now do you see why you're called 'Short-billed'"



I waded back to check on Carrie and came back intending to wade out further to see another group of birds. When I returned, a Forster's Tern had joined the ranks, and the shorebirds were stretching.







The tide was getting higher, however, and I decided not to wade out any further since I was wearing jeans. On my way back to the car, I saw three American Oystercatchers.



I quickly checked another part of the North beach before leaving and found a Snowy Egret hunting.





Carrie and I saw our first Fish Crows near the parking lot. I had always thought it would be difficult to distinguish them from American Crows, but it was not. They were much smaller and their call was very different.





We also saw this Laughing Gull, which knew where to find the good food.



As we headed out of the park, Carrie and I saw several birds perched on the power lines, including a couple of Northern Mockingbirds and this Loggerhead Shrike.



By this time, we had been birding for three hours, it was getting hot, and it was time to go home to spend time with my family. After a delicious lunch with my brother and his wife and daughter, we all went to see the old Tampa Hotel where Theodore Roosevelt stayed, which is now part of Tampa University. Outside the hotel, Carrie and I saw this Little Blue Heron standing by the river.



The following birds were lifers for both of us.

1. Wood Stork
2. Royal Tern
3. Sandwich Tern
4. Least Tern
5. Wilson's Plover
6. Magnificent Frigatebird
7. Reddish Egret
8. Mottled Duck
9. Marbled Godwit
10. Fish Crow

And these birds were also lifers for Carrie.

11. Willet
12. Black-bellied Plover
13. Snowy Egret
14. Tricolored Heron
15. Ruddy Turnstone
16. American Oystercatcher
17. Little Blue Heron

So Carrie finished the day with 17 lifers, and I finished with 10. Below is a list of all the birds we saw at Fort DeSoto County Park

Fort DeSoto County Park, Pinellas, US-FL
Jul 2, 2012 7:30 AM - 10:40 AM
Protocol: Traveling
10.0 mile(s)
30 species

Mottled Duck 1
Wood Stork 8
Magnificent Frigatebird 5
Double-crested Cormorant 51
Brown Pelican 2
Great Blue Heron 2
Great Egret 9
Snowy Egret 6
Tricolored Heron 1
Reddish Egret 1
White Ibis 28
Osprey 12
Black-bellied Plover 2
Wilson's Plover 1
American Oystercatcher 3
Willet 25
Marbled Godwit 12
Ruddy Turnstone 1
Short-billed Dowitcher 12
Laughing Gull 43
Least Tern 2
Forster's Tern 1
Royal Tern 1
Sandwich Tern 3
Black Skimmer 9
Mourning Dove 5
Loggerhead Shrike 2
Fish Crow 6
Northern Mockingbird 2
Northern Cardinal 4

Written and published on July 17, 2012

Day One - From Smyrna, Georgia to Tampa, Florida

Carrie and I left for vacation on June 30. Our objectives were to spend time together, relax, visit family, attend a wedding that Carrie was asked to be a bride's maid in, eat at Chick-Fil-A and Bojangles, and see lots of birds. Our first destination was Tampa, Florida where my brother Greg and his family and Carrie's uncle Rex and his family live. We decided to stay with my brother first and then stay with Carries uncle. We spent the night in Smyrna, GA, and started off again on our way to Tampa on July 1. Although we had seen several birds while driving on June 30, we had not seen anything new. So I will begin with July 1 as I recount our birding experiences on vacation.

As I was loading the car in the parking lot of Cobb Galleria Inn, I noticed a Northern Mockingbird on top of a light pole. I never grow tired of watching mockingbirds. I had already seen several of them the previous day. In central Illinois, I usually only get a brief glimpse of them on a power line or skulking in a bush near a pasture out in the country, but in the South, there are mockingbirds on virtually every corner and in every parking lot. They are very conspicuous, singing in the open and flashing the white patches on their wings as they fly and strut about. The Song Sparrow I could see from my car was the only Song Sparrow I would see on our adventure.

As we started South down I-75, we noticed the first of many of another southern bird rarely seen in central Illinois--the Black Vulture. Unlike Turkey Vultures I have watched, these birds with black heads and white wing-tips perch on utility poles and street lights. Other birds we saw from the road included Turkey Vultures, Eastern Kingbirds, and Great Egrets.

We stopped at an exit in Dooly County to eat our sandwiches. While we were making the sandwiches, Carrie noticed this beautiful butterfly and asked me to photograph it.



As we drove through Chula County, GA, I looked out into a cow pasture and saw three Cattle Egrets standing in them midst of a group of cattle. This seemed the most appropriate setting in which to see my first Cattle Egrets. Cattle Egrets often feed on the insects attracted by cattle. I wanted to stop to get a better look, but we were driving on the interstate. Between the two of us, Carrie and I saw another 163 Cattle Egrets on our drive to Tampa, including three that Carrie saw in a tree.

Carrie was the first to see our second lifer of the trip just before we crossed the border into Florida--a Swallow-tailed Kite. I did not see the first kite she saw, but I saw several after we drove into Florida. At one point, we saw five or six of them flying together. These beautiful raptors seemed much larger than we had expected them to be, and I found it interesting that they often seemed to fly in groups and that they seemed to be as abundant in Florida as are Red-tailed Hawks in Illinois.

Once we exited onto Bearss Ave. and Dale Mabry Rd. in Tampa, we saw Laughing Gulls and a White Ibis on utility poles, and I saw an Anhinga in flight. As we drove up to my brother's house, we saw another White Ibis foraging next to the road, and an Osprey flew over the house. White Ibis was lifer number three for both of us.



It was exciting to see my family. I am happy to have moved to Illinois where I met my wonderful wife Carrie and many friends and have had the privilege to work at Salem Ranch, but living in Illinois puts a lot of distance between my family and I. I had not seen my brother, my sister-in-law, or my two nieces for a year and a half. As my brother and nieces helped me unload the car, the neighborhood family of feral (domestic) Muscovy Ducks approached us. These birds are pretty common in Tampa, and are beautiful in flight. I gave the ducks some of the bird seed that was in my trunk. My twelve-year-old niece Isabella had named this duck Matthew.



After we unpacked the car, my brother showed me the detention pond in his back yard, where he had often seen a variety of birds including Anhinga, Sandhill Crane, and Roseate Spoonbill. There were more White Ibises in the back yard and there was an Anhinga in the pond. Anhinga was lifer number four for Carrie and I.







Isabella showed me lizards and tree frogs around their screened in swimming pool.



Suddenly, I noticed a Sandhill Crane walking toward the bird feeder in the neighbor's backyard, near the detention pond. The crane ate from the bird feeder and returned to its family. Carrie had never seen a Sandhill, and I had only seen them in flight. We had both looked forward to seeing them in Florida.







Greg and Lynn had planned a late birthday party for Isabella since we were going to be in town. Greg wanted to pick up a gift for Isabella before the party so I rode with him and took my camera along. Greg pulled off every time we saw a bird along the road. Our first sighting was a group of parakeets, which flew into a palm tree. Unfortunately, I could not identify which species they were. Right after the parakeets flew into the tree, we saw a man riding a bike with a snake around his neck. Next, we saw a Cattle Egret, and then a Snowy Egret.





My brother Greg is one of the pastors at a large church in Tampa called Idlewild Baptist Church. He drove me by the ponds in the church parking lot, where we saw this Tricolored Heron--another lifer--and a Great Blue.





On our way back, we drove through the neighborhood and found several Little Blue Herons, White Ibises, and a Green Heron. When we returned to the house, there was a Great Egret and a Little Blue Heron in the pond with the Sandhills.





It was wonderful to be able to celebrate Isabella's birthday with her family after not seeing them for so long, and it was great to see some new birds in Florida. Both Carrie and I finished the day with five lifers--Cattle Egret, Swallow-tailed Kite, White Ibis, Anhinga, and Sandhill Crane for her and Cattle Egret, Swallow-tailed Kite, White Ibis, Anhinga, and Tricolored Heron for me.

Written and published on July 15, 2012

The Best of the Livingston County Screech-owl Family

Back in May, I posted a report and some photos of an Eastern Screech-owl Family. In June I was able to get some better photos, but never took the time to post them. Here are a few of my favorites.





























Unfortunately, Craig Harland, whose yard hosted this family, found one of the owls dead later the same month. Craig delivered the specimen to me from his freezer so that I could take it to Angelo Capparella, Associate Professor of Zoology at ISU, for the field museum.



I still do not know how this bird died, or what happened to the others. Craig saw one or two in the next few days after dark. Then they all seemed to disappear. I had seen an American Kestrel hunting in the yard. Perhaps they dispersed to avoid the kestrel, or to find food. I hope they were not stricken with West Nile Virus or some other disease. Based on where this one was found, it seemed as if it just dropped out of the sky. I enjoyed observing and photographing these birds, and it was sad to see them disappear.

Written and published on November 24, 2012