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DESTINATION - SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
Typical BIRD SIGHTINGS
Provided by SRQ Bird Alert
21 October - This morning she’s back at the feeder, and I also saw a male lurking in
the scrub. I’m watching her now—she is very nervous--and I’m waiting for him to pluck up the courage to come to the
feeder.
Jeanne Dubi, Sarasota
20 October - A female Painted Bunting just showed up at my feeder.
Let’s hope she stays and is joined by a male soon. Last year, I saw a male on Nov 15. Several stayed all winter.
Jeanne Dubi, Sarasota
19 October - I arrived at the Celery Fields about 9:20 a.m. As I would learn later
this was about 10 minutes after a humongous group of migrating American White Pelicans had passed over the
wetlands! From the gazebo parking area I walked west on the sidewalk adjacent to Palmer Road several hundred meters
until I reached a dike/berm that headed north into the wetland. This is before the first area of open water where the
"Alligator Habitat" sign is located. Walking on this trail I felt like I was herding a group of White Ibis
and Glossy Ibis just like you'd herd a group of sheep! The berm/dike points north, then bends east (right) then
north (left) and then east (right) again. At the latter bend there is a small palustrine wetland with some rank aquatic
vegetation in it. I pished this area and soon heard the familiar call notes of Song Sparrow. I started to more
vigorously pish at the bird and finally got it to come out in the open and cling to the edge of what appeared to be
Scirpus fluviatilis (not sure of the species in Florida but it was a Scripus). I watched the bird as it called
and hopped around for several minutes in the brilliant morning sunshine and then moved on when it quit calling and dove
back into the vegetation.
I didn't get a chance to go back out there today to check it out. However its appearance just after the arrival of
the passage of the front on Saturday (no Song Sparrow there on Friday) suggests maybe it arrived on the front. Now that
things have settled down weather-wise perhaps its still out there chilling out in the bitter 68 degree temps we have
today. Hope you can find it.
Craig Faanes, Sarasota
18 October - The Black Rail in Robinson Preserve in Bradenton (Manatee County), FL
was seen yesterday right around 6:45 pm. To get to the area, head west on Manatee Ave (SR 64) from I-75 or US-41. West
of 75th ST, you will pass two bridges. As you cross the second bridge, you will see the Foot Bridge over Perico Bayou
on the north side. Pull over and park on the side of the road past the bridge (before you get to 107th CT). Walk the
trail north of the foot bridge to a covered Park bench. The rail was seen between the Bridge and bench on the
west side of the path. I saw a birding couple from Venice there this afternoon. The preserve by and large was quiet
today like yesterday. There were numerous Wilson’s Plovers (20 or so), 2 Caspian Terns, a few Willet,
Short-billed Dowitchers, Black-bellied Plovers, and Western Sandpipers.
Dan Irizarry, Bradenton
18 October - While out at the Celery Fields early this morning, Jeanne Dubi & I saw
a large flock of 149 White Pelicans migrating southward. Shortly after she left, I saw another flock of 222 White
Pelicans.
Valeri Ponzo, Sarasota
17 October - Perhaps of interest, the last entry is from north-west Highland County,
the county east of Hardee County (that is east of Manatee County). I finally got motivated to get out and look for some
fall migrants (the cooler weather helped a lot). I checked out the Sun'N Lake Preserve, a county park in northwestern
Highlands County this morning and found about 45 species total, including Chestnut-sided and Tennessee
Warblers, 2 redstarts, an Ovenbird, a couple phoebes, my first of the season harrier, a
bald eagle, and a peregrine falcon.
Here's my complete list: Anhinga (1 female in Gator Pond), Snowy Egret (1 at the back of Gator Pond),
Little Blue Heron, 4 or 5 Great Blue Heron, 2 or 3 Great Egret, White Ibis (about 65 flyovers),
Black Vulture (about 20), Turkey Vulture (about 8), 1 adult Bald Eagle (It didn’t seem to be much
bigger than the vultures it was flying with, so I’d guess it was a male), 1 Accipiter spp., Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk (about 5), Peregrine Falcon (? I was scanning through a vulture flock when I saw a
large falcon flying very high and fast above them, headed west. I couldn’t even see it with my naked eye, but it was
almost certainly a peregrine), Common Moorhen, Mourning Dove (about 8), Common Ground-dove (about 5),
2 Chimney Swift, Red-bellied Woodpecker (about a dozen), Downy Woodpecker (about 8), Pileated
Woodpecker (about 4 heard), Eastern Phoebe (2 or 3 - I had my first of the fall yesterday while I was driving
to work), Great Crested Flycatcher (2 heard), White-eyed Vireo (about 6 heard - 1 seen, a very pretty bird),
Blue Jay (about 5), American Crow (2 heard), Tufted Titmouse (about a dozen), Carolina Wren
(about 10 heard), House Wren (very common, although I never saw any. Probably heard at least 50 or 60), Blue-gray
Gnatcatcher (Very common, dozens seen and heard), Catharus spp. (I flushed a thrush that I got a brief look
at. I know it wasn’t a Veery, but other than that am not really sure. My gut feeling was Gray-cheeked), Northern
Mockingbird – Common (Probably saw or heard 30 or 40), Gray Catbird (Abundant, nearly ubiquitous in the park -
Probably saw or heard several hundred), Chestnut-sided Warbler (1 seen briefly in a mixed flock with Pine
Warblers, gnatcatchers, titmice, red-bellied woodpeckers, the parula, black-and-white, and a redstart,
Yellow-rumped Warbler? (I think I briefly saw a group of 3 - They were all backlit, but the shape looked right
and the call note sounded right. These would be my first of the fall), Palm Warbler (Probably saw about 10 or
15), Pine Warbler (Probably saw 20 or 30), Black-and-white Warbler (1, a male I think), American
Redstart (2 females, great looks), Tennessee Warbler (2 first fall birds foraging near the trailhead in a
tree with a redstart, summer tanager, and a gnatcatcher, Northern Parula, Ovenbird (briefly
saw 1 that I flushed from the edge of the pond with the cypress dome near the cattle pasture), Common Yellowthroat
(Common. Saw several, probably heard 40 or 50), Summer Tanager (1), Northern Cardinal (about a dozen),
Common Grackle (about 10). Also, 3 eastern gray squirrels and 1 alligator.
Greg Schrott Sebring
17 October - In addition to the birds John Wilson saw in Pinecraft Park, we saw:
male and female black-throated green warblers, male and female redstarts, multiple ruby-throated
hummingbirds, summer tanagers, yellow throated warbler, northern parulas, red eyed vireo, white-eyed vireos, and
best of the day for Gregg and I: a beautiful male golden-winged warbler, who let us take long looks in
wonderful light!
Cathy Olson
17 October - We had another day this Fall of opening up the front door here in SW
Englewood, and finding every tree covered and the air dense with the sound of birds...truly a mass fallout. The majority
of warblers moved through extremely quickly within about an hour, feeding frantically, and barely pausing on
their move. We had a total of 17 warbler species: Tennessee, No. Parula, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia (lots), Cape
May, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green (several), Yellow-throated, Pine, Prairie (a few), Palm,
Bay-breasted (FINALLY! – a lifer for me), Black-and-white (several), Am. Redstart (many), Worm-eating,
Common Yellowthroat, and a few gorgeous male Hoodeds. We also saw some birds that were new yard birds for me:
Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Swainson’s Thrush, and Tufted Titmouse. New first-of-the-season birds included
Eastern Phoebe and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Other migrating and notable species were a few Eastern
Wood-Pewees, an Empid species, late Chimney Swifts, Swallow species (sad to say, but I didn’t really want to
look up to focus the bins because of all the warblers conveniently right in front), Blue-gray Gnatcatchers,
Gray Catbirds, Brown Thrashers, Yellow-throated and Red-eyed Vireos, several Summer and Scarlet
Tanagers, and several Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. Raptors included a few Bald Eagles and
Ospreys, a Cooper’s Hawk, and a Red-shouldered Hawk. We took some visiting weekend company out on
the boat to Charlotte Harbor this afternoon, where the winds picked up considerably over the course of a few hours. We
had a flyover flock of 5 Roseate Spoonbills and an estimated 250-300 FOTS American White Pelicans on Bird
Island out in the harbor. Truly a wonderful birding day!
Susan Daughtrey, Englewood
Please send your input about rare and/or interesting bird sightings to:
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