Florida for Christmas

We made the trip to Florida again for Christmas this year to see my Mom and Connie's sister. I make the most of the trip by going birding (what's new right?) Not much going on in The Villages bird-wise but we did get to see these Sandhill Cranes wandering around the Sheriff's Office parking area.

I also spotted these Cranes at Harne's Marsh this week. Look at how messy the juvenile's feathers are. They were honking at the park ranger's truck going by.

I also found a few other notable birds at the marsh including a life bird - Gray-headed Swamphen. I have seen a few before but never entered the sighting into eBird. Now, I can "officially" count it as bird # 1224.

There were lots of Tri-colored Herons at the marsh. This one was close to the path and didn't mind me and Peanut.

I also went to my favorite location near Punta Gorda - Babcock-Webb NWA. This is a huge wildlife management area that is a big hunting destination. This week, the park was so crowded that the campground was overflowing. I still had fun and saw some good birds. Anhingas were everywhere.

This Osprey was sitting quietly until he spotted another one flying past. Then, he started that squeeky crying.

Least Bitterns are very hard to see. They are secretive, camouflaged and stealthy. I caught this one jumping from one clump of reeds to another then spent time waiting for it to get into position to be photographed. This is the best shot I could get. I think you can get the idea of how small they are.

This was the best bird of the day for sure.

Now, Back to the Birds

I have been sporadically birding over the past few weeks including in Florida. Connie and I came across these familiar birds. Here is a family of Sandhill Cranes along the main road in The Villages.

Sandhill Cranes

And this young Phoebe sat on the fence near the Dog Park with a bright blue roof behind it so naturally, I had to photograph it.

Eastern Phoebe

Back at home, Peanut and I came across this White-crowned Sparrow on our usual morning walk. It doesn't look like much but White-crowned Sparrows are uncommon so finding one is a bonus on any bird walk.

White-crowned Sparrow

And this Yellow-rumped Warbler showing off his yellow rump in Cape May this past weekend. Barbara and I met up with Marty and spent time at Higbee beach where we saw many birds. Mostly Robins, Goldfinches, Kinglets and Yellow-rumps which means that migration is winding down.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Of course, these aren't spectacular birds or lifers but still nice to see.

What Paulie Missed

I'm down in Florida visiting the old folks this week. I dragged Connie down here with promises of mending her broken ankle poolside rather than home. 2 days drive with Peanut in the back seat and 3 days of visiting.

My mother was very anxious to take Peanut to the new dog park that Dave found near their house. The park has a "nature park" attached to it too. Dave borrowed a golf cart for me, Connie and Peanut to bomb around in. Here is Peanut on her first ride.

Golf Cart Ride

We went. Peanut was just OK with the dog park but the nature park was a hit. Late afternoon was a good time to visit. Close up views of Grackles - you can see the purple iridescence when the Florida sun hits them just right.

Grackle

This female Merganser was showing off her 'doo in the pond. No males were there, so I'm not sure why she was so interested in showing off.

Female Hooded Merganser

The star of the show had to be 2 Meadowlarks in the grass at the park. They let me get really close while they hunted for bugs. This one cranked out the famous musical song right in front of me. Wow.

Meadowlark

The pond was full of birds including American White Pelicans, Wood Storks, Egrets and Cormorants. The Pelican is in flight.

American White Pelican with Storks

Paul and Linda are my mother's neighbors. A very nice couple from New Jersey who we see each time we visit. Paulie (as we call him) sent me a newspaper article from the local Villages paper about New Year's Day birding. He wanted to go along. We never made a plan so I knocked on their door New Year's Eve - no answer. I went by the house New Year's Day - no answer. Oh well, I went birding alone (frankly, it was a joy to be by myself for an hour). Here is what Paulie missed:
First bird of 2016 - Eurasian Collared Dove

Eurasian Collared Dove

 Loggerhead Shrike calling from a tree along one of the many golf courses near the house.

Loggerhead Shrike

 A gang of Ibis (or is that Ibi ? ) hunting the golf course edge.

White Ibis

Best bird of the day - this American Bittern in the marsh.

American Bittern

Blue-gray Gnatcatchers love Florida. They are in every other tree along with Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

This Osprey was poised to fish in the mist of the morning. Connie saw him/her catch a fish later in the day.

Osprey

The Villages are known for having very tame Sandhill Cranes that walk around the golf courses. They are so tame that the golfers have to shoo them off of the putting greens. They don't even move when a ball plops down near them. As tame as they are, they didn't like Peanut. Here are 3 of them squawking in unison as we walked past them.

Sandhill Cranes - upset with Peanut

Once Peanut was in the car, the alert was over and the Cranes allowed more photos. Clam as cucumbers.

Sandhill Cranes

All in all, day one of 2016 was a hit. Easy birding racked up 38 species plus I got to swim and a home made pork and sauerkraut dinner.  Too bad for Paulie. I hope he gets out birding soon.

Gone, Back Again and Almost There

What a week. I've been to Vermont to see a Northern Hawk Owl, York PA for family Christmas Eve, Florida to visit my mother and Dave, and then to Cape May to see 2 more contest birds.

No birds in York at all and only a few in Florida. Mostly, we visited, ate, drank beer, rode around in a golf cart (don't worry, not after the beer part) and swam in the pool.  I did manage to snap a few photos of Ibis and Cranes. We were able to get up close and personal with both species as they meandered next to the golf cart paths on Christmas Day.

White Ibis

Sandhill Crane

Of course, a new bird showed up in Cape May while I was in Florida. I could scream. We arrived back in Philly at 11:15 PM last night and I was in Cape May this morning at 9:30 AM today to see the bird. I know, I know - NUTS! White-winged Dove #354. It's the dove in the background with the white wings :-)

Mourning Dove (front), White-winged Dove (rear)

You might be sick of this by now but guess what else I saw today?  Yep - another Snowy Owl, #6 for the year.  This one was stationed on the beach at Cape May Point. All of the Cape May birders were on the beach looking at it when I got there. You should have seen the expression on their faces when Roxy showed up. Ha. She didn't go onto the beach with me but I could tell they were nervous (smirk).

Snowy Owl - Cape May Point

I got a bonus bird today too - Whooper Swan. This is a rare bird that may or may not count toward the contest since most birders say that it is probably escaped from a zoo or something. But Patty and I are not taking any chances. We saw the bird and are both putting it on our lists.With any luck at all, this bird will be #355!  Notice how much yellow it has on the bill.

Whooper Swan with Canada Goose

Almost done. 1 more day to go in the contest. We plan to go to Tinicum tomorrow to finish the contest in the field. We don't expect to add to our totals but hopefully we will get some good local birds.

Elusive Birds

Take a look to the right of this post. You should be able to see that I am 1 bird shy of 700.  I would really like to get #700 in 2011.  The only way that will happen is if I can see Saw Whet Owl or Long-eared Owl this week.  I don't think that will happen but you never know.  Another possibility would be for some interesting gull to show up in Cape May. 

Birds can sometimes be very elusive.  Even large birds like Sandhill Cranes which stand 4 feet tall and have red feathers on the tops of their heads can be difficult to spot even though you know that they are around.  So says my friend Mark anyway.  He has a farm out in Somerset County which I blogged about here (click to re-read the post).  He has 2 Sandhill Cranes that have taken up residence there and even had a baby last year.  Mark and his wife have a dicken's of a time finding those birds when they visit the farm.

Apparently, Barbara has a difficult time spotting Sandhill Cranes too as shown in this photograph from our recent trip to Florida:

Apparently, it only takes a sprig of ornamental grass to completely camouflage the Cranes.  Look at how skittish these birds are!  (NOT!)  Here is another photo of the birds stumping both Barbara and Diane:

Diane has even tried to elevate herself on the back of the golf cart for a better view, but from the looks of this photo, she still can't spot the bird. I think Barbara is looking at the field guide to lend assistance in the search . . .  Its a good think I was on the other side of the grass huh?

More photos of the elusive Sandhill Crane.  Mark should study these photos so that he knows what to look for the next time he is on the farm.

Old Coots

Now the cat is out of the bag. Di and I surprised our mother by flying down to The Villages (Florida) yesterday. We really surprised them too. We've been to The Villages twice before but never during the winter. It gets crowded. Lots of old people and lots of grand kids.

We got to see some pretty cool birds in our 24 hour stay. Here are some photos of the Sandhill Cranes that make their home at The Villages. These two were unphased by all of the people riding by in golf carts. They strolled right across the golf cart path as if they were alone.

We also found Buffleheads, Ring-neck Ducks, Pie-billed Grebes, several Herons and Egrets, Ibis, Woodstorks, Killdeer, Cormorants, and tons of Coots. Di took a great photo of Palm Warbler that landed several yards away from us while we were trying (unsuccessfully) to take photos of the Bufflehead. Here is it. What a great photo!

I don't know why Bufflehead are so hard to photograph, but I never seem to be able to get a good shot. It must be the iridescent coloring against the bright white of the head. I'll keep trying.

On to Punta Gorda with friends. Hopefully, we'll get some more good birding. Stay tuned. . .