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Birding Trip Plan C (Part 2 of 2)

Posted in Birding, tagged American Avocet, Black Skimmer, Center for Maryland Agriculture and Farm Park, Common Tern, Edwin B. Forsythe NWR, Grasshopper Sparrow, Green Heron, Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens, Marsh Wren, Maryland, Mute Swan, Ring-billed Gull, Snowy Egret, Willet on August 3, 2020| 2 Comments »

Last summer, my time in New York ended with 93 species on my state list and I wanted to get that number to 100. Derek and I decided to go for it when I discovered that you can get to Staten Island without driving through Manhattan. Our destination on Tuesday, July 14, was Wolfe’s Pond Park, less than three hours away, which had a species list in eBird making it appear that I could get seven new birds without even trying. We should have known that nothing would be easy in the hot July weather, but we did accomplish our goal. I now have 102 species of birds for my New York list, including the birds in the two photos below.

Mute Swan at Staten Island’s Wolfe’s Pond Park

I’ve never liked Mute Swans. They are non-native and aggressive towards our native waterfowl. This particular swan, though, appeared to have become gentle and tame due to handouts from picnickers at the park. This Snowy Egret had more self-respect and flew every time we got near, making me work to get a decent photo.

Snowy Egret at Wolfe’s Pond Park

We alternated big days and easier days, so it was off to nearby District of Columbia on Wednesday. Derek has assured me that birders who care about lists consider it the same as a state and he wanted to see me get to 50 species. We saw several birds at Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens that were still on their wintering grounds when we visited the park on my visit in April 2019. My favorite was this Green Heron, a species that I’ve seen many times. However, I’ve never been closer and I couldn’t take my eyes off this bird as he stalked his prey and didn’t seem to care at all about our presence.

Green Heron at Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens

The gardens at Kenilworth are very pretty. There were more visitors here than most of the places that we visited, but we felt safe. We were impressed by the consideration and social-distancing displayed by park visitors. Everywhere in DC people seemed to take appropriate actions to stay safe from the spread of coronavirus. Many wore masks outside and we even saw young children wearing masks.

Derek at Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens

Edwin B. Forsythe NWR in New Jersey had a lot of birds that I wanted to see – Gull-billed Tern, Willet, Seaside and Saltmarsh Sparrows – and I was excited about our visit there, but we had been putting it off waiting for the right day. We were rewarded for our patience. The daily temps had been hitting the high 80’s, but a high of 77 was forecast for Thursday, so we took advantage of the break from the heat and spent several hours at Forsythe NWR. Flies bit us again, as at Bombay Hook, but otherwise the day was perfect.

One of two beautiful American Avocets at Forsythe NWR, flagged by eBird as rare

I have seen hundreds of Willets, but this species has both a western and an eastern subspecies. It’s expected that they will be split into two separate species sometime in the next few years. Western Willets winter in Florida and on the East Coast and can arrive as early as June, so I did not have a single sighting that I could be absolutely certain was an Eastern Willet. My quest was finally accomplished at Forsythe NWR where Eastern Willets breed in the saltmarsh.

Eastern Willets

We saw several species of terns – Gull-billed, Least, Caspian, Common, and Forster’s.

Common Tern

Black Skimmers are in the same family as gulls and terns, but their feeding style is distinct. These graceful birds fly low over the water and literally skim the surface with their long lower mandible. When it strikes a small fish, the upper mandible snaps shut, capturing the fish.

Black Skimmer, one of the world’s three skimmer species

Marsh Wrens were difficult to see, but there were probably dozens of them in the saltmarsh.

Marsh Wren

We saw many Osprey during my trip. They appear to be as common along the Atlantic coast as they are in Florida.

Osprey nest in the marsh

We spent a few minutes walking Jen’s Trail (in a wooded part of the NWR) after the wildlife drive and added a gnatcatcher and a phoebe to my New Jersey list, but I still had only 99 species when we left Forsythe NWR. Number 100 ended up being Rock Pigeon on a highway overpass just before dark.

A Great Egret stands out due to its size and color, but the saltmarsh is teeming with unseen wildlife.

After our day at Forsythe NWR, it got really hot with daily highs hitting the mid-90s and limiting our birding to morning and late afternoon. With our other goals accomplished, Derek was on a mission to help me get my Maryland list to 100. He promised (threatened?) that I could get an injured Snow Goose, but I declined the opportunity to list a bird that would have been farther north on breeding grounds were it not for an injury leaving it unable to fly.

Center for Maryland Agriculture and Farm Park

On Friday, we found a Yellow Warbler and a Willow Flycatcher at a retention pond. We looked for Horned Larks at a known location and were successful on our second try. Derek is participating in the Maryland breeding bird atlas surveys so we were thrilled to find recently fledged juveniles, proof of breeding. Later, we looked for Grasshopper Sparrows at the Center for Maryland Agriculture and Farm Park. It was a confusing place and by the time we figured out where the sparrows had probably been seen by others, it was nearly dark. Singing Eastern Meadowlarks were a nice consolation prize.

A Ring-billed Gull flies overhead at Ferry Point Park

Saturday was my last day in Maryland and I still needed nine new birds if I were to reach 100 species. We decided that the Eastern Shore of Maryland would provide our best opportunity. At the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center, I added Red-headed Woodpecker and Brown-headed Nuthatch to my growing list along with Great and Snowy Egrets. Now we needed gulls. We joked that neither of us had ever had to work to find gulls before, especially common species like Laughing and Ring-billed Gull. On to Jackson Creek Landing where we picked up Laughing Gull. Next to Ferry Point Park where it took more effort than expected, but we finally found Ring-billed, Herring, and Great Black-backed Gulls. My Maryland list was then at 99, but it was hot and we needed a break.

A Grasshopper Sparrow singing atop a post in the goat pen

Late that afternoon, we tried for Grasshopper Sparrows for the third time. The first time, a few days earlier, mowers were cutting the sparrow field as we arrived. Our second try had been at a different location, Center for Maryland Agriculture and Farm Park, the previous evening. We headed there again and walked directly to the field where we thought the sparrows were breeding. There is a nice path around the field, but you can’t even see it from the parking area. Derek’s hearing is much better than mine and it wasn’t long before he heard the sparrows. We saw one on a post in the goat pen adjacent to the field that the sparrows must have used for their nesting territory. What a nice bird for my Maryland #100 and a lovely end to my visit.

Goats at Center for Maryland Agriculture and Farm Park

I was very happy that Derek got new birds for his lists, too, 21 state birds and 132 county ticks (birds seen for the first time in a county) including county birds in all eight states we visited. The focus on our state and county lists gave us direction and enabled us to see new wildlife and landscape. While it’s currently not safe to travel many places for birding, I am very grateful for this experience.

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Summer Birding in Florida

Posted in Family, Travel for Birding, tagged Birding, Birds, Black Skimmer, Black-necked Stilt, Common Gallinule, Florida, Georgia, Harris Neck NWR, Least Bittern, Least Tern, Loggerhead Shrike, Painted Bunting, Purple Gallinule, Royal Tern, Ruddy Turnstone, Snowy Plover, Sweetwater Wetlands Park on July 6, 2016| 5 Comments »

Most birders don’t head to Florida in the summer. And, I wouldn’t either if my step-daughters and my best friend didn’t live there. I lived in Florida, too, for over 30 years, so it still feels like home and I visit every chance I get, even in summer. Mid-day can be brutally hot and muggy, but nights are usually balmy and lovely. The fresh gulf air brings memories of childhood summer days spent at St. Pete and Clearwater beaches. How I wish my mother were here to see how much like her I’ve become. As a teenager, I wanted to go to the beaches with nothing but pure white sand. My parents preferred beaches with signs of life – sandpipers, pelicans, fiddler crabs, shells (some still alive).

Snowy Plover

I’ve had many rewards for summer birding in Florida. The first was seeing brand-new just-fledged Snowy Plovers on July 7, 2008, on Caladesi Island. David and I devoted an entire day to searching for these birds which had risen to the top of my most wanted list. Their light colors blend into the sand in the hot summer sun, but David quickly found a group of five.

Loggerhead Shrikes are also memorable summer birds. On June 27, 2009, I was thrilled to watch a Loggerhead Shrike family at St. Pete’s North Shore Park.

A juvenile Loggerhead Shrike enjoys lunch provided by a parent.

On June 22, 2013, we enjoyed a group of 14 Black-necked Stilts, including several juveniles, in a ditch between the road and the county landfill.

This year I headed south on June 20, the first day of summer and my step-daughter Debbie’s birthday. My first stop was Savannah National Wildlife Refuge. It’s birdier in winter, but I enjoyed watching mama Red-winged Blackbird feed two begging fledglings. Common Gallinules were accompanied by little fuzz balls. I tallied 20 species and drove to my motel.

Juvenile Common Gallinule. Note the feet on that baby!

I went back to Savannah NWR the next morning and then drove on to Harris Neck NWR, another of my favorite places to stop on the way to Florida. Harris Neck’s Woody Pond is one of the south’s biggest rookeries and it overflows with Wood Storks, White Ibises, Great Egrets, and other wading birds in the spring and summer. Harris Neck also hosts breeding Painted Buntings. They are a little shy, but I was able to photograph this gorgeous male after he flew from the feeder to a close-by tree.

Painted Bunting

Quinn and me

I made it to Gainesville that evening in time for dinner with my step-daughter Liz and her family. For the next three days I went to Sweetwater Wetlands Park for a couple hours in the morning and then spent the rest of the day with the girls. It was fun to catch up with Debbie and her horse and spend time with Liz and her young daughters, Quinn and Casey. We took Casey to see “Finding Dory,” the first movie that I’ve seen in years. Quinn seemed immune to the heat and enjoyed our time at the “weekend park.”

Sweetwater Wetlands Park was created to improve water quality in Paynes Prairie. It filters pollutants from urban runoff and wastewater which were harming the Alachua Sink with an excess of nitrogen. The wetlands were also designed to also be an environmentally friendly park. The result is outstandingly successful. It is beautiful and functional and 217 species of birds have been reported there since work on the wetlands began in 2008.

One species that I especially appreciated was Least Bittern. I had seen this secretive bird only a few times previously, but at Sweetwater there were lots of them and I even got a photo.

Least Bittern

Birds at Sweetwater are accustomed to people; Limpkins and Purple Gallinules perch right on the boardwalk rail.

Purple Gallinule

On Friday I moved farther south to visit David and Val in Dunedin. We had a rather quiet weekend, but I always enjoy spending time in the county where I grew up. On my first evening there, Ruddy Turnstones entertained me on the Dunedin Causeway. My appreciation for this common bird has increased since David and I found a banded one (with color flags) on August 11, 2012. I reported that bird to Bandedbirds.org and learned that it had been banded along the Delaware Bayshore in the month of May, most likely in Delaware in 2009. Ruddy Turnstones have a very wide range, but North American birds breed in the far north arctic and winter along the U.S. coast and southwards to the southern tip of South America. The turnstone that David and I found had already flown thousands of miles in its young life.

Ruddy Turnstone, June 2016, on the Dunedin Causeway

On Saturday morning, David and I found another banded bird, a Least Tern, and this one had color bands enabling it to be traced to a specific bird. It had a very interesting history related to us by Dr. Marianne Korosy. “This bird was banded at the Ulmerton Warehouse complex, a rooftop nesting colony of least terns located just west of intersection of Starkey and Ulmerton Rd. in central Pinellas County in 2011. It was banded as a chick when it fell off the roof there and survived unharmed. It was banded and then returned to the roof. The last time this bird was seen was July 20, 2011 on the south end of Clearwater Beach.” Our report was the first in five years!

Banded Least Tern

Least Terns are also migration champions. They leave North America entirely in winter, moving to tropical waters as far south as Brazil.

One of the young Least Terns in the flock at Courtney Campbell Beach.

I left for home on Monday morning and decided to try some different birding stops on this trip. First was Okefenokee NWR in Georgia. I enjoyed getting to know the place a little. Several Bobwhites called during my few hours there. Bachman’s Sparrows were singing all along the wildlife drive. I made a mental note to go back some time in spring.

Royal Tern

Next was a detour to Tybee Island. A Lesser Black-backed Gull and Common Terns had been reported recently and I thought it would be fun to see them. After I finally found the north beach and a parking spot, I walked to the water. I had no idea which way to walk, so I turned right. No birds were in sight except for a cormorant and a couple of Brown Pelicans that few over the water. I resigned myself to having wasted several hours for nothing. And, then I saw the flock! Literally hundreds of birds were at the water’s edge where the shoreline curved. I love this kind of birding; the birds calmly stayed put or flew just a short distance before settling down. There were no trees for them to hide in. Yes, beach birding is definitely the way to go for those with poor vision.

Lesser Black-backed Gull

I had no trouble finding the Lesser Black-backed Gull amongst the Laughing Gulls and Royal Terns which made up 98% of the flock. I also found two Common Terns, a few Ring-billed and Herring Gulls, and two Black Skimmers in the flock. I love gulls and terns, so this turned out to be a good stop after all. After taking photos, I hurried back to my car and set the GPS to “go home.”

More photos from this trip are on Flickr in my NC to FL – June 2016 album.