Our birding group traveled north to Fort DeSoto this morning.  As usual, our first stop

was at the rest area on the south end of the Skyway bridge.  We did see a few shorebirds,

the most notable being Dunlins.  On the west side of the highway we saw two Common Loons

and a couple of Mergansers.

Our next stop was the Tierre Verde ponds, where we saw two Eagles on a nest.  We also saw

six Ruddy Ducks in full breeding plumage on the second pond.  Following is a list of

birds seen.

Blue-winged Teal     2                White Ibis   2         

Northern Shoveler     1               Bald Eagle   2

Ring-necked Duck     2                Common Moorhen   5

Ruddy Duck     6                      American Coot   20

Pied-billed Grebe     4               Laughing Gull   3

Brown Pelican     1                   Mourning Dove   1

Double-crested Cormorant     1        Eastern Kingbird   4

Anhinga     2                         Blue Jay   1

Great Blue Heron     1                European Starling   10

Great Egret     3                     Northern Cardinal   1

Little Blue Heron     1

We finally arrived at Fort DeSoto about 10:30.  Our first stop was the north beach, where

we hoped to see the Brown-crested Flycatcher that has been there for two weeks.  It was

finally spotted by another group who alerted everybody in the area.  It was located on

some sea grape bushes near picnic pavilion #10.  This was a life bird for most of us.  We

also saw the Great Horned Owl’s nest with one adult in it.  There were a lot of Hooded

Warblers flitting around.  Also seen were three dozen Cedar Waxwings on the ground and in

a tree.

Our next stop was the Mulberry bush area.  Again, there were a lot of Hooded Warblers, and

Northern Parulas.  Also seen were two Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Yellow-throated

Warblers, White-eyed Vireos and a Summer Tanager.

We then proceeded to the East Beach area, where we ate lunch.  Again, the area was loaded

with Hooded Warblers.  We also saw several White-eyed Vireos, as well as more Parulas and

Yellow-throated Warblers.  We walked the trails, but didn’t see much of note.  Following

is a complete list of birds seen at the Park.

Red-breasted Merganser     1          Brown-crested Flycatcher   1

Brown Pelican     10                  Eastern Kingbird   3

Double-crested Cormorant     1        Loggerhead Shrike   1

Magnificent Frigatebird     1         White-eyed Vireo   5

Great Egret     7                     Fish Crow   2

Cattle Egret     15                   Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   1

White Ibis     7                      Gray Catbird   1

Wood Stork     6                      Northern Mockingbird   3

Turkey Vulture     2                  Cedar Waxwing   36

Osprey     2                          Northern Parula   7

Bald Eagle     1                      Yellow-rumped Warbled   1

Cooper's Hawk     1                   Yellow-throated Warbler   5

American Kestrel     1                Palm Warbler   5

Laughing Gull     3                   Black-and-white Warbler   5

Forster's Tern     1                  Prothonotary Warbler   3

Mourning Dove     1                   Ovenbird   1

Great Horned Owl     1                Hooded Warbler   100

Ruby-throated Hummingbird     2       Summer Tanager   1

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker     1        Northern Cardinal   2

Our birding group traveled north to Pinecraft Park in Sarasota this morning.  We arrived there about 9:00.

We walked through the woods twice.  We did not see any Warbler migrants.  Highlights were a pair of

Barred Owls with an almost fully grown chick, a Wood Duck and two Carolina Wrens.  Following is a list 

of birds seen.  The best part of this trip was lunch at Yoders.

Wood Duck     1                       Red-shouldered Hawk   1

Mottled Duck     2                    Common Moorhen   1

Brown Pelican     1                   Spotted Sandpiper   1

Anhinga     2                         Laughing Gull   2

Great Blue Heron     2                Barred Owl   3

Great Egret     3                     Ruby-throated Hummingbird   1

Green Heron     1                     Red-bellied Woodpecker   1

White Ibis     2                      Fish Crow   3

Wood Stork     3                      Purple Martin   6

Black Vulture     1                   Carolina Wren   2

Turkey Vulture     2                  Northern Cardinal   2

Bald Eagle     2

On Friday morning I met three other birders at Ponce de Leon Park in Punta Gorda.  We had a report that a

Mangrove Cuckoo had been seen along the boardwalk in the mangroves yesterday morning.  We walked the

boardwalk for about an hour.  Finally, at 9:30, we heard it make a single call.  We finally saw it in the

mangroves on the left portion of the boardwalk.  This was a life bird for all of us. (See image below.)

This morning our birding group (13 people) met at 7:30 am and went north to Fort DeSoto.  Our first stop

was the rest area on I-275 just beyond the toll gate on the Skyway Bridge.  The tide was high, so there

weren’t too many birds visible from the rest stop.  We did see some Willets, Royal Terns and a few other

common birds.

We continued our journey to Fort DeSoto.  We had not planned to stop at the Tierre Verde Ponds;

however, there was a group of birders at the second pond watching something.  So we stopped to

check it out.  Would you believe there was a Purple Gallinule on the opposite shore.  This was our first

sighting of this species in this area.  Following is a list of birds seen around the second pond.

Pied-billed Grebe     4               Purple Gallinule   1

Brown Pelican     1                   Common Moorhen   5

Double-crested Cormorant     2        American Coot   3

Magnificent Frigatebird     2         Laughing Gull   1

Great Blue Heron     1                Eurasian Collared-Dove   1

Tricolored Heron     1                Mourning Dove   2

White Ibis     3                      Brown-headed Cowbird

We continued into Fort DeSoto Park heading directly to the North Beach.  We saw the Great Horned Owls;

the chick is almost fully grown.  We did a quick look for the Brown-headed Flycatcher, but did not see it.  

We walked out to the beach to look at the shorebirds in the protected area.  The Long-billed Curlew was 

quickly observed.  Other birds seen included Red Knots, Willets, Skimmers, Gulls, and Terns.  We did not

see any Common Terns.  Someone mentioned they were there earlier, but were spooked by a raptor and 

flew further north along the beach.

Our next stop was the Mulberry bush area by the Ranger’s house.  We did see a Louisiana Waterthrush 

deep within the first tree surrounded by a mulberry bush along the path.  Very few birds were seen in the

area.  There were a half-dozen or so Cedar Waxwings feeding on the mulberries; also a bunch of Catbirds. 

A few people saw a RT Hummingbird.  Last Sunday, there were a dozen or so feeding on the Lantanas.

Our next stop was the East Woods picnic area for lunch.  Some Palm Warblers and Black-and-white 

Warblers were noted.  After lunch, we walked a portion of the Privet Trail without much success.  We 

headed back to the Ranger’s house, where we saw nothing new.  By this time it was 2:00, so we decided 

to call it a day.  Following is a list of birds seen at Fort DeSoto this morning.

Mottled Duck     2                    Royal Tern   12

Brown Pelican     11                  Sandwich Tern   2

Reddish Egret     2                   Black Skimmer   50

Cattle Egret     8                    Mourning Dove   2

White Ibis     8                      Great Horned Owl   2

Osprey     3                          Downy Woodpecker   1

Black-bellied Plover     3            Loggerhead Shrike   2

Willet     20                         Fish Crow   3

Long-billed Curlew     1              Gray Catbird   9

Ruddy Turnstone     1                 Northern Mockingbird   1

Red Knot     45                       European Starling   23

Sanderling     5                      Cedar Waxwing   5

Dunlin     12                         Palm Warbler   2

Laughing Gull     42                  Black-and-white Warbler   2

Ring-billed Gull     4                Louisiana Waterthrush   1

Herring Gull     2                    Northern Cardinal   4

Least Tern     5                      Red-winged Blackbird   3

Forster's Tern     7

Our birding group (6 people) visited a new area today, the Dinner Island Ranch WMA.  

This area is located about 20 miles east of Immokalee.  We met at the Sweet Bay parking 

lot south of Punta Gorda and departed in two cars around 7:40.  We took I-75 south to

exit 138, which is SR82. We followed SR82 south east to SR29 and south into Immokalee.  

We made a pit stop at McDonald’s because there are no facilities at Dinner Island Ranch.  

We continued east on CR 846 for 19 miles then north on CR 833 for 2.5 miles.  The 

entrance is on the left. We arrived there about 9:30.

There is a fairly good packed gravel road which we followed around in a loop.  There 

were a few muddy spots.  I imagine in wet weather, this road may be impassable in spots.  

We followed Dinner Island Grade to Paradise Pen Grade to Hilliard Grade back to Dinner 

Island Grade.  It is a 4-mile stretch to the beginning of the loop; then about 10 miles 

around the loop; then 4 miles back out again; for a total of about 18 miles.

The Ranch still has cattle on it and we saw a group of four cowboys herding cattle from 

one pasture to another.  Along the first 4-mile stretch, there are large trucks coming in 

or out every now and then carrying cattle.  We saw about a dozen feral hogs and close to 

50 White-tail Deer.  There were a lot of large wading type birds, including about 3-dozen 

White Pelicans.  We saw two Great White Herons (white morp of Great Blue), a Limpkin, 

several Bobwhite, about a dozen Meadowlarks and about a dozen Red-shouldered Hawks.  

Following is a complete list of what we saw.

Mottled Duck     10                   Black Vulture   35

Northern Bobwhite     4               Turkey Vulture   5

American White Pelican     30         Swallow-tailed Kite   1

Anhinga     1                         Red-shouldered Hawk   12

Great Blue Heron     6                Crested Caracara   3

Great Blue Heron (White form)   2     Common Moorhen   1

Great Egret     8                     Limpkin   1

Snowy Egret     2                     Mourning Dove   10

Little Blue Heron     2               Common Ground-Dove   4

Cattle Egret     45                   Savannah Sparrow   6

White Ibis     17                     Red-winged Blackbird   2

Glossy Ibis     5                     Eastern Meadowlark   10

Wood Stork     30                     Boat-tailed Grackle   7

Our birding group (11 persons) traveled south to little Estero Lagoon located on the 

southern edge of Fort Myers Beach.  We arrived there about 8:45, greeted with a 

partially overcast sky.  We walked the entire length of the lagoon.  Quite a few 

shorebirds were seen, including a pair of Whimbrels, five species of Plovers, and 

several Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers.  Other interesting birds seen included 

Frigatebirds, Least Terns, a Reddish Egret (with several white primary feathers) and 

two Baltimore Orioles.  There is a roped-off protected area for nesting birds at the 

far south end of the lagoon on the Gulf side. Following is a complete list of birds 

seen during the 3-4 hours we were there.

Mottled Duck     1                     Whimbrel   2

Brown Pelican     5                   Marbled Godwit   2

Double-crested Cormorant     18       Ruddy Turnstone   4

Magnificent Frigatebird     2         Sanderling   6

Great Blue Heron     2                Semipalmated Sandpiper   4

Great Egret     4                     Least Sandpiper   8

Snowy Egret     3                     Laughing Gull   9

Little Blue Heron     2               Least Tern   10

Tricolored Heron     3                Royal tern   2

Reddish Egret     2                   Mourning Dove   2

White Ibis     8                      Common Ground-Dove   2

Osprey     5                          Red-bellied Woodpecker   1

Black-bellied Plover     8            Northern Mockingbird   3

Snowy Plover     1                    European Starling   1

Wilson's Plover     4                 Northern Cardinal   2

Semipalmated Plover     9             Common Grackle   4

Piping Plover     1                   Baltimore Oriole   2

Willet     12                         House Sparrow   5