Nine members of the Thursday Bird ID class traveled along several inland Florida roads for a day of birding.  We met at the corner of US41 and Burnt Store Road.  Our first stop was the small pond at the junction of Piper Road and I-75 (Jones Loop exit).  To our surprise, we observed 16 different species, most notable of which were several Black-necked Stilts, Sandhill Cranes, Red-shouldered Hawk, Eastern Meadowlarks, Killdeer, Loggerhead Shrike, and Lesser Yellowlegs.  Further along on Piper Road, we pulled over to watch a pair of Sandhill Cranes “dancing.”    We continued west on Golf Course Road until it intersected US17; then north for a short distance to SR 74, where we turned right and headed east.  We stopped at the Miles Boy Scout Camp and asked the ranger if we could bird on the property.  She okayed it (no Boy Scouts present, but some due later in the day).  She suggested we call ahead the next time.  We did observe several Warblers (Palm and Pine), Cardinal, Red-Winged Blackbirds, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and Great-crested Flycatchers.  An unusual sight, a small Alligator eating a dead Armadillo floating in a pond, was observed.  We also saw a very nicely colored Garter Snake.

We continued our journey eastward on SR74, stopping at several locations, primarily marshy areas, to observe birdlife.  We saw the usual Egrets and Herons, several Caracaras, Mottled Ducks, several Short-billed Dowitchers, and more Lesser Yellowlegs.  We turned north on 731 and stopped at the bridge across Fisheating Creek. Almost immediately we saw two Purple Gallinules.  Off in the distance two Swallow-tailed Kites were observed.  We backtracked to SR74 and continued east until we reached SR29, where we turned right and headed southwest into Labelle, where we stopped at Barron Park to eat lunch.  We then traveled west on SR 80, stopping at the Franklin Lock Park.  We observed a few Purple Martins, many House Sparrows, Least Tern, Ring-billed Gulls, and White Ibis.  Our last stop along SR 80 was Manatee Park.  A few Manatees were still in the discharge canal.  This Park has a lot of flowers and butterflies.  We even observed a Ruby-throated Hummingbird; also several Warblers. We then continued west on SR80 to I-75, then home.  A total of 54 different bird species were observed on this trip.

Our team met at 6:30 am and traveled north to Fort DeSoto Park, where we hoped to observe a variety of birds.  We were not disappointed.  We birded the area until early afternoon, picking up 60 different species including Orchard Oriole, Indigo Bunting, White-throated Sparrow, Long-billed Curlew, Marbled Godwits, Oystercatchers, and Black Skimmers.  We then headed south to bird some areas in Sarasoto County and then Charlotte County.  A highlight was observing an Upland Sandpiper at the Laurel Landfill.  We finished at 7:30 pm, a long day.  We observed 99 different species, not a bad day.  Several of us added three new species to our life list.

Thirteen members of the Thursday Bird ID class met at 7:30.  Although we had originally planned to travel south to Marco Island, the very high winds changed our mind.  Instead we birded some local areas.  Our first stop was the Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center (CHEC) on Burnt Store Road.  We hiked several of the trails.  Unfortunately, birds were few and far between.  We saw 13 species, the most notable of which were an Anhinga, Great and Snowy Egrets, Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, a Red-shouldered Hawk, and a Wood Stork. After leaving CHEC, we continued down Burnt Store Road and stopped at the rookery in Burnt Store Lakes.  We saw a number of Cattle Egrets, White Ibis, and several different Herons (Little Blue, Tricolored, and Yellow-crowned Night).

We then headed north on Burnt Store Road to Zemel Road.  We birded along Zemel Road and then went into the landfill and did a loop.  More notable birds observed included several Bluebirds, Red-winged Blackbirds, several Bald Eagles, Egrets (Cattle, Great, and Snowy), Herons (Great Blue, Green, and Tricolored), Glossy Ibis, Loggerhead Shrike, and several Barn Swallows.  Our final stop was the pond at the corner of Jones Loop Road and Piper Road.  It was so windy, even this small pond had whitecaps.  We did manage to see several Black-necked Stilts and Lesser Yellowlegs.  We soon gave up, however.  The high winds made it difficult to observe through a scope.  For the morning, we observed 31 different species of birds.

Ten members of the Thursday Bird ID class traveled south to Marco Island this morning.  Our first stop was Tigertail Beach.  (For directions, look on the Birding page under Collier County.)  We walked along the interior side of the lagoon. Quite a number of shorebirds were observed on both sides of the lagoon.  Some of the more notable birds observed included: Short-billed Dowitchers, Dunlins, Reddish Egrets, Plovers (Black-bellied, Piping, Semipalmated, and Wilson’s), Sandpipers (Least and Western), Black Skimmers, and Terns (Least and Royal).

After leaving Tigertail Beach, we drove down Lamp Lighters Court, where we observed several Burrowing Owls.  Our final stop on Marco Island was at Mackle Park.  The most notable birds observed there included a Great-crested Flycatcher, some Blue-winged Teal, and a Prairie Warbler.  Altogether, we observed 43 different species on Marco Island.

We than left Marco Island and traveled north to Eagle Lakes Community Park, which is located just south of Naples.  After a quick lunch, we walked around two of the three ponds.  We were quite surprised at the low water levels.  There were a large number of wading birds and shorebirds in two of the ponds.  There were several dozen Glossy Ibises scattered around the area.  We also observed one Great White Heron, which is a morph of the Great Blue Heron.  Other birds observed included Black-necked Stilts, Wood Storks, Blue-winged Teal, a Caspian Tern, Lesser Yellowlegs, and at least one Solitary Sandpiper (a first for several of our group).  Altogether, we observed 33 different species at the Park.  For the day, we observed 55 different bird species.

I went on a photo outing with Harvey Edelman, a local nature photographer. (See his web site at www.harveyedelman.com.)  We left Punta Gorda at 6:00 am hoping to arrive at our destination, south of Naples, shortly after sunrise, to take advantage of the “golden” light.  Unfortunately, the skies were still overcast, contrary to the weather forecasts. 

The two shallow lakes at the Park were inundated with birds, most of which were the large white kind (Cattle, Great and Snowy Egrets and White Pelicans).  This was a photography outing, so I didn’t make an effort to observe and record all of the species that were present.  However, we did see Anhingas, Cormorants, Red-winged Blackbirds, Grackles, Mourning Doves, Bald Eagles, Herons (Great Blue, Green, and Tricolored), Ibis (Glossy and White), Killdeer, Sandpipers (Least and Solitary), Black Skimmers, Black-necked Stilts, Wood Storks, Terns (Caspian and Royal Terns), and Yellowlegs (Greater and Lesser).  It started to drizzle around 9:30, so we decided to have some breakfast at Perkins.  By the time we finished eating, the skies had started to clear up and the sun came out.  We took a few more pictures and then headed home.