Our Thursday birding group traveled to the Belle Glade area (south of Lake Okeechobee) today.  This is the first time any of us has tried birding in this area.  During the summer months, vegetable farmers flood their fields to kill nematodes.  As these fields drain, birds are attracted to them.

From Punta Gorda, we traveled south on I-75 to SR 80 in Fort Myers, where we headed east.  We followed SR 80 the whole way to Belle Glade.  We then took 880 southeast until we reached the vicinity of the radio tower, about 9 miles south of Belle Glade.  We did observe some fields with a lot of Grackles in them.  Some also had wading birds, such as Egrets, Herons, and Ibises.  We then turned back towards Belle Glade and turned onto Browns Farm Road.  We found one field that had a few Sandpipers in them.  We were able to identify a Solitary Sandpiper; but, because of the distance, we were unable to positively identify any others.  Some may have been Pectoral Sandpipers.  We continued on Browns Farm Road for about 10 miles.  We were surprised to see several dozen Common Nighthawks perching on the power lines along the road. 

We then headed back into Belle Glade and stopped at the Marina and Campground.  There is a public picnic area by the Marina, where we enjoyed our lunch.  While there, we noticed a family of Purple Gallinules foraging along the shoreline.  Other notable birds observed today included Brown-headed Cowbirds, a Cooper’s Hawk, Glossy Ibis, Killdeer, Kingfishers, Swallow-tailed Kites, Stilts, Barn Swallows, Rough-winged Swallows, and Lesser Yellowlegs.

Our Thursday birding group traveled to Fort DeSoto Park this morning.  Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t the most conducive to bird watching.  The tropical wave that became tropical storm Erica passed over the area this morning.  At Fort DeSoto, this resulted in complete overcast, high winds, and showers.

Our first stop was the East beach turnaround at 8:30; no birds.  We then went to the North Beach lagoon, where there were a large number of birds.  The tide was low, so many of the shorebirds were feeding on the flats.  We birded the wooded area around the lagoon, the Arrowhead picnic area, and the wooded area around the radio tower.  We only saw one Warlbler, a Yellow-throated Warbler.  We returned to the East Point turnaround; this time there were a variety of shorebirds and terns in the area.  Herman, the Heerman’s Gull, was present at East Beach.  The most notable birds observed this morning included a Long-billed Curlew, many Dowitchers in various plumage stages, Egrets (Great, Reddish, and Snowy), Herons (Great Blue, Green, Little Blue, and Tricolored), Red Knots, Oystercatchers, Plovers (Black-bellied, Piping, Semipalmated, and Wilson’s), Sanderlings, Sandpipers (Semipalmated and Western), Skimmers, Spoonbills, Wood Storks, Terns (Forster’s, Least, Royal, Sandwich), Ruddy Turnstones, and Willets. 

On the way back to Port Charlotte, we made a quick stop at the Celery Fields, hoping to see some Limpkins and Black-bellied Ducks.  Unfortunately, we saw neither.

Our Thursday birding group traveled south to the Fort Myers area this morning.  Our first stop was the ponds around the new Publix on Summerlin, just beyond Johnny Morris.  Not much there this time.  Did see about a half a dozen Least Sandpipers, several Killdeer, and some Moorhens and Mottled Ducks.

We then went to Bunche Beach (south on Johnny Morris).  Our timing was terrible; the tide was at its peak.  The only birds we saw along the beach were a few Spotted Sandpipers, Willets, Egrets (Reddish and Great), Herons (Little Blue and Tricolored), and some White Ibis.  We did spot a number of birds resting on a sandbar in the distance.  This group of birds included Laughing Gulls, Oystercatchers, Black-bellied Plovers, Black Skimmers, and several Terns (Forster’s, Royal, and Sandwich).

We then drove out to Fort Myers Beach and southward to the little Estero Lagoon.  Again, there were very few birds around the lagoon, probably due to the high tide.  We did observe a Short-billed Dowitcher, a Willet, Egrets (Great and Reddish), a Black-crowned Night Heron, and some White Ibis.  Directly north of the lagoon there was a large puddle of water with a lot of birds resting around it.  Birds observed included about two dozen Red Knots, Sanderlings, Black Skimmers, Laughing Gulls, and Terns (Forster’s, Royal, and Sandwich).

This morning our birding group traveled out to Sanibel.  Our first stop was along the sand spit on the north side of the causeway.  There were several Black Terns mixed in with mostly Least Terns and a few Forster’s Terns.  We also saw several Plover species (Black-bellied, Piping, Semipalmated, and Wilson’s), Western Sandpipers, Herons (Little Blue, Great Blue), Egrets (Cattle, Great), and a couple of Spoonbills (flying over). 

We then continued on to the Ding Darling NWR, where we followed the Wildlife Drive.  The tide was at mid-level.  Most of the birds seen were on the east side of the Drive.  We observed Anhingas, Cormorants, Egrets (Great, Reddish, and Snowy), Frigatebirds, Herons (Green, Little Blue, Great Blue, and Tricolored), Kingfisher, Spotted Sandpiper, Spoonbills, and Willets. 

Our last stop was the Sanibel Lighthouse.  Notable observations in this area included Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, Northern Parula, Warblers (Black and White, Prairie), and Woodpeckers (Pileated, Red-bellied).  We noted quite a number of Swallows overhead migrating southward.  Three Swallow-tailed Kites were also observed.  For the morning, we observed around 50 different species of birds.