On Tuesday morning, two other birders and myself drove up to Hernando and Citrus Counties.  We left Port Charlotte at 7am and arrived at Hernando beach around 10am.  Our goal was to see the Budgerigars.  We found them within 10 minutes on Gulf Winds Circle.  We saw six of the Budges on the wires and in a tree.

We then continued north to Fort Island to look for the Brant, which had been around there for several weeks.  Unfortunately, we were not able to find it.  However, we did see 6 Horned Grebes.  Other birds seen included Dunlins, Gulls (Laughing, Ring-billed, Herring), Terns (Royal, Forsters), a Common Loon, Red-breasted Mergansers, Brown & White Pelicans, Lesser Scaup, Black Skimmers, Ruddy Turnstones, and Willets.  Our next stop was going to be the Weekiwatchee Preserve.  However, on the way there, it started to rain fairly hard, so we decided it was time to quit our birding adventure for the day and head home.

On Sunday morning, a friend and I traveled out to Sanibel Island and visited the Bailey Tract, which is part of the Ding Darling NWR.  Our goal was to see the Rosy-billed Pochard that had been seen there the past several weeks, including Thursday and Friday of the past week.  We birded the area from 8 to 11.  When we started our drive south, it was raining.  By the time we reached Sanibel, the weather cleared.  However, it then became very windy.

Unfortunately, we were not successful in finding the Pochard; neither were the dozen or so other birders there also looking for the Pochard.  Species we did see included Anhingas, Common Ground Doves, Mottled Ducks, Blue-winged Teal, Great & Snowy Egrets, Little Blue and Tricolored Herons, Black-crowned (6) and Yellow-crowned(1) Night Herons, Pied-billed Grebes, Kestrel, Killdeer, Moorhens, Least Sandpipers, Carolina Wren, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, and many Yellow-rumped Warblers.  We did enter our tally in the Great Backyard Bird Count.

On Wednesday morning I headed to the east coast to visit Green Cay, Wakodahatchee, and Loxahatchee.  Since I was using I-75 (Alligator Alley) as my route to the coast, I decided to stop at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, which was on the way.  My main objective was to try to get some good images of the Painted Buntings that visit the feeders set up and maintained by Sanctuary staff.  I arrived on location about 9:45 and stayed near the feeders for the next two hours.  The Buntings showed themselves several times during this period.  I also saw an Ovenbird, White-eyed Vireo, Cardinals, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Common Grackles, Mourning Doves, and a Catbird by the feeders.  I did manage to capture a few images of both the male and female Buntings.  Of course, this area was a popular spot, visited by many people during my brief stay, so getting good images was not the easiest thing to do.

I then continued my journey to the east coast via Alligator Alley.  I was greeted by a thunderstorm when I got there.  I slowly worked my way north.  By the time I arrived at the Green Cay Wetlands and Nature Center, the rain had slowed to a drizzle.  My main objective in visiting Green Cay was to observe the Eared Grebe, which had been there for the past three months.  Unfortunately, the Grebe was nowhere to be found.  It hadn’t been seen all week.  I even stopped by again the next day and it wasn’t around.  However, I did manage to obtain some nice images of birds and turtles.  Some of the birds I saw included Purple Gallinules (10), Egrets (Great, Snowy), Herons (Great Blue, Little Blue, Tricolored, Green), Teal (Blue-winged, Green-winged), Mottled Ducks, Purple Martins, Ibis (Glossy, White), Pied-billed Grebes, many Coots and Moorhens, brief glimpse of a Sora, and Tree Swallows.