The Photo Adventures Camera Club, of which I’m a member, traveled south to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.  About 20 members left Punta Gorda at 7:15 and arrived at the Sanctuary about 8:30.  The entrance fee for non-Audubon members is now $10 and $5 for Audubon members.  The Sanctuary has a very nice 2.25-mile boardwalk, which goes through several different habitats including a Cypress swamp.

Birds seen included: Ovenbird, Painted Buntings, Cardinals, Pileated Woodpeckers, Red-bellied Wodpeckers, Downy Woodpeckers, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Red-shouldered Hawks, including a pair near their nest, Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Little Blue Herons, Tricolored Herons, Limpkin, Great Crested Flycatcher, and several Warbler species.  A highlight was a large Alligator having a large Softshell turtle for lunch.

Several members of our local camera club met at the Placida fishing pier late this afternoon (4 pm).  We didn’t see any pelicans from the pier, but we did find them in back of the new bait shop on the other side of the Fishery Restaurant.  They were apparently attracted by someone cleaning fish.  We were quite lucky to get some nice close-up pictures.  There were about two dozen White Pelicans and a half-dozen Brown Pelicans.  In addition, there were some Egrets and Herons nearby.

On Saturday, three other birders and myself traveled to Miami to search for some of the “exotic” birds, such as Parrots and Parakeets.  We left Punta Gorda at 5:45am and arrived at our first destination, the Fair Haven Nursing Home, which is in the Miami Springs residential area, just north of Miami International Airport, at 8:15am.  ( See Pranty page 225).  We immediately heard and saw parakeets; unfortunately most of them were Monk Parakeets, which can be seen in Punta Gorda.  However, we did see a flock of Yellow-chevroned Parakeets and a single Spot-breasted Oriole.  By 9:00, the activity had died down. 

We then traveled south to the Kendall-Pinecrest area, stopping at the Baptist Hospital (Pranty page 231).  We walked around the lakes, but saw none of the exotic bird species.  There were numerous wading bird species around the lakes.  We then went to the Royal Palm Tennis Courts and traveled up and down the neighborhood streets.  This is supposed to be a good area for the Red-whiskered Bulbuls.  However, we again struck out.  We did see several Kestrels and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.

After lunch, we headed out to the Matheson Hammock Park, which, being Saturday afternoon, was loaded with people.  We saw no notable birds in this area.  We did see several Iguanas.  We than looked for and found the Doc Thomas House, which is the headquarters of the Tropical Audubon Society.  The grounds have a lot of vegetation and Parakeets are commonly observed in the area.  However, the gates were locked.  Calls to their number earlier in the week were unanswered. 

Since it was getting late in the day, we decided to head back to the tennis court area.  We did see a small flock of Mitred Parakeets and another small flock of Yellow-chevroned Parakeets this time, but again, no Bulbuls.  On our way home, we stopped at the Nursing Home in the Miami Springs area and heard parakeets in one tree; but it was to dark by this time to see any of them.