Our Thursday birding group traveled north to Lakeland today.  We visited three lakes: Lake Hollingsworth, Lake Morton, and Lake Hunter.  Our first stop was Lake Hollingsworth.  The main birds observed around this lake were waders, such as the Great Egret, Herons (Great Blue, Little Blue, and Tricolored), White Ibis, and numerous Red-winged Blackbirds.  The second stop was Lake Morton.  This lake is populated by a large number of domestic geese, Muscovy Ducks, a few Wood Ducks, and a mixture of Mallards and Mottled Ducks.  Of special interest were three species of Swans: Mute, Black, and Black-necked.  There were also numerous wading birds, such as Egrets and Herons.

Our final stop was Lake Hunter.  This lake hosts a small population of Purple Gallinules and Moorhens.  Although the Moorhens and Gallinules (both adults and juveniles) intermingled, the adult Moorhens continually harassed the Gallinules if they got to close.  At one point, all of the birds started squealing and rushed for cover, just as a young Cooper’s Hawk landed in a nearby tree.  However, within less than a minute, a large Boat-tailed Grackle came and chased the Hawk away. 

Although we only saw 25 different species, the Gallinules and Cooper’s Hawk made it a memorable morning.  Rather than a picnic lunch, we ate in grand style at a downtown Lakeland restaurant, known as Harry’s.

Our Thursday birding group traveled north to Fort DeSoto Park this morning.  We had heard some of the shorebirds have started their southbound migration, which we found to be true.  Our first stop was the Tierra Verde ponds on the way in to the Park.  We found the usual Black-crowned Night Herons, a few Black Skimmers, several Pied-billed Grebes, and a number of Least Terns, including juveniles.  There were also about ten Roseate Spoonbills roosting in trees on the other side of one of the ponds.

Within the Park, we started at the East turnaround.  Shorebirds observed included Least and Western Sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitchers, and Willets.  Terns observed included Forster’s, Least (mainly adults), Royal, and Sandwich.  Only one Plover, a Black-bellied, was observed.  A local birder, Jill Gaetzi stopped by and we chatted a little.  She said Herman, the Heermann’s Gull, is usually found at the East Beach.  She accompanied us to the Beach and sure enough, Herman showed up among about 30 Laughing Gulls.

We then went to the lagoon at the north end of the Park.  There were quite a number of shorebirds amongst the many swimmers.  Several Oystercatchers, Short-billed Dowitchers, and Black Skimmers were noted.  And, most unusual, at the same location, we sighted several Marbled Godwits, a Long-billed Curlew, and a Whimbrel.  Two Reddish Egrets entertained us with their feeding antics.  A Frigatebird also circled over the area. Considering it was the middle of July, we were surprised to see so many shorebirds had returned already.  We observed 42 different species of birds at the Park.

Our Thursday morning birding group headed south to the Fort Myers area.  Our first stop was the retention pond in back of the new Publix on Summerlin, just west of Johnny Morris.  We saw three Black-necked Stilts in this pond.  There is another pond or flooded field on the east side of the store in a RV Resort.  This pond had several dozen wading birds, such as Great and Snowy Egrets, Green and Little Blue Herons, White Ibis, Killdeer, Mottled Ducks, and Moorhens.

Our next stop was Bunche Beach.  Would you believe there wasn’t a bird on the beach.  Part of the problem was probably the high tide; our timing was such that it was at the peak of high tide.  We then traveled to Estero Island (Fort Myers Beach) and stopped at the Estero Lagoon by the Holiday Inn.  Although there were a few birds, they certainly weren’t plentiful.  We did see several Egrets (Great, Reddish, and Snowy), Herons (Little Blue and Tricolored), White Ibis, Laughing Gulls, Terns (Forster’s and Royal), and Willets.  We also saw one Western Sandpiper mixed in with about a dozen Least Sandpipers.  We observed at least four Ospreys, which nest in the area.

Our final stop was Lakes Park.  We observed Anhingas, Cormorants, Cardinals, American Crows, Muscovy Ducks, Great and Snowy Egrets, Green and Tricolored Herons, White Ibis, Blue Jay, Mockingbirds, Moorhens, and a Red-bellied Woodpecker.  We saw a total of 34 different species on this morning’s outing.

Our Thursday birding group traveled south to the Naples area this morning.  Our first stop was the North Naples Water Treatment Facility located on Goodlette-Frank Road.  (For directions, see Collier County on the Birding page.)  We arrived there about 8:00.  We walked to the top of the bridge where we could see most of the smaller pond and the east bank of the large pond.  The sun was shining directly in our faces, making viewing difficult.  We then walked north and walked inside the entrance of a construction company, allowing us to see the west bank of the large pond.  We saw several species of wading birds, including Egrets (Great, Snowy), Herons (Little Blue, Tricolored), Black-necked Stilts, White Ibis, Lesser Yellowlegs, and Killdeer; also Moorhens and Mottled Ducks.  We were somewhat disappointed due to the fact that we did not see any species of sandpipers.  We had seen a message posted earlier in the week about the variety of sandpipers observed there.

We headed north to Immokalee Road and east to I-75.  While on Immokalee Road, we passed the Veterans Community Park, where we decided to stop and look around.  We did observe several Woodpecker species (Red-bellied, Downy, and Northern Flicker), a Shrike, and some of the more common area residents, such as Common Grackles, Cardinals, Mockingbirds and Blue Jays.

We then traveled south on I-75 and exited at SR 951 (Collier Blvd).  We continued south on Collier Blvd and turned left at the intersection of US41.  We continued southeast on US41, then left on Greenway Road, then right on Fritchey Road.  This area is known as the Fritchey Road Wetlands.  As far as birding goes, the only notable observation was several Bluebirds on Greenway Road.

We then traveled north on US41 to Eagle Lakes Community Park.  We were quite surprised to find two of the three lakes covered with quite a bit of vegetation.  Pond A had about 80% coverage and Pond B had about 40% coverage.  We observed the usual summer residents: Anhingas, Red-winged Blackbirds, Moorhens, Mottled Ducks, Great Egrets, Red-shouldered Hawk, Green, Little Blue and Tricolored Herons, Loggerhead Shrikes, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers.  For the morning, we observed about 30 different species of birds.