Eight birders of the Thursday birding group met at 7:00 am and car pooled to Fort De Soto.  Unfortunately, it rained most of the way and at the Park.  It did start to clear up around 10:00 and by noon, the sun was shining brightly.  We stopped at the duck pond on the way in to the Park and observed seven Black-crowned Herons, an uncommonly large number.  Our first stop in the Park was the Mulberry trees.  Unfortunately, not a Warbler was observed.  Our next stop was the north beach lagoon.  The usual shorebirds and wading birds were observed.  These included Marbled Godwits, Oystercatchers, Spoonbills, and Skimmers.  A white morph of the Reddish Egret was observed doing its food dance.  We had an early lunch, hoping the rain would stop.  By the time we were finished eating, the rain had stopped.

Our next stop was the Arrowhead picnic area.  We walked the trail by the radio tower.  This area turned out to be quite productive.  The following birds were observed: Blackburnian Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Common Yellowthroat and a female Summer Tanager.  We then headed back to the Mulberry trees.  Other then a White-throated Sparrow, no migrants were observed.

We then proceeded to the east end of the Park.  There were a lot of shorebirds around the large puddles adjacent to the beach.  Many were in breeding plumage.  These included Dunlins, Short-billed Dowitchers, Sanderlings, Least Sandpipers, Killdeer, Black-bellied Plovers, Wilson Plovers, Semipalmated Plovers, and Least Terns.  We observed a total of 60 species while birding in the Park.

Our Thursday birding group is dwindling smaller and smaller with the departure of more and more snow birds.  This morning, our group, consisting of eight local birders, car-pooled to Little Estero Lagoon on Fort Myers Beach.  We were rewarded by a fairly large variety of birds in this small area.  One of the more memorable sights was the large number of Frigatebirds flying overhead.  At any one time, there must have been a dozen or more; and they were present throughout much of the morning.  When we were leaving, there must have been close to a hundred of these magnificent birds flying over.

Other notable birds observed included Egrets (Great, Reddish, Snowy), Herons (Little Blue, Tricolored), Killdeer, Gulls (Herring, Laughing, Ring-billed), Oystercatchers, Plovers (Black-bellied, Wilson’s), Sanderling, Sandpipers (Least, Western), Black Skimmers, Terns (Least, Royal), Ruddy Turnstone, Prairie Warbler, and Whimbrels.  We observed 31 species around the Lagoon.

On the way home, we stopped at the Publix mall in North Fort Myers on US 41.  There are three small ponds in the area.  We noticed numerous Least Terns flying over the water and then returning to the roof of the Publix store.  We suspect they may be nesting on the roof.  For the trip, we noted around 45 different bird species.

I returned to the Estero Lagoon on Sunday morning with local nature photographer Harvey Edelman (see www.harveyedelman.com).  We were able to take some good pictures of a Whimbrel, Oystercatchers, Reddish Egrets, Osprey, and a few other birds.

I arrived at the Beach around 7:30 in the morning and took pictures until around 8:30.  There were very few birds along the Beach (medium slack tide).  Saw one Oystercatcher, several  Sanderlings, one Ruddy Turnstone, a few Laughing Gulls, and some Eurasian-collared Doves.

A couple of weeks earlier, I stopped along Bayshore Drive by the old fishing pier for about an hour one evening.  There were a number of shorebirds feeding, including Short-billed Dowitchers, Sanderlings, Least Sandpipers, and Willets.  Most of the shorebirds were in alternate (breeding) plumage.  All of the old pier posts were occupied by Laughing Gulls, Forster's terns, and Royal terns.

Our Thursday morning birding group (6 people today) traveled north to the Laurel Landfill, arriving there a little after 8:00.  The weather was perfect as it is much of the time here in paradise.  Our most notable observation was a family of Rough-winged Swallows, a first for several of our group.  There were several Red-shouldered Hawks around the site, but we didn’t see a Bald Eagle.  Other birds observed included Egrets (Cattle, Great, and Snowy), Sandhill Cranes, one Pied-billed Grebe, Herons (Black-crowned Night, Great Blue, Green, Little Blue, and Tricolored), Ibis (Glossy and White), Killdeer (including chicks), Meadowlarks, and Wood Storks.  We observed 32 different bird species at this location.

We then continued north on I-75 to our next stop, the Celery fields located east of Sarasota.  An exciting observation was a Limpkin with 3 chicks.  Other birds observed included a Bald Eagle, Ducks (Mallards and Mottled), Glossy Ibis, Osprey, Loggerhead Shrike, Black-necked Stilt, Forster’s Terns, and Barn Swallows.  We observed 25 different species in this area.  (Note: For directions to these locations, see the Birding page under Sarasota County.)