I drove up to Fort De Soto this morning with Clive Hollin.  We arrived there around 8:15 and birded to 12:30.  Our main focus was migrating warblers.  Unfortunately, they were few and far between, unlike reported last week.  We visited the Mulberry Bush area, East Woods, radio tower area, and the Arrowhead Picnic area.  We saw only three warbler species (Black-and-white, Palm, and Yellow-throated).  The East turnaround had hardly any birds, probably due to high tide and a couple of wind surfers, although we did see a single Wilson’s Plover and a few Least Sandpipers.  We did see a few birds in the North beach area including a nice view of a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk and the usual Laughing Gulls, Royal Terns, Sandwich Terns, Forster’s Terns, and Willets.  A Yellow-crowned Night Heron posed nicely for pictures.  The Tierra duck ponds didn’t have any ducks, although there were a lot of wading birds around the shore (Great & Snowy Egrets, Tricolored Herons, White Ibis).  Altogether we saw a total of 41 different species, the lowest I think I have ever tabulated for a morning at Fort DeSoto.

This morning (7:45 – 10:00) I visited Kiwanis Park for the first time.  This is a small Charlotte County Park located off of Midway, about a mile or so south of US41.  The park has a nice trail around its perimeter with several smaller spur trails.  There is a horseshoe-shaped pond that is completely choked with algae.  No water birds or signs of fish or turtles were seen in or near this body of water.  It is unfortunate that this pond is not in better shape, especially since there is a county presence on the site.

I walked the perimeter and took some of the small spur trails.  I saw a grand total of nine (9) different species of birds.  Birds seen included several Blue Jays, Cardinals, Catbirds, Mourning Doves, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Mockingbirds, a Red-shouldered Hawk (juv), a Red-eyed Vireo, and a Red-bellied Woodpecker.  Not a productive morning bird wise.

This morning I went to Hathaway Park, which is located on Washington Loop a little north of Punta Gorda.  The Park borders Shell Creek.  There is a nice trail to walk around the Park.  I walked the trail twice and saw a grand total of 13 different bird species.  Species seen included the Anhinga, Eastern Bluebird, Cardinal, Catbird, Mourning Dove, Common Grackle, Red-shouldered Hawk, White Ibis, Blue Jay, Limpkin, Mockingbird, and both Vultures.  On the drive around Washington Loop, I saw two Bald Eagles.