Sep 2009

September 9: Prairie Creek Preserve

This morning I visited Prairie Creek Preserve. Most of the birds seen were along the access road to the County Preserve. I saw a Burrowing Owl in a field along the access road, the first I seen in this area. Following is the data I submitted to eBird.

Location:     Prairie Creek Preserve

Observation date:     9/9/09

Notes:     Most birds seen along access road.

Number of species:     14

Great Blue Heron     2

Great Egret     6

Little Blue Heron     2

Cattle Egret     30

Wood Stork     1

Red-shouldered Hawk     2

Sandhill Crane     2

Mourning Dove     9

Common Ground-Dove     8

Burrowing Owl     1

Loggerhead Shrike     1

Blue Jay     2

Florida Scrub-Jay     1

Eastern Meadowlark     2

Following are a few images taken during the trip.  (For a larger view, double click on the

desired image.)

September 22: Sod Fields and Brownville Park

Based on a report on BRDBRAIN, I decided to travel north to some sod fields located at the intersection of the Avon Park Cutoff Road and Singletary Road in Polk County, northeast of Wachula. David Simpson had reported yesterday that he saw 8 Buff-breasted Sandpipers there. I arrived there about 9:00 a.m. and did indeed see the Sandpipers. They were quite far from the road, so I didn’t obtain good pictures, but good enough for identification purposes.

On the way home, I stopped at Brownville Park just north of Arcadia. The Peace River runs along the edge of the Park. There are a bunch of large Live Oak trees near the river that had several warbler-sized birds jumping around the canopy including Yellow-throated Warblers, Tufted Titmouse, White-eyed Vireos, and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers.

Following are the eBird reports I submitted for both locations.

Location:     Avon Park Cut Off Rd. Sod Fields

Observation date:     9/22/09

Notes:     Birds seen in ne corner field at intersection of Avon Park Cutoff Road and

Singletary Road.

Number of species:     7

Great Egret     1

Cattle Egret     100

White Ibis     2

Turkey Vulture     3

American Kestrel     2

Killdeer     10

Buff-breasted Sandpiper     7


Location:     Brownville Park (DeSoto Co.)

Observation date:     9/22/09

Number of species:     10

Green Heron     3

White Ibis     3

Turkey Vulture     3

Red-shouldered Hawk     2

Mourning Dove     1

Red-bellied Woodpecker     1

White-eyed Vireo     1

Tufted Titmouse     2

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     1

Yellow-throated Warbler     2

Following are a few images taken during the trip.  (For a larger view, double click on the

desired image.)

September 30: Port Charlotte Beach

This morning was the first cool morning (upper 60s) since May. I decided to take advantage of the nice weather by going to Port Charlotte Beach. I saw the birds usually seen at this location; nothing unusual. Following is my eBird report.

Location:     Port Charlotte Beach Park

Observation date:     9/30/09

Number of species:     15

Double-crested Cormorant     4

Great Blue Heron     1

Little Blue Heron     1

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron     1

White Ibis     5

Osprey     1

Spotted Sandpiper     1

Ruddy Turnstone     2

Laughing Gull     32

Forster's Tern     1

Sandwich Tern     23

Eurasian Collared-Dove     6

Mourning Dove     2

Northern Mockingbird     2

Boat-tailed Grackle     6

Following are a few images taken during the trip.  (For a larger view, double click on the

desired image.)