Our Thursday birding group headed north to the St. Petersburg area this morning.  Our first stop was the Weedon Island Preserve.  This island has 9000 feet of trails, including a 3000-foot boardwalk and a 50-ft high observation tower.   We saw 21 different species of birds during our 1-hour visit.  Highlights included a juvenile Cooper's Hawk, several Herons (Great Blue, Green, Little Blue, and Tricolored), several Blue Jays, Killdeer, Osprey, Black-bellied Plover, and a Loggerhead Shrike.

We then drove over to Sawgrass Lake Preserve, located approximately six miles west of Weedon Island.  This Park also contains a number of nice walking trails, some of which are a boardwalk.  We had hoped to see some migrant Warblers; unfortunately, we did not see a one.  In fact, we saw only a dozen different species of birds in the Park.  These included Egrets (Great and Snowy), Herons (Great Blue, Little Blue, and Tricolored), Anhingas, Blue Jays, Brown Pelican, and a Wood Stork. We also saw two Alligators, a Gopher Tortoise, and a Rat Snake.

This morning I traveled south to Little Estero Lagoon, located south of Fort Myers Beach, with three other nature photographers.  We arrived there about 7:45 and the tide was out.  The lagoon was loaded with birds, especially the south end.  Birds observed included Short-billed Dowitchers, Egrets (Great, Reddish, and Snowy), Marbled Godwits, Whinbrels, Herons (Great Blue, Little Blue, Tricolored, Yellow-crowned Night), Limpkin, Oystercatchers, Plovers (Black-bellied, Semipalmated, Wilson’s), Sandpipers (Least, Semipalmated, Western), Spoonbills, Terns (Royal, Sandwich), and Willets.  It was a great morning for photography, partly cloudy skies and few people.

The Peace River Audubon Society held their first field trip of the 2003-2004 season this morning.  Fifteen members met at the Peachland Mall in Port Charlotte at 7:30 for a trip north to Sarasota.  The weather was ideal with the temperature in the 70s with a slight breeze and partly cloudy skies.  The first stop was the Laurel Landfill, where we drove around the perimeter road.  We observed quite a number of birds from the car; we also stopped at several locations to get out, walk, and get closer to the birds.  Notable species observed included Bluebirds, Sandhill Cranes, Bald Eagles, Egrets (Great, Snowy), Flicker, Red-shouldered Hawks, Herons (Great Blue, Green, Little Blue, Tricolored), Ibis (Glossy, White), Killdeer, Kingfisher, Shrike, Sandpipers (Pectoral, Western), Black-necked Stilts, Wood Storks, Barn Swallows, Brown Thrasher, and Lesser Yellowlegs.  Thirty-eight different species were observed around the perimeter road.

Our next stop was the Celery Fields, arriving there about 10:30.  We spent some time at Ackerman Pond, where a single Black-bellied Whistling Duck was observed, a first for several members of the group.  We also saw several Golden-winged Skimmers (a very colorful dragonfly) in this area.  We then made a stop on Palmer Road near the bridge that crosses the drainage ditch.  Our final stop was the gazebo on Palmer Road, where we ate our lunch.  In addition to the Black-bellied Duck, other notable birds observed included Egrets (Cattle, Great, Snowy), Herons (Great Blue, Green, Little Blue, Tricolored), Ibis (Glossy, White), Osprey, Least Sandpipers, Shrike, Spoonbills, Blue-winged Teal, and Forster’s Terns.  Altogether, 54 different species of birds were observed during the trip.   The group arrived back at the Peachland Mall around 1:00.

Six members of the Photo Adventures Camera Club (a new club forming in Port Charlotte) traveled south to the little Estero Lagoon located on Estero Island south of Fort Myers Beach.  Contrary to weather predictors of rain and overcast skies, the sky was sunny with a slight breeze, a good morning for a photo outing. In addition, we arrived slightly before the low tide point, so the Lagoon was quite shallow resulting in hundreds of birds feeding in the mud.

Birds observed in the Lagoon included Short-billed Dowitchers, Egrets (Great, Reddish, Snowy), Marbled Godwits, Herons (Little Blue, Tricolored), White Ibis, Red Knots, Osprey, Oystercatchers, Plovers (Black-bellied, Piping, Semipalmated, Wilson’s), Sandpipers (Least, Semipalmated, Western), Black Skimmers, Spoonbills, and Willets.

On the way back to Port Charlotte, the group stopped on US41 near a drainage ditch containing blooming Water Hyacinths.  Out came the cameras and tripods to take some images of this beautiful flower.