Shorebirds galore

This morning my brother and I biked up to the shoreline area I've been exploring this week, only this time we rode all the way to the park proper, about 10 miles round trip (before today I had only been in the preserve area by the sloughs).


I had no idea how many birds we would find there! First of all, the rolling lawns were covered in Canada Geese -- hundreds of them. They all strutted around, bickered with one another, and terrorized small children. Following the path though, we found ourselves rounding several lakes and more shoreline/mudflat/marshy areas.

I totally geeked out when I saw this bird as we rounded a bend and came into view  of a wide slough -- my lifer American Avocet! There were actually hundreds of them, at least as many avocets as there were geese, off in the distance. This one loner was foraging close to the walkway, and looking quite picturesque.

Also in the vicinity were Willets, Snowy Egrets, tons more Barn Swallows, White Pelicans, and Mallards.

The sheer numbers of birds there were quite amazing to me. Of course it was nothing astronomical, but certainly more than I expected for a relatively crowded park on a hot, midsummer day.

Mud flats

More Avocets

Snowy Egret

Once I finished admiring all the avocets, I turned around and noticed the little building behind me was swarming with Barn Swallows. It turned out they had dozens of nests under the overhangs and would periodically all explode out and swoop around for a while before coming back in to cling to the shingles or hide in their nests.

White Pelican coming for landing

My second most exciting find was a little area full of Black-necked Stilts. This is a bird I've wanted to see for a long time in Florida, but now I've seen more of them here in than I ever thought I would. I think they're adorable, although they weren't too active this morning. 

This little bird puzzled me for a long time. It spent most of its time running around in the tall grasses by the path, darting out for bugs and little bits of seeds. I could not figure out what it was for the longest time, until I realized it must be a juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird. Correct? It's the best I can come up with, based on the bill shape, body size and build, and its behavior. Sure threw me off though!

Still having a great time with all these new Western birds and the great parks and wild places around here. Two weeks down, two more weeks to go in the Golden State.

Until next time,

Happy birding!

A morning of birding

It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.
- Henry David Thoreau

I went out birding today with little more than the expectation to get some fresh air and see the usual resident species. Indeed that's about all I got -- but in fairly large numbers, to my surprise.

Around 8:30ish, I set off on my bike to my usual birding spot on campus. The winds were a little high, but it was early enough in the morning that many birds were out and the big snag was still heavy with roosting vultures.

Two Pied-billed Grebes ducked bashfully beneath the placid water of the pond, and as I scanned further out, I realized there were a ton of Double-crested Cormorants. Binoculars up, I counted 1... 2... 3... 14... 15... 16... 20... 22... 23! I've never seen so many in one place -- especially there.

Across the pond were Wood Storks, a Great Egret, and a Tri-colored Heron. Two Eastern Phoebes flitted around in the vines hanging off the nearby overpass; bright yellow Palm warblers and dull brown Pine Warblers darted around nervously as I approached.

Once I had birded the area out, I decided to cover the other "wild" areas and see what else I could find.

Around towards the front of the campus I pulled into an empty parking lot, to find myself right in front of a big Cooper's Hawk eating something in the grass. It considered me for a moment before taking off out of sight.

Following the road around towards the palm hammock, I found more Wood Storks, tons of Mourning Doves, and as I neared the bay, an enormouse mass of gigantic white birds loomed in the sky out from behind the trees.

What in the world? My first thought was a massive flock of Wood Storks, but that didn't seem right at all, besides the coloration of the wings. I circled slowly in the road on my bike beneath the ebbing flock, floating seemlessly, peacefully on the seabreeze. Are those...? Could it really be? "...White Pelicans?!"

Indeed they were. The mass of birds, easily 50 strong, split off and about 15-20 formed into a big V while the others followed, circling, ebbing, floating in slow motion on the air.

Once they were about out of sight, I decided to check out the palm hammock. No luck there, and after managing to get myself lost for a few minutes, I found my way out and rode out towards the waterfront.

Cycling down the beach, I came across a couple Belted Kingfishers and a Willet feeding in the shallows, but nothing more.

Overall, I had had 25 species for the morning, including the 50+ White pelicans, 30+ Black and Turkey Vultures, 20+ Double-crested Cormorants, and tons of Anhingas, Palm and Pine Warblers, a few Loggerhead Shrikes, and about 20 Mottled Ducks.

I'd say it was a successful morning, and quite refreshing to get outside for a bit.

Until next time,

Happy birding!

Local birding

"Whose woods these are I think I know."

- Robert Frost

Today my sister and I rode our bikes down to the local nature park that we have been to so often these past couple months. With nothing better to do, I would say taking a long hike in the woods is perhaps the best way to pass the time on such lovely winter afternoons.

We arrived around 1:30pm, not a great time for birding. We wandered off the trail through the tall grass that surrounds the lake and found our way to a pond, whose bank was torn up by what we suspected was wild hogs.

There were a ton of animal tracks in the mud, and sure enough after a few minutes of inspection, we found the tell-tale hog footprints: small hooves with dew claws in the back. Exploring the bank of the pond, we also found opossum, bobcat, raccoon, and armadillo tracks, as well as lots of tiny treefrogs, a leopard frog, and a somewhat freakish-looking spider.

At one point, I heard a Snowy Egret squawk and take off across the pond and looked up to see a large, dark raptor swooping low over the grass. My first thought was that it looked somewhat like a Kite, only it was dark greyish brown and had an extremely prominent white band over its rump. Within a second it was out of sight.

What was that?? Once we got back onto the main trail where I could see across the main lake, I saw the bird of prey far away through my binoculars, seeming to hover over the grass. When I got home, I started pouring through my fieldguide and the internet, and eventually came to the conclusion that the raptor may have been a Nortern Harrier. I have never seen one before, and don't know if they are normally seen in my area, but everything I saw seems to fit the bird's description.

Sometime later, we stopped to watch a huge flock of gulls and vultures circling in an air thermal overhead. My sister pointed out what she thought was a bald eagle.

Homing in on it with my binoculars, I confirmed it was indeed, a bald eagle and appeared to be an older juvenile, judging by the patchy underside. Above is the clearest picture I was able to get of it.

We hiked out to our favorite mudflat, there were the usual gulls huddled together in the water. This time, there were also a few Least Sandpipers (above) (Thanks for the help IDing them, Chris and Tucker!) and a pair of Sandhill Cranes (below), wading in the shallows.

Although I see Sandhill Cranes all the time, this was the first time I've ever gotten decent pictures of them.

Action shot!... or something. Kinda cool, whatever it is they're doing.

By the end of the day, I added 5 (or 6, if that really was a Harrier!) new species to my year list. I'm not sure if I'm ready to count a Harrier yet, but I'll do a little more research.

Until next time,

Happy birding!

Mystery bird?

I really should be doing homework right now, but alas, I have taken time out to post a quick update on my birding life.

I was taking a bike ride around campus a little while ago, when I saw a blue jay land in a small oak tree on the side of the road. As I rode closer, it flew from the tree, followed closely behind by a medium-sized bird of prey!

Both birds darted quickly across the street, and I was barely able to get a look at the preditor before it disappeared in the palm hammock. From what I saw, it had dark facial markings, a dark back, and tan coloration below the wings.

My first thougth was Peregrine Falcon. I contemplated that for a while, as I turned and headed back towards my dorm, but then I second guessed myself, and began wondering if Peregrine Falcons would really be found in my area.

I've never seen one here before, so I started doubting myself. When I got back, I googled it, but couldn't find any conclusive information. Other possibilities might be that it was an American Kestrel (although it seemed to big for that) or some kind of hawk (although the wing shape was different).

So what was it? I still don't know. I want to think it was a Peregrine, but I find it hard to believe they'd be living in the preserve areas on campus. Hmmm.... Anyone have any ideas?

I do have some good, more conclusive news, however. Next week, I'm volunteering with Project FeederWatch, so I should have some interesting things to report on after that. Should be fun!

Until next time,

Happy birding!