[TopOfUtah] Florida Birding

[Connie McManus]

I have returned home from a great vacation to Florida visiting my
father-in-law and enjoying the birding there.  Around my Dad's house were
NORTHERN CARDINALS, NORTHERN MOCKING BIRDS, GREAT TAILED GRACKLES, SANDHILL
CRANES,  and other birds I can't find in Sibley's.  I saw one at a feeder
that looked much like SAY'S PHOEBE, but it was small and had a white eyering
and a black line parallel with the beak and smudged into the nasal tuft. It
had a light colored abdomen with peach-colored sides, gray head and mantel
with a ruffed up crest (flycatcher-like).  It didn't look like say's, but
due to the pale orange coloring, that's all I could think of.  The Birders
in Florida tell me they rarely see a Say's Phoebe, so I would think it
unlikely that's what it was.  I saw another bird that looked like a
red-breasted nuthatc, except it disn't crawl down the tree head first. Also,
It seemed a bit large for one, but I can't find anything in Sibley's that
looks like it except a RedBreated Nuthatch.  The SANDHILL CRANES own the
neighborhood there (a retirement village call John Knox Village).  On all
the streets yellow signs reading "SLOW --- SANDHILL CRANE CROSSING" are
posted.  And sure 'nuff, I encountered a pair of SHCranes just meandering
along the road at their own pace, taking up the entire road and not
concerned in the least about the cars or anyone coming up to them.  They are
semi-tame there.  I thought it was great fun to seem them up close for as
long as I wanted.  However, when I tried to get a photo of them, they were
nowhere to be found.   There were at least 4 types of warblers in the
neighborhood that I could hear, but never saw.  The trees are all around
80-100 ft tall and the branches are trimmed high, so seeing what flies in
the upper story is a bit tough for one who only owns binoculars. So, I just
listened and enjoyed.

On Saturday, I signed up for a trip with the Orange County Audobon Soc. to
Lake Apopka Restoration Area.  There were only 10 people allowed on this
trip as this part of the lake is closed to the public while the Division
Natural Resources reclaims the area from agricultural use to a natural
wetland.  This area is HUGE and will be a real site of interest to all
nature lovers. There were a lot of different birds there, many we get up
here as migrants, but some were birds we never or rarely see and others were
rare even for Florida.  I managed to get a couple of Lifers, or so, from
this trip.  The leader of our tour, along with everyone else, was really
excited over the KING RAILSo, heres the list..
* = lifer

* King Rail    1  http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i2080id.html
* Red-Bellied Woodpecker     3
* Pileated Woodpecker   2
* Black-bellied Whistlin Duck   5
Boat-tailed Grackle    xx (they were everywhere - lost count at 30)
Red-winged Black Bird   xx
* Purple Galanule     1
Glossy Ibis    > 9
Great Egret    > 3
Great Blue Heron  > 3
Green Heron   >35
Semipalmated plover   1
semipalmated sandpiper  >20
* Anhinga     7
Common Moorehen    >15
Osprey     4
* Great-crested flycatcher   1
Caspian Tern     >100
White Pelican    50
Snowy Egret     >10
Great Egret    10
* Roseate Spoonbill   24
Wood Stork     10
Black Vulture   10
Turkey Vulture   15
Blad Eagle    1
* Limpkin      1
Killdeer     1
Least tern    1
white Ibis 1
* Least Bittern   1
Cattle egret 3
* Little Blue Heron     6
Red-shouldered Hawk  3
Black-crowned Night Heron 2
Northern Parula      1 (heard 4 that others in the goup sited)
Eastern Towhee    1 (heard only)
*  Tri-colored Heron  5
Florida Scrub Jay   3
Bob-white quail   1 (heard only)
Eastern Meadowlark  1
Northern Cardinal   5








Capecanaveral National Seashore:

Tri-colored Heron    11
Black-bellied plover   1
Black-necked Stilt      >15
Great Egret         4
Snowy Egret      > 50
Little Blue Heron    34
Roya Tern       2
Great Blue Heron  27
Golden Plover     4
Greater Yellow Legs   4
Dowitcher    5
Wite Ibis     10
Semipalmated plover      >50





-- 
Connie McManus
Nibley, Cache County, Utah
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