St. Pete CBC

Time again for the Christmas Bird Count season! Once again I helped fellow birders and major environmental activists, Don and Lorraine Margeson, count birds near the Largo area. We missed the Great-horned Owl that I got great shots of last year but there were plenty other birds to keep us busy.

Sit back. This will be a rather long post.

The day started, well, in the dark. We got up and out around 5 AM to call for Screech Owls. We managed to get 4. No Great-horned Owl, though, as I mentioned.

We headed over to Joe's Creek Preserve to begin the real counting at dawn. Problem was fog. It was just a tad foggy. Imaging trying to locate birds in this:



Or this:



However, once we settled into positions along the marsh edge we began to hear and see many small birds. Goldfinches came down within yards of us. Myrtle Warblers jumped from perch to perch and Swamp Sparrows peered out from secret mangrove hideaways.



Every now and then a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds would erupt from the cattails and fly directly overhead.



We didn't find much at the cemetery but this American Kestrel added to our species count.



The fog eventually did burn off around 10:30 AM. Over near the treatment plant we found Cooper's Hawks, a ton of Fish Crows, herons, and numerous Ospreys. This one was mere feet overhead.



Eventually we made it back to Veteran's Memorial Park. There we added a lot of new birds like Blue-headed Vireos, Black and White Warblers, and out at the beach a Spotted Sandpiper.



Among the feeding flocks of smaller birds, a Downy Woodpecker fed in the palms and in the oaks.



My favorite encounter, though, was this Yellow-crowned Night Heron. We first spotted it stalking a meal in the grass just off of the beach.



It was fairly cooperative of my approach. How cooperative? Beat this for a handheld shot from 6 feet!



What a beautiful heron. I am sure this was my best photo op this count.



But, we had to move on. Off to our last stop: The country club around the corner. We were given access and carts to ride in and we headed around the course, to the slight annoyance of some golfers, to get the rest of our count done.

One of my other favorite sights is that of resting Anhingas. Especially when they preen on the branches while drying off.



I also have grown quite fond of the growing numbers of Wood Storks in the state.



Our day all but over, we got back to our cars to depart. I had to make one more check of the boat ramp to get the last few birds. A Great Heron here, a Royal Tern there, and one last set of shots of loafing Brown Pelicans.



All in all, a great day. Could have had more birds but that is the nature of the count. 12 hours later I headed for a shower and long trip back to Orlando. Can't wait until next year.