We headed back to Crescent Lake to look for our main target, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. We missed it the first two time. We were told where to look for the bird and as we got out of the car the first thing we found was a Red-bellied Woodpecker peeking out of a tree branch.
Gathered around the woodpecker were several European Starlings. They were all fussing at the woodpecker. Perhaps it use to be their nest site? Every now and then, one of the males would wave its wings about in protest.
It took a little while but Jim finally spotted our bird in the Sweet Gum tree between the parking lot and the lake. The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is very well camouflaged against the tree bark. If you aren't looking at the right moment it is easy to miss them.
Now that it was later in the day we got a chance to get a better view of the Lesser Scaups and Ring-necked Ducks. The Scuap is in the center.
Among the Ring-necked Ducks was a leucistic female.
I love how grumpy this Lesser Scaup looks. Hur-umph!
One of the domestic duck present was a Graylag Goose who took some time to bathe as we were walking past.
Double-crested Cormorants were gathered along the shore. Great to have a chance to get a close look at those amazing eyes.
What I didn't know about Double-crested Cormorants is that the insides of their mouth can get that Robin-egg blue. Thanks for the yawn!
Not a lot of American Coots around but a few. Simply stunning in black and white.
Couldn't resist a shot of a feather resting on the lawn.
Laughing Gulls were gathered at the North end of the lake.
We were told that White-winged Doves could be found at the Dairy Inn. Nope. Just wanted to prove that we did check.
We did find another dove on the way back to the lake. A Eurasian Collared Dove.
Just past the tennis courts were a pair of Yellow-shafted Flickers.
We came back to the water tower and could here Monk Parakeets everywhere. Closer inspection revealed many nest wedged in the stairs and railings.
A lot of the Monk Parakeets would fly down to the oaks and chew on some acorns.
We stopped along a creek in search of more birds. Our leader, Jim McGinity, was trying to get a shot of the only House Wren we found today.
We were not thrilled to head to the golf course. We just figured there would not be that many species to be found out there. It was our final stop of the day. We loaded into carts and began our tour. If I hadn't have turned toward the practice range I would have missed our only raptor hiding in the shade. A Red-shouldered Hawk.
Jim and Killian were just ahead of me and seemed excited as they climbed out of their cart by a small pond. It was full of a couple dozen Northern Shovelers. I got my best shots of these birds ever today.
They were enthralled with the ducks but I spied something else across the pond. A Spotted Sandpiper!
The soon setting Sun lit up a female Northern Shoveler resting on shore.
Just in front of her were our only Mottled Ducks of the day.
Feeling a bit more bouyed by these unexpected finds, we made the turn toward the next fairway and came upon a small flock of Blue-winged Teal.
Behind them was a pair of Mallard. This is the best I could get of the green feathers.
Lurking along the shoreline was a feeding Roseate Spoonbill trying to stay hidden.
You can try to hide, Roseate Spoonbill. You can try...
Ospreys were busy diving for fish in all of the ponds. Just couldn't get those houses out of the way.
My final shot of the day was a Loggerhead Shrike perched as we were exiting the course. We then turned in the carts and totaled our birds before heading home.
Ten news species were gathered at the golf course. Who would have thunk it? Not a bad day but I was hoping for more species in total. But, we were in very urban environments so I guess we did alright. The final total for the St. Pete CBC ended up being 163 species which was a tie for the 3rd best count ever. I was there for all the top counts. Can't wait for next year.
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