Monk Parakeets, No Foolin'!

A few days earlier, Paul emailed that another birder was reporting some nesting Monk Parakeets not too far from my house. By the time I could have gotten there that night it would ahve been near dark so I planned on trying for them after banding.

Directions placed me at an intersection with a convenience store on one side and a power substation on the other. Since I have seen parrots and parakeets hanging out at substations around Tampa/St. Pete I decided that must be the best place to look. The direction didn't pinpoint any one exact spot.

My main concern in these times of paranoid officials was who was going to jump me once I started scanning such a structure with binoculars. There have been many reports of birders being detained or questioned intensely by Men in Black just because they were staring in the direction of some government structure or another.

Luckily, I didn't have time to look too hard.

As I approached the the intersection I heard a loud noise behind me, away from the substation. I tracked the noise to a telephone pole located just behind the store. Whew.

The light was bad as it was noon and the birds were up in the transformer on the pole. The only spot to stand was next to a ditch in order to see the birds. There were 4 shapes that I could make out and the nest was obvious. After a few minutes, one of the birds walked out to the edge of the nest.



A minute later another pulled a stick out to the edge and tryed to place it in the right spot.



I have been meaning to track down Monk Parakeets for years but never found a chance. Nice to have them even closer this time.

Meanwhile, the morning banding session yielded the usual suspects, including this beautiful male Prairie Warbler.



We checked out the nest boxes again and now there were 4 eggs in the nest. As we approached, there were 2 Bluebirds in the area, one of which was the bird we banded the week before.



Not a bad April Fool's Day. No tricks.

Eastern Bluebird Surprise

Ask and you shall receive?

At the end of the last post I had mentioned that we saw many Bluebirds along the trip to and from Crystal River but I was unable to get any shots of them. Except for one right outside the hotel room that is verrrrrrrrrry far away. I showed the photo to the wife and said that I really needed a good shot of a Bluebird again.

The last shot I even got of a Bluebird was years ago in Winter Park. I never saw them in that area anymore.

Today, as I checked the nets while banding at Wekiva, I rounded the back loop of nets and saw a bird in the lower panel. At first, I was surprised by the color of the bird. We don't get many medium-sized birds with blue feathers. My first thought was that it might be a Scrub Jay. Some do live within the park.

I got closer and the other colors became more evident. Not a Scrub Jay. A Bluebird!



There are many nest boxes set up around the park and some years there are successful clutches of eggs resulting in chicks. Last year, there were no eggs in any boxes. When the chicks do hatch, they are banded in the nest. Adult birds don't end up in the nets.

Until today.

Even better, one of the nearby boxes had two eggs inside and another Bluebird leaving the scene. Maybe this signals the return of babies to the park.



Beautiful bird.

Hammond's Flycatcher

A report was posted to the lists about a Hammond's Flycatcher out at Hal Scott. Several reports were filed over the next few days saying some had relocated the bird, some doubting the ID, some swearing by the ID. I thought I wouldn't go after it as it was the middle of the week and I couldn't find time to head out there for days.

Specialty birds rarely hang around for too long. But the reports kept showing up. What the heck? Might as well go for it.

Detailed directions through the Hal Scott area were provided. Head down this path. Go past THIS rock. Stop at THIS lone orange tree, etc. I wasn't familiar with this part of the preserve but I would have my directions in hand.

Fortunately, when I arrived in the parking area, a few other birders were heading out for the Hammond's. I was getting my cameras together when I heard, "Here for the Hammond's?" in the pre-dawn darkness. "Yep." We were off.

During our mile-long hike we spotted Bluebirds, skittish sparrows, doves and heard Nuthatches and woodpeckers. The flycatcher spot was ahead.

We were told by another birder who had arrived on bike just ahead of us that it was seen in certain spots but usually came close to the trail. After 15 minutes standing on the trail I couldn't take it and headed into the woods toward the creek. I can hardly stand still too long.

I stopped about 100 yards from the trail and stood to listen to the surroundings. Goldfinches. Waxwings. Kinglets. I decided to try and see any of the birds I was hearing way up in the treetops for practice and found a small bird I thought was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet preening up in the branches.

Then it started 'flycatching'! Was this our target bird? Too high up to be sure so I tracked it through the branches. Suddenly, it swooped down toward the creek and foraged, 30 feet in front of me. This WAS the bird.



I got a couple shots for my collection as I was verifying it in my head. I knew I had to alert the others but feared calling out too loudly would scare the bird away. They couldn't see me easily through the trees. Even if they could they were all staring straight up!

"Over here!" I said in a deep enough register that I hoped wouldn't be too bird un-friendly. I kept a lock on the Hammond's and everyone hurriedly rushed to my spot.

Another group of birders arrived and saw our location and hurried over as well. Soon, we had 25 guys oohing and ahhing as shutters clicked and introductions were made. We tracked the bird for 30 minutes before heading out.

Some folks told me they had been out there 4 times so far without seeing the bird. Some had been there once or twice and sat for hour upon hour without seeing it. I walked out on a day I wasn't going to and found it in 15 minutes.



Dumb luck. I'll take it.