2016 St. Pete CBC, Part 2

Part 2 of the CBC post is going to be a bit more lengthy. I took so many more photos as the day went on and didn't expect to get many birds at the golf course. Settle in...

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.

2016 St. Pete CBC, Part 1

That time of year again! Time to head to St. Pete to count as many birds as we can in our selected count circle for the Christmas Bird Count. This year I was assigned to Area #5 in the very urban St. Pete area near Tropicana Field. Being so city like, we didn't get some species I would have expected nearly anywhere else (no Carolina Wren?) but we managed to get some nice birds along the way.

We began at Crescent Lake before dawn searching for owls in the neighborhoods. No luck. Right at dawn we returned to the lake park and started counting every thing we could see. Besides the huge number of Muscovy and Domestic duck all over the Northern side, we had a Wood Stork on a tree as the Sun rose just behind the treetops.



Nearby, a few Green Herons lurked in the shadows.



As we tried to ID a warbler in the underbrush we flushed a Black-crowned Night Heron that flew out to rest next to the stork.



There were other species added to the list but this little Gray Squirrel insisted on getting its photo taken. Fine...



Small flock of wintering duck were scattered around but we decided to come back later when the light was better for some photos. They will appear in the next post. For now, we headed to Coffee Pot Bayou to the roosting spot of Brown Pelicans and Double-crested Cormorants. There were a lot but I enjoyed having a couple right next to the road for some good shots.



We also spotted a Roseate Spoonbill trying to hide in the mangrove roost and numerous Anhinga.



Next, we headed to the beach as the tide was low and we hoped to get some good shorebirds to add to the list. Killian took up a spot on the end of a jetty to record bird numbers as Jim called them out while peering through his scope.



Many birds, like this Dunlin, were close enough to not need a scope.



There were a lot of Least Sandpipers in the close flock. I can't recall having so many shorebirds stay so close to me. They usually scatter upon approach. I guess this area is so full of visitors that the birds take little notice.



If something else would startle the flock they would quickly return right next to us.



There was a nice gathering of birds loafing farther down the beach so we headed in that direction. Along the way, a Eurasian Collared-Dove strolled the beach as a Loggerhead Shrike sat atop a light pole.



Our main target was counting the 65 American White Pelican jammed at the edge of the sand spit. There were also scores of terns and Black Skimmers behind them.



A Reddish Egret soon flew in and began its dancing through the shallow water in search of a meal.



We also spotted a single Herring Gull resting with a few Laughing Gulls and some Royal Terns.



We were hearing Monk Parakeets near the parking lot and Killian found them on our second trip out here. They were in a tree right over a few folks getting in some training. Not a care in the world.



Most of the Monk Parakeets were by themselves but I liked this cute pair getting their feathers blown about in the breeze.



Then they would snuggle and preen one another.



But, we needed to head to our next stop which was a small park by a boat slip. Not too much around but a Northern Mockingbird, some Mytle Warblers, and few White Ibis.



Finishing up our first areas so quickly, we decided to head to the golf course a little early. We were told to return later, however, as a lot of golfers were still arriving and they thought it would be better for us to return in the afternoon. OK. Time for lunch and then back to look for a Sapsucker and other birds at the lake.

We thought the golf course might not hold that many birds, though, so we weren't totally enthused about it anyway. Boy, would we be in for a surprise. All that in the next post!

2013 CBC in St. Pete, Part 2

Part two of our St. Pete Christmas Bird Count began after wolfing down some pizza (while still counting birds from the upper deck, of course) and then splitting up to grab some more species for our list. Don and Jeff headed out to some ponds while Lorraine and I headed to another section in hopes of finding a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

It was looking bleak at the spot they saw it earlier in the week. We circled the pond and tallied other birds along the way including Muscovy Ducks resting in the shade under the trees.



In the small retention pond we had Anhinga, Great Egret, Tricolored Heron, and numerous White Ibis which are everywhere.



We began to scan the trees around the pond, taking note of the trees with bore holes made by Sapsuckers in the past. Scanning several trees we did find a Black-and-White Warbler which is always a good find. Still no sign of our target bird and Lorraine charged me with finding one before we left. Moments later, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker flew in right over my head! Once Lorraine got a shot of our bird a second flew in to chase the other around. Success!



Off to search for Hooded Mergansers. They typically frequent a pond across from the golf course, I was told, so we made a stealthy approach (Hoodies are very skittish) but the pond only gave up Common Gallinules and Pied-billed Grebes. Farther along in a different 'window' in the mangroves we did find an adult Brown Pelican, one of many for the day.



Our final search area of the day was the golf course where at least we could ride instead of walk. The new enemy of the count was the increasing winds as the front moved ever closer toward us. There was already rain being reported at the coast.



Our first pond along the first first tee revealed several Blue-winged Teal and a Roseate Spoonbill.



The next pond had a few more Teal and an Anhinga that was not sure whether to fly off or just hope we moved along.



A brave female Anhinga. It let us drive real close to get a sweet pose.



Just past the Anhinga, a Little Blue Heron rested among the reeds.



Jeff and Don took the lead as we passed a flock of Double-crested Cormorants. Nothing else was found here and we decided to wrap up and call it a pretty good day of birding, despite the weather. At least it was warm this year!



In the evening, the votes would be tallied from all of the ten groups throughout the St. Pete area. Total species counted this year was 156 which is fairly average. A new bird found for the count was the first ever Lapland Longspur found by another group to the West of us in a restricted area.

CBCs are always a great time. I am privileged to be asked to help out my west coast birders and love the chance to look for some birds I don't normally get to see in Central Florida. Thanks, as always to Don and Lorraine Margeson for their hospitality and friendship and it was great meeting and birding with a new birding friend in Jeff Miller.

Can't wait until next year!