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.

American White Pelican Frenzy

My Saturday jaunt around the lakes turned out to be much more eventful than I had ever dreamed. I am used to seeing a few white dots far out on the lake as the Mute Swans are typically around, but as I came up to Lake Cherokee I could see an entire flock of white dots at the far North end. I diverted from my planned route and got to the opposite side of the lake where I discovered a huge flock of American White Pelicans!



The Pelicans were in there tight formation moving toward the reeds to trap prey to feast upon.



Once that supply was exhausted they floated away from the shore for a bit. A woman from the neighborhood had also noticed the activity and came out with a point and shoot and asked me about what they were and we chatted for a while. Then I headed closer to the lake to get shots of other species that had gathered to join in.



Beside the inlet pipe, a Snowy Egret waited for leftovers.



Nearby, a Wood Stork stood stoically with a feather stuck to its bill.



The American White Pelican suddenly changed direction and headed back toward my spot. I count just over 100 in this shot but I never got a full field view with the zoom lens.



Wading into the reads, a Great Egret watched for a chance to snatch a meal.



The Pelicans went from calm to frenzied as they rounded up the next school of fish.



The Mute Swan pair are usually kind of the bullies around the lakes but they knew to back off from this mob.



A Double-crested Cormorant soon surfaced from under the rush having grabbed a bite for itself.



Seeing the commotion around the corner, another American White Pelican flew in to join in on the feeding.



I started to scan the skies and more Pelicans were still coming in from distant locations.



One after another flew in and I could still see spots up in the air coming in from far away. The biggest flock we had last year was 16 that moved all around the city. This was group approaching 200!



Appearing sated for the moment, I decided to head to my other planned destinations but I couldn't resist one more shot back toward Orlando proper.



I circled Lake Davis and found it a bit more calm but still full of interesting birds. The usually fiesty Swan Geese were chilling under the shade.



A wary female Wood Duck decided I was safe enough to swim past toward the geese.



Convinced I was OK, too, the male Wood Duck soon followed. On another local lake there is a pair with several ducklings. So glad we have breeding Wood Ducks in the neighborhood. One of those birds I wanted to see as a kid and never thought I could almost trip over them in Orlando.



Tree Swallows were out feeding and, as usual, they are a challenge to photograph as they move so fast and bank and turn in a millisecond.



This is the only other shot of 40 that came out OK.



While I was shooting the swallows a male Blue-winged Teal floated by to head over to the shade.



Near the center of the lake, a few Bonaparte's Gulls loafed on the surface. Very few of the more typical Ring-billed Gulls. Nice to have these hanging around for a while.



Moving away to the other lakes I had a nice soaring Red-shouldered Hawk over Lake Emerald.



Behind Lake Weldona in the neighborhood was a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk perched on the corner.



I headed home and rounded Lake Cherokee again and found the American White Pelican flock feeding again.



I was ready to get back but got one more shot of the hungry birds still gorging. A nice mix of adults but mostly juveniles. FYI, the adults are the ones with the rounded bump on their bills.



A productive morning. Let's see how long these birds stick around this year.