This final post in this three part series recounts our last birding excursion on our return trip home from the very birdy state of Florida during our Thanksgiving vacation. The previous 2 posts each described a previous birding excursion during this vacation in which we saw 2 life birds each outing! In
Part One, I described how we easily saw the Limpkin and the Magnificent Frigatebirds!
Part Two tells the story of the very photogenic and accommodating Long-billed Curlew and the surprise-bird-of-the-day, the Western Kingbird at
Fort De Soto County Park in St. Petersburg, Florida! So what would we find on our return trip home? Well, with a little planning help from
eBird and a local birder in St. Petersburg, we figured out how we could easily find one more life bird in town and another one just 22 miles east of Tampa. And the latter bird, and the park where we found it, were well worth the side trip!
In order to fit a birding excursion into the long drive home, we had to depart extra early Saturday morning. Thankfully, the promise of a stop at Starbucks, just two blocks from our first birding destination, made this early departure much more attractive to us. After the goodby hugs and profuse thanks to the family for a delightful holiday, we hit the road. A few minutes later, we arrived at the Central Avenue Starbucks in the dark and ate our breakfast waiting for first light. We had been informed by a local birder that a flock of Monk Parakeets often roosted at the power station at the corner of Central and Pasadena Avenues. We drove the 2 blocks and parked and voilà! -- there on the power lines -- a flock of 42
Monk Parakeets -- Life Bird no. 5 for this Florida trip! Just as easy as that -- a new life bird!
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| Monk Parakeet -- St. Petersburg, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
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| Monk Parakeets -- St. Petersburg, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
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| Monk Parakeet -- St. Petersburg, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
We enjoyed watching these birds for about 5 minutes until a Northern Harrier passing over flushed them from the property. We are so happy that we arrived when we did! Any later, and we would have missed them!
The Monk Parakeet is nonnative to Florida but has established self-sustaining, breeding populations in several areas in the state. Its native range in South America stretches east of the Andes in Bolivia to central Argentina. Brought into the the United States via the pet trade in the 1960s, the escapees were first noted to have begun nesting in Florida in 1969. It was feared that as this species became established and increased its range, it would eventually become a nuisance in the destruction of agricultural crops or in the displacement of native species. Such threats have not yet materialized. The North American colonies have not moved beyond urban and suburban areas in contrast to their native-bred counterparts in Argentina which thrive in rural areas. Also, the Monk Parakeet is the only species in the parrot family which is not a cavity-dweller. It constructs its nest from sticks and maintains it year-round. As such, it has not and will not displace cavity-dwelling native species which always face the threat of displacement from us humans as we continue to develop wooded areas. In Florida, no eradication or control programs have been implemented as of yet. In other areas in the US where these birds have colonized, citizen opposition has successfully blocked efforts to remove them.
With another tick on the life list, we headed east across Tampa Bay and then continued 20 miles east past Interstate 75 to our next new life bird in our next destination,
Edward Medard Park and Resevoir, close to Plant City, Florida. This sought-after and endangered species is semi-nomadic so, again, we were lucky to be in the right place at the right time. eBird reports informed us that the species had been sighted in this particular park so close to Tampa during the Thanksgiving holiday. We would have been fools not to go for it. Its current reported status is "endangered -- populations stable, but vulnerable." So which bird qualified as such an awesome quest bird? Here's a hint in the photo below:
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| Apple Snail shells -- Edward Medard Park and Reservoir -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
Yes, we were searching for the
Snail Kite! They feed primarily on Apple Snails as do Limpkins. The empty shells were a clue that we perhaps would indeed find our target bird. Of course, we would be happy to see Limpkins again. We arrived at 8:45 am and immediately found the park to be dense with birdlife. With its 700 acre freshwater reservoir created in the 1970s from a former phosphate mine, this park provides wonderful habitat for a variety of birds.
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| Edward Medard Park and Reservoir -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
A boardwalk leads visitors across the upper end of the reservoir to an elevated observation platform.
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| Carl with other visitors on boardwalk of Edward Medard Park and Reservoir -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
As we began to move across the boardwalk we were immediately stunned by the large number of waders. The Limpkin did not disappoint. They were there en masse along with many Anhinga and Glossy Ibis feeding in the aquatic plants below! One of the pluses of having so many Limpkin in one place was that they were rather vocal. Thus, we were treated to a chorus of their eery, desolate
wails -- a perfectly evocative sound for a swamp!
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| Limpkin -- Edward Medard Park and Reservoir -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
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| Glossy Ibis -- Edward Medard Park and Reservoir -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
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| Glossy Ibis -- Edward Medard Park and Reservoir -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
Other waders included Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, a Black-Crowned Night Heron and a Green Heron.
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| Juvenile Black-Crowned Night Heron -- Edward Medard Park and Reservoir -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
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| Green Heron -- Edward Medard Park and Reservoir -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
We had seen our first raptors on the drive into the park -- a pair of Red-tailed Hawks.
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| Red-Tailed Hawk -- Edward Medard Park and Reservoir -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
Our second raptor was a Red-Shouldered Hawk. We were hoping he would have a conversion and change himself into a Snail Kite. But no, he remained as he was, a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk. We also saw an Osprey.
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| Osprey -- Edward Medard Park and Reservoir -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
Then, all of a sudden, three large-ish raptors were flying in a group towards us. They were backlit but their size and general shape were unfamiliar to us. What coloration we could see was dark all over with a white tail patch. Then they veered away to the east and perched in trees in the distance in the northeast part beyond the reservoir. We were 99% certain that we had just seen 3 Snail Kites. These birds were much larger and broader-winged than a Mississippi Kite and certainly chunkier and broader-winged than both the very lean, long- narrow-winged Swallow-Tailed Kite. We did not observe the bills on these birds in this flyover. Due to the white rump patch, we thought of Northern Harrier but we ruled it out due to the dark, solid coloration on the underside of these birds. We were not satisfied with that look and we were not quite ready to say these were Snail Kites until we could observe one at closer range. At about this time, a visitor, returning from the observation platform on the far end of the boardwalk, informed us that there was a Snail Kite perched about 50 yards from the platform to the northwest. She had not observed the flyover which meant that this was a different bird. So we headed in that direction.
The boardwalk ended just before the observation platform on a little spur of land at the edge of the property. I arrived first and I found the bird in question. It did indeed seem to have the right attributes for a Snail Kite. It still was at a rather difficult distance though. Not having seen one before that day, I was waiting on Carl to come so that we could study the bird together. Carl was a few yards behind me and since this was quite the birdy little corner, I began attempting to photograph several small passerines flitting about the trees. Below are my few successful shots.
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| Palm Warbler -- Edward Medard Park and Reservoir -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
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| Eastern Phoebe -- Edward Medard Park and Reservoir -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
Suddenly, Carl called out loudly to me. I looked back. He was pointing skyward to the northwest. There it was, a beautiful, well-lit, slow-moving Snail Kite, flying directly towards me! I had time to get a focus-lock and to track him as he flew past -- clickety, clickety, click! Snail Kite in the cam! Gorgeous! 100% positive ID gives us Life Bird No. 6 for this trip!
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| Snail Kite -- Edward Medard Park and Reservoir -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
I looked back at Carl, "I got him!" I called back to him grinning and holding a thumbs up. Then I looked at my previews on the back of the camera. Whoo Hoo! -- Time to do the happy dance -- I did indeed get a great shot! Carl was thrilled that we had such wonderful lviews of this bird! He was also a little green with envy as I had been on the well-lit side of the bird as he flew between us. Then, suddenly, this same bird, which I had already quickly determined had been the one perched in the tree, circled back to return to his perch. More clickety-click!
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| Snail Kite -- Edward Medard Park and Reservoir -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
It seemed that this was a favorite perch from which he would do a couple more sorties scanning the aquatic plants and the low water areas for Apple Snails. Thus, he gave me a few more opportunities to photograph him! How I loved those glowing red eyes!
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| Snail Kite -- Edward Medard Park and Reservoir -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
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| Snail Kite -- Edward Medard Park and Reservoir -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
After observing this guy for awhile, we were sure that the previous 3 birds in the flyover were also Snail Kites.
We had met our goal in our chase for these 2 new life birds but we were not finished with birding yet. Those busy, woodland birds on this birdy little patch continued to mesmerize me.
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| Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher -- Edward Medard Park and Reservoir -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
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| Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher -- Edward Medard Park and Reservoir -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
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| Black and White Warbler -- Edward Medard Park and Reservoir -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
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| Black and White Warbler with orchid -- Edward Medard Park and Reservoir -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
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| White-Eyed Vireo -- Edward Medard Park and Reservoir -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
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| Eastern Phoebe -- Edward Medard Park and Reservoir -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
So many wonderful birds escaped being photographed but how I enjoyed watching them! A pair of Limpkins made their way over to this little patch by the overlook and posed very nicely.
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| Limpkins -- Edward Medard Park and Reservoir -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
Finally, before we made our way back to the car, I could not resist trying to capture again the essence of the landscape with this shot. The dots in the picture are not blemishes -- they are birds!
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| Another view of the reservoir and the boardwalk -- Edward Medard Park -- Plant City, FL -- November 24, 2012 |
By 10 am, after our brief, yet highly successful visit, we determined that we truly needed to head back north towards South Carolina. But the birding was still not done for the day. As we traveled north on I-75, Carl was driving and I was studying my shots on the back of my camera. Suddenly, Carl was pulling off of the highway, stopping fast at the side of the road. What? What? He had spotted a pair of Sandhill Cranes grazing on ranch land very close to the highway. Of course, after putting on the flashers, we hopped out of the car to get the following shots.
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| Sandhill Cranes -- I-75 at Milepost 289 -- Florida -- November 24, 2012 |
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| Sandhill Cranes -- I-75 at Milepost 289 -- Florida -- November 24, 2012 |
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| Sandhill Crane -- I-75 at Milepost 289 -- Florida -- November 24, 2012 |
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| Sandhill Cranes -- I-75 at Milepost 289 -- Florida -- November 24, 2012 |
I love these elegant, red-eyed beauties with their Victorian-style "bustled" tail-feathers! Though not Life Birds for us, they certainly counted among our favorite birds of the trip -- our Bonus Birds! What a great pair of birds with which to conclude this wonderful birding adventure in Florida!
As I noted before, Carl and I returned home with a much greater appreciation for the state of Florida. The opportunities for viewing wildlife had escaped our attention in the past. Some of Florida's fabulous landscapes had become hidden by the seemingly endless strip malls in the urban - suburban developments of the larger cities. Now, however, we know to look beyond and also deeper within the developed areas to find the natural wildlife. The birdlife in particular will draw us back. So when another opportunity to visit the state presents itself, I imagine we will eagerly begin to plan more birding expeditions to new locales in search of new Life Birds to add to our lists!
Credits:
Bryan, D. C. 2002. Limpkin (
Aramus guarauna).
In The Birds of North America, No. 627 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.
Spreyer, Mark F. and Enrique H. Bucher. 1998. Monk Parakeet (
Myiopsitta monachus),
The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab
of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online:
http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/322
doi:10.2173/bna.322
Sykes, Jr., P. W., J. A. Rodgers, Jr. and R. E. Bennetts. 1995. Snail Kite (
Rostrhamus sociabilis),
The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab
of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online:
http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/171
What a trip you had! and such beautiful photos! I love the angles you got on some of the shots.
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