A Touch of Winter, For a Change 2/11/12

Yesterday, we woke up to snow flurries and temperatures well below freezing, and for the first time in weeks it actually felt like winter. Matt and I met our friend Mark Boyd in Wind Gap, and we headed north towards the largely under-birded Pocono's and a few of Mark's old breeding bird blocks from the 2nd Pennsylvania Breeding Bird Atlas. During the breeding season, these blocks always had a slightly more northern feel than we were accustomed to down in the Lehigh Valley- species like Alder Flycatcher, Magnolia and Nashville Warblers, Northern Waterthrush, Dark-eyed Junco and White-throated Sparrow were uncommon local breeders, and over the past few years sightings of raptors like Northern Goshawk and Merlin have kept us coming back. I had also done some Golden-winged Warbler surveys on nearby SGL 180, and have always wanted to explore the area further.

Despite ample habitat and avifauna, the Pocono Plateau doesn't receive that much coverage from birders. covering counties like Lackawanna, Carbon, Monroe, Pike and Wayne (as well as others), this vast area boasts breeders like Merlin, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Swainson's Thrush and a long list of warbler species, including a somewhat healthy population of Golden-winged Warblers (more on these guys another time). So, on this chilly February day, we decided to make the trip up to southern Lackawanna County to see what we could find, and to visit a friend on his farm who we had met several years back while atlassing.

We drove several back roads just north of Gouldsboro State Park, and east of route 435 (I am working on a Google Map to the Pocono's). Almost everywhere we stopped, we could hear the croaking of Common Ravens- a sure sign we weren't in the Lehigh Valley any longer. Many spots were pretty dead, in fact Mark remarked how nice it was to hear silence for a change, compared to the busy streets and noises of Allentown, where he lives. Still, we came across decent flocks of the usual winter birds like Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Goldfinch, Hairy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers and a few others here and there. Despite there being some open water around, the only waterfowl we managed to find were a few groups of Mallards and four (3 drake and one hen) Hooded Mergansers. There is a lot of marshy habitat in the area, and Mark confirmed these pretty ducks breeding during the atlas.

The surprise(s) of the day came on a back road when Matt heard/found a small group of COMMON REDPOLLS. We had hoped for such a sighting, and watched as the initial group of six soon joined eight more in a stand of Tamarack Larches (eastern Larch). Then, as we walked up the snow covered road towards the flock, we flushed four RUFFED GROUSE from the brush. The sound of flushing birds always gets my heart pumping, and reminds me of days spent Pheasant hunting with my cousin when I was younger. Both the Grouse and the Redpolls are species we don't usually see on anything close to a regular basis. In fact, Mark mentioned that he had only seen a Ruffed Grouse a few times prior to this, and had heard them several times drumming in the spring as well. As we followed the initial flock of Redpolls it soon became apparent that there were many more feeding high in the Larches. A conservative estimate of 50 birds was reached before they continued on down the road toward another stand of these productive trees. We also noted the abundance of Birches in the area though there were few catkins on most of them. Due to the lighting and behavior of the flock, we weren't able to really scan them for any Hoary, but were still elated at having found one of the species we had sought after on the trip.

After dropping us off at our car in Wind Gap, we parted ways with Mark and decided to make a trip out to Lake Minsi to check the gull flock, where the day before we had seen over 1500 gulls- mostly Ring-billed but also a few hundred Herring and several young Lesser Black-backeds. Today, Matt found yet another 2nd winter ICELAND GULL, his 5th of this species at Lake Minsi this winter. It has been an excellent year for this species in northeastern PA, perhaps due to the healthy and growing Lesser-black Backed numbers. Spring is right around the corner, and soon we'll be out at Middle Creek watching the thousands of Snow Geese. Matt will be long gone by then, since he has taken a job out at Lake Havasu for the spring. Between Golden-winged banding and surveys I hope to cover much more of the Pocono's this year, if I can. The only problem is, there's just so much to cover, so little time, and so few birders willing to leave the comfort zone of their home patches and see what's out there. The 2nd PA BBA is currently being published as well, and I'm hoping/expecting it to reveal more of the historical data and breeding records for this corner of the state.

Bird On

Part 2

Some more MainePhotos.

Vegetation sampling done, August rolled around and the summer doldrums started to fade as migration picked up. On the 18th, my brother Matt and I took a Pelagic out of Lewes, Deleware with Paul Guris. Several other NJ birders were on the trip like Tom Johnson, Doug Gochfeld and a few others. While nothing incredibly rare showed up (like the sought after White-faced Storm Petrel), I did manage to see two of my nemesis Pomarine Jaegers, my only lifer of the year. Matt picked up several lifers, as we saw decent numbers of Cory's, Audubon's and Greater Shearwaters, Wilson's and CORRECTION: there was only 1 Band-rumped Storm Petrels and NO BLACK-CAPPED PETRELS on this trip. I has mistakenly confused my notes while posting this in the wee hours of the morning. The actual, complete trip list from this Paulagic can be found here: http://www.paulagics.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=85&Itemid=111 SORRY FOR ANY CONFUSION, And thanks to whomever pointed this out.

We ended the summer with a trip to Brigantine (Edwin B. Forsythe NWR), where migration was just beginning to pick up. Shorebirds were plentiful, mostly Lesser and Greater Ye

llowlegs, Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers and a few White-rumped Sandpipers mixed in. Other species included Forster's Terns, Black Skimmers, American Oystercatchers and Seaside Sparrows. It was hot and muggy, but an enjoyable trip none-the-less. Mark Boyd and Chris Hougelsson (sp?) joined Matt and I on the trip. We totaled 50+ species in two trips around the wildlife drive. Fall migration was just around the corner, and soon we'd be hawkwatching along the Kittatinny Ridge. Summer was fading fast, and we could tell that soon the colorful and sweet-sounding summer species would soon be passing through on their way south. Right now, surrounded by White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos, I have a greater appreciation for those Scarlet Tanagres, Grey Catbirds and B

altimore Orioles that were here just a few months ago.

Still, I can feel the seasons changing. Soon the skunk cabbage will appear, the wo

odcock will be displaying, the Spring Peepers will be calling and the spotted salamanders will emerge on the spring equinox to breed in the vernal pools at Bear Swamp. The blackbird flocks will be arriving, as the Snow Geese leave the valley and congregate at Middle Creek by the hundreds of thousands with several other waterfowl species before heading north to the tundra. Just the other day at the swamp, I heard the resident Barred Owl pair getting fired up, and they too will soon be breeding and laying eggs so that I may

find their fluffy nestlings this May. If it weren't for these summer thoughts, the winter would pass by much slower. Spring is right around the corner...

A Look Back to Summer, on a Chilly February Friday Part 1

Its the middle of February here in eastern PA, and while this winter has been exceptionally mild and snow-free, its still winter none the less. So, on this chilly Friday morning my thoughts are of last summer, on my trip to Maine with Brandon, Golden-winged Warbler work and banding and a Deleware Pelagic that finally netted me my long-awaited Pomarine Jaeger.

In June, Brandon and I took a few days off from

banding Gold

en-winged Warble

rs before our vegetation sampling start

ed to visit my family near Brooklyn,

Maine and try and track down a few lifers, as well as some species we hadn't seen in a while.

After a 10 hour

drive we found ourselves at my Aunt June and Uncle Jim's house in Brooklyn, right on a beautiful peninsula jutting out on the Maine coast. This was Brandon's first trip to Maine, and though I had fallen in love with this place as a child, it had been almost 14 years since I had last visited. Despite this fact, it felt right at

home, and it was great to see my family again.

We were only about 20 miles from Mount Desert Island a

s the crow flies, but soon learned that no destination on the Maine

coast was ever closer than an hour or two's drive. We bade farewell for the time being to Aunt June and Uncle Jim, and set out to bird MDI for a few days before heading further up the coast, then to Baxter State Park before returning to Brooklyn for a day or two, then heading back

to Deleware State Forest in PA and our dreaded vegetatio

n sa

mpling.

Birding on MDI was fabulous, and though we had a few target species in mind we birded quite leisurely, and the only lifer we managed to stumble upon was Brandon's first Black Guillemot. I had only seen one of these before, a winter plumaged bird at Barnegat Light in 200

6, so it was a delight to see them in the

ir breeding garb, quite common among the inlets and bays here.

Cadillac Mountain was beautiful, and though we missed targets like Boreal Chick

adee and Gray Jay it was still nice to see and hear species like Nashville Warbler and Ruby-crowned Kinglet that we usually only see during migration. The many Common Eiders and Common Goldeneye out on the bay also gave things a northern feel.

We left MDI and headed upthe coast, towards Cutler and

Machias Seal Island, then Baxter State Park. At Cutler, the boat ride to Machias Seal Island was pleasant, and upon arriving at the island we were treated to close views of Atlantic Puffin, Razorbill, C

ommon Murre, Roseate and Arctic Terns and many Gulls. The small boat to the island could only hold a certain number of people, so I let B

randon go onto the island and volunteered to stay back on the larger boat. It wasn't that bad though, as we took a small row boat around the island while the rest of the group got to check out the breeding colonies up close, and we got to see all of the same species up close out on the water. There were also several "Bridled" Common Murres, a special variation found mostly on the Atlantic coast, where the Common Murres have a

white circle around the eye and a white stripe behind the eye. It was a gorgeous day, the water as smooth as glass, sun shining and cool but comfortable temperatures.

After Cutler, we headed deep into Baxter

State Park, where we camped for a few days and e

njoyed the boreal north woods. We found Brandon's lifer Boreal Chickadees, and though we failed to find targets like Bicknell's Thrush and Spruce Grouse, we were happy enjoying the boreal breeders like Grey-cheeked and Swainson's Thrushes, Ruffed Grouse,

and Blackpoll and Bay-breasted Warblers. We then returned to Brooklyn, and on our last night at Aunt June and Uncle Jim's, had a Northern Saw-whet Owl calling in their backyard. On our last day before departing for home, we took a whale watching boat out of Bar Harbor, where we saw a pair of Humpback Whales up close, as well as a few trip ticks like Greater Shearwater and Wilson's Storm-petrel. A dist

ant storm-petrel was most likely a Leach's, though it was too far to ID for certain. A great way to end our Maine excursion before driving through some pretty wild thunderstorms on the way home. It was tough leaving, especia

lly knowing what lay ahead of us: weeks of hot and sweaty vegetation sampling znd very little bird watching. We left knowing there was still much to explore in the boreal forests and miles of coastline in Maine, and vowed to return as soon as possible.

To Be Continued...

What started as a chase...

It was 3:30 am, and any hopes I had of actually falling asleep and not sleeping the entire day away were just pipe dreams anyway. So, I decided to call Dustin (Welch) to see if he was still planning on heading to Middle Creek WMA in Lancaster to try and find the MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD that had been reported there for the past week. Though I'm not much for chasing these days, and though the Mountain Bluebird wouldn't be a lifer, just a state bird, I decided to tag along and maybe get some birding in besides my daily checks of Lakes Echo and Minsi. We arrived at Middle Creek before dawn, and as it slowly got lighter I began to prepare myself for a potentially boring, long wait for this western mountain species to show itself. Dustin had hoped to photograph the bird as well, although thus far it hadn't come any closer than 50 yards to the road and viewing area. As the sun broke the horizon, it became evident that Middle Creek would provide us with plenty to keep us entertained until the Bluebird decided to show itself (if it did at all). It was quite brisk out, but as we stood outside the car Dustin caught sight of first one, then another SHORT-EARED OWL. The two birds made several close passes, and also perched up for several shots (Dustin, with his much larger lens was able to capture several decent photos in the dim light). We watched them as it got lighter, getting chased around by a Northern Harrier and chasing after the 20 or so Ring-necked Pheasants that were calling all over the place. Not since North Dakota had I heard so many of these comical birds. Owl activity slowed a bit as the sun finally shone across the fields and heated us up a bit. We decided to walk down the road a bit further to where the Bluebird had been seen, but not before a Great Egret, 5 Tundra Swans ans several Green-winged Teal passed overhead. There were many Tree Swallows jockeying for nest boxes, and Field Sparrows and Eastern Meadowlarks were calling from the grassy fields across from the Bluebird's hang out. Before we made it too far, we were stopped in our tracks by the loud and unmistakable call of a SANDHILL CRANE coming from back near our car. We did a quick about-face and soon located the large bird across the field that the Shorties had been cruising earlier. The crane called several more times before making a breif flight across the field to join some grazing Canada Geese further down the road. We continued back down the road, and set up shop near some of the other birders that were present, scopes pointed at the corn-stubble that the Bluebird was frequenting. We had seen and heard several Eastern Bluebirds thus far, though no sign of the Mountain-yet. As we waited, other expected species made their presence known, like Horned Larks and Savannah Sparrows, and Dustin spotted 4 WILSON'S SNIPE loafing out in the corn. Around 9, the MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD finally decided to pop up, about 100 yards out into the fields. Scope views were had by all, and as we watched he slowly worked his way closer to where we stood. In all of my photos the bird appears as just a dot on a cornstalk, but Dustin managed a few documentary worthy shots. Satisfied with the looks we had gotten, we decided to head on after watching the bird for a short while. A bit further down the road, one of the day's 10+ American Kestrels flushed a nice-sized flock of 100+ American Pipits. We also found a few RUSTY BLACKBIRDS feeding in the lawn near the visitor center, and found more Northern Shoveler, Ring-necked Ducks and a male Greater Scaup on our way out of the complex. Without even trying, and not covering an exceptionally large area, we had totalled 65 species of birds before 11 am. The Bluebird chase, in essence, had simply become the catalyst for getting us out on a beautiful and productive day of birding. With a little effort and planning, 100+ species could have been attained on this early day in April. Though I missed the Snow Goose spectacle here at Middle Creek a few weeks ago, it was still an enjoyable day and great place to spend the morning birding.

Plenty of Fowl on a gorgeous day

The past two days have been the nicest of the year thus far, with temperatures reaching into the high 60's today. Though I didn't bird much today due to prior responsibilities, yesterday I managed to get out to some local spots in Monroe and Northampton Counties with my friends Rebekah and Cheris. We stopped at my usual spots (Lake Minsi, Echo Lake, PPL/Martin's Creek and other river spots), and though the weather was perfect there weren't many surprises to be found. A pair of Wood Ducks among many Mallards were swimming around the small pond on Cherry Creek in Cherry Valley. After a rather large breakfast at the Water Gap diner, I set out to find an Eagle or two to show the girls. The nest at MetEd in Portland was empty, but there were Field Sparrows and my first Eastern Phoebe of the year singing. The only raptor we found on DePues Ferry road was a distant Osprey (first of the year) perched in the nest on the tower out past the fly ash basin. As we were leaving, a Tree Swallow perched just outside the car window and allowed for some good photo opportunities (my camera is in the car, however). Lake Minsi held a single female RED-BREASTED MERGANSER among the many Commons, as well as a few Pied-billed and at least 6 Horned Grebes. Most of the Horned Grebes were still in winter plumage, but I did manage to get a few distant shots of one inbreeding plumage swimming alongside a winter bird. A nice surprise at Echo Lake was four NORTHERN SHOVELERS, two male and two female. Though annual, I don't see many Shovelers in this general area. There were also some lingering Bufflehead and Ring-necked Ducks at Echo. Backtracking, we stopped at Bear Swamp to walk around a bit. There were Wood Frogs calling, but the bird life was generally quiet and conspicuous. As we were leaving, two COMMON RAVENS flew by with a herd of crows hot on their tails. It was a rather slow day, but the delightful weather more than made up for the lack of birds. Driving home last night past the swamps and vernal pools on National Park Drive, the Spring Peepers were deafening, and several American Woodcock were displaying as well.

Spring Forward

Spring has arrived, though technically we still have a week of winter left. The small bit of open water at Lake Minsi grew steadily this week with all of the rain we got, and along with Echo Lake was filled with waterfowl- Hooded and Common Mergansers, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Ring-necked Duck, Green-winged Teal, Pied-billed and Horned Grebes and of course many Mallard and Canada Geese. Also during the torrential downpour on Thursday there were a pair of adult Bald Eagles (one was standing on the ice, something I don't see them do too often) and despite the rain I heard my first of the year Red-winged Blackbirds singing, Song Sparrows, Fish Crows and Common Grackles flying around. I've also been hearing Spring Peepers this week, and reading reports of Spotted and Jefferson's Salamanders, Wood Frogs and other herps being seen though I haven't had the chance to get out and look for them yet this year. I replaced my camera, but am still waiting to acquire a lens for it. Hopefully I'll have it before things pick up and get too hectic bird-wise. Its about that time now, which seems to come earlier and earlier every year, when it becomes harder and harder for me to sleep due to the fact that I know there are millions of birds migrating overhead every night. Its that same zugenruhe-induced insomnia (one of my favorite words, though I can't ever remember how to spell it) that strikes every year. Its only a matter of time before the birds are back and singing, and I can start slapping some bands on those pesky Golden-wingeds again. Until then I'll just have to keep busy with salamanders, sparrows and ducks.

Everglades January 2011

I left Augusta for my week+ vacation in mid-January, arriving in Cheifland and the Lower Suwwannee River National Wildlife Refuge and after stopping to visit a friend in Atlanta I got therethe evening before DeeAnne,Cheech's girlfriend did. Cheech (Brandon Miller) was working out where the river meets the gulf, and rode around on fan boats all day yring to trap Cotton andRice Rats on the various islands out in the delta/gulf. I accompanied him and his crew one day, and managed to see a decent number of birds that were new to me for 2001 (I never hadthe chance to make it to the Georgia coast) such as: Laughing and Ring-billed Gulls,Forster's and Royal Terns, Brown and American White Pelicans, Double-crested Cormorants, Whimbrel, Long-billed Curlew (State Bird for me), Black Skimmer, Ruddy Turnstone, Dunlin, Sanderling, Wilson's Snipe, American Oystercather,Marsh and (many) Sedge Wren, Seaside and Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows. DeeAnne showed up later that day, and we managed to leave the Refuge by mid-afternoon (1/21). We made it to Punta Gorda that evening, and added several trip birds along the way, including my "state" pair of Sandhill Cranes, several Bald Eagles, and several species that were just sitting on the concrete barriers that lined the bridge/causeway including more terns, gulls, oystercatchers, shorebirds and out in the bay, single Common Loon and Great Black-backed Gull which we wouldn't see for the rest of the trip.

Early the next day (1/22) we started out on Birdon Lane, in the Big Cypress National Preserve, which was a loop road running North from US-41 and returned to 41 a few miles more east. There weren't very many birds on this stretch, despite its name, though we did get good looks at the pa;er Floridian race of Red-shouldered Hawk, and we also flushed a Least Bittern, uncommon in this season down there. We continued along 41, where a small

boardwalk a

tthe Oasis Visitor Center had a few large gators, some Palm Warblersand several Anhinga and Little Blue Herons posing only feet away.

We stopped and scanned for a while at the old Osceola Fanboat Rental place (where several people had suggested to look for Kites, also near "40-mile Bend". We then located our campsite, at Cedarcrest, which was free but full. After Cheech and DeeAnne set their tent up, we ventured back out to see if we could locate a Snail Kite or maybe get to check out Shark Valley before it closed. Another quick Kite scan turned up nothing, so we headed to Shark Valley to see if there were anymore tours g

oing out that day and how much they would cost. As we pulled into the driveway, and before even reaching the kiosk, DeeAnne spotted our fir

st collective lifer of the trip: a shockingly close Purple Gallinule walking along the lilly pads with its ridiculously long toes that reminded me alot of the toes on a Northern Jacana. Even in the low overcast light we could see the iridescent blues, purples and greens at only about 20 feet a

way. This bird had become a bit of a nemesis for a while- Cheech and I missed them on our Atlantic Florida trip last winter, and there had been one here in the Lehigh Valley for at least a week or two a few years back that would have required little effort to chase. I'm glad I got to see this one in Florida though, in its element, and not at some de

tention pond in Allentown.

We searched in vain for a Snail Kite on the way back to the campground, but only picked up a few trip birds like American Bittern, Limpkin, Tree Swallow, White-eyed Vireo (try as I might, I just couldn't turn it into a Thick-billed) , Louisiana Waterthrush and Common Yellowthroat. Back at the campsite it was getting a bit chilly, so we got a fire going and reh

eated our Hibachi from the night before-delicious! As we ate we discussed our options for the following day. I had wanted to try and make it down to the Homestead area of the Everglades, then perhaps hit Shark Valley on our way back through since it was closed today. I passed out in the car, under blackets and pillows galore- Cheech and DeeAnne were cuddled up intheir tent, yet we all woke up shivering as the overnight temps had dropped down into the low 40's/high 30's. We also slept in a little later than we had wanted to.

We arrived at Shark Valley just as the first tram Tour was leaving, but decided to just walk the road ourselves and save ourselves the 30$/person we would have spent. Once again, birds were everywhere and very photogenic. Anhingas, Tricolored Herons and more Purple Gallinules (this time in even better light!) were very approachable. There were a few Pied-billed Grebes just hanging out under the mangroves, as well as another new trip bird, an adult Yellow-crowned Night Heron. As we walked on we saw several close White Ibis, and DeeAnne found her very first Limpkin. Unlike the handful of Limpkin I had seen up until that point (which were all distant, or flying directly away from me) this bird sat just 15 feet away, just looking at us and allowing us to study every inch of the bird as we snapped pictures. We saw a few more trip birds- Gray Catbird, Great-crested Flycatcher, Blue-grey Gnatcatchers and a few others. Satisfied, yet realizing we wouldn't make it to Homestead, we also came to the understanding that today (1/23) was probably our last/best shot at seeing a Snail Kite around 40-mile bend. Besides Gyrfalcon, the Snail Kite remained the only Lower 48 Raptor species I had yet to see.We arrived again

at the Fanboat Rentals, and shortly after dismissing a few Black Vultures I spotted a single adult Snail Kite, a good distance away but close enough to see its white rump, general shape and color. After the bird passed in front of some trees and out of sight, we jumped in the car and headed west towards the spot we had last seen it. There were notmany good places to pull over, but I was finally able to pull off into a small driveway. We all got out, and shortly after the adult Snail Kite came soaring past, giving us as good a look as any of us had hoped for. We could see its orange bare parts, the angle at which it held its wings, the blue-grey color with black primary patches. Again we lost it further down the road, and here's where things went downhill for me. I was so excited about finding and seeing the bird, that I left my 1200$ camera on the roof of the car before speeding off towardsthe boat launch a mile down the road to see if the bird would pop back up since it was moving in that general direction. Satisfied with the l

ooks we got, we headed for Cor

kscrew Swamp Sanctuary, anout an hour's drive to the north. In was in the Corkscrew parking lot that I quickly came to the realization that my camera had either been taken or had fallen off my roof at some point. So, we hopped back in the car, calling the various Park Offices and Visitor's centers en route to see if anyone had found and turned in a camera and 100-300mm lense. None had thus far, but I had lost the camera little over 2 hours ago. We retraced our steps, checking to shoulders and roadsides

on the way back to Ochopee. We found nothing along the roads, but judging on where the camera was sitting on the roof, it was more likely to fall off into the middle of the road and into a million pieces. We went

back to every spot we had stopped, including the Fan Boat place where the initial sighting was, then the driveway, where I last remembered having the camera out and where I left it on the car, then to the Public Boat Launch, where the empty beer bottles outnumbered the collective teeth amongst the many fishermen. So, in the end, it turned out to be one expensive Snail Kite, and certainly one I won'ty ever forget. The camera was expensive when I bought it, but the batteries were being held in place with a piece of micro cloth and a rubberband. The hillbilly that found it was probably pretty pissed off when the pawn shop only of

fered him 50 or

60 bucks for the thing...at least he made enough to cover a week's worth of Budweiser and beef jerkey. What was even more depressing was the loss of my memory chip, which consisted of more than 500 really good shots of birds I may not see again for quite some time. My bittersweet day ended at the Motel 6 in Naples.

Monday (1/24) found us at America's fist National Wildlife Refuge, J.J. Ding Darling. I was still sour about losing my camera, but made the most of the day and abundance of birds.The Wildlife Loop reminded me a lot of Brigantine, except here there were dozens more people than I have ever seen at Brig. The birds, however, were spectacular. Even though the tide was almost out there were Wood Storks, Roseate Spoonbills, Reddish Egrets (including a few white morphs), Tri-colored, Little Blue and a bold little immature Yellow-crowned Night Heron who sat just a few meters from our feet wathing the goings-on and soaking up some morning sun. The mudflats were covered with Least, Semipalmated, Western and a few Spotted Sandpipers, Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs, Short and Long-billed Dowitchers and others. We spent some time at the gift shop before leaving for some of the other "birdable" spots further down the coast, but there were still a whole bunch of people at the lighthouse and the fishing pier ( we did get a great close-up of a Great and Snowy Egret. By early afternoon we knew we had to leave with time to search for Burrowing Owls over inCoral Bay, so we hurried over. Burrowing Owl was at the top of DeeAnne's must-see list, so we got directions and navigated through the urban grid of streets to the Public Library where several burrows were supposed to be. Shortly after arriving, we followed a pair of Cattle Egrets over to three women, one of which was taking pictures of something on the ground with what looked to be a 500mm lense. Sure enough, as we got closer, we could see two owls sitting right outside their burrow. The woman certainly didn't need 500mm- we were standing no more than 5 or 6 feet from where the owls stood, alert yet not seeming to mind our presence.

The ride home was bittersweet (and long). As I tallied up our trip list (which I will post a link to soon, as well as where stopped for certain birds) I realized that we had seen some really good birds, and only missed a few species that were somewhat "expected". The theft of mycamera, along with all of my photos from the first 2/3 of the trip was still fresh in my mind, but I did manage to get a few crappy shots with my dumpy little point and shoot. It was cool to finally see the Everglades, but Florida birding, or birding anywhere in the southeast really, has become more of a chore than a destination I look forward to. I've lived/worked in North Carolina, Alabama and Georgia, and have visited Florida twice now. With the exception of a North Carolina Pelagic, I've found this whole area to be generally un-dramatic in terms of scenery and overpopulated in the way of people and tourists. You can get really good looks at birds that are much harder to find elsewhere though, so it has that going for it at least. I'll have to make at least one more trip to Florida, for breeders we've missed like Black-whiskered Vireo, White-crowned Pigeon, Mangrove Cuckoo and Smooth-billed Ani, as well as an April Dry Tortugas trip for Noddies, Boobies and migrant Passerines. As it seems is always the case, the La Sagra's Flycatcher was refound in Miami the day we left, and a Smooth-billed Ani was spotted only 20 miles from where we had been camping just a few hours after we headed north. Also unbeknownst to us, the recently reliable Kelp Gull reappeared just days after we returned as well. So it goes! Overall it was a great trip, full of birds, good friends and interesting people

Bird On

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\