Adding two lifers to my list

Posted on June 18, 2022 by dinajohnston

Word gets around fast in the birding world when there’s a rare bird somewhere in the area. I had read on some bird sites Sunday night that there was a rare Kirkland’s warbler at Fort Desoto Park. It’s listed as one of the rarest warblers in the world. They winter in the Bahamas and spend summers in Michigan. I’ve never heard of one in Florida before. I got to the park just before 7:30 the next morning and there was already a small crowd staring at the bushes where he was seen the day before. No one had seen him yet. I was thinking this is probably going to be a needle in a haystack morning but then I saw Ed. Ed Rizer drove over from the Lakeland area and he is know for being able to find anything. I’m thinking if anyone can find this bird, Ed can. About 10 minutes later I looked around and Ed had disappeared. I’m thinking “He’s going to walk around and find that bird”. Not 5 minutes later I hear him yell “He’s over here”. The bird was in a different area but close by. Everyone ran over and we all started shooting. The bird was not skittish at all. Everyone stayed pretty far back (we all had our longest lenses with us). I spent about 15 minutes taken a ton of pictures of this bird. He stayed on the ground just outside of some bushes, feeding on bugs.

Later in the morning after walking around the park, I headed back to the area where the Kirkland’s was again. He had moved over to the mangrove bushes where we originally were looking. I left the crowds of people who had driven from all over Florida to see him.

There were a lot of other migrating birds but not a lot of variety. We found one rose breasted grossbeak. An ovenbird was on the trail and there were a lot of redstart sightings.

One bird I haven’t seen in several years was a black throated blue warbler.

There were a lot of Cape May warblers all over the park.

The 2nd bird I added to my list this morning was a black whiskered vireo. There was one seen several years ago here but I couldn’t find it. After looking for this guy all morning I was about to give up and leave and someone yelled out they found him. I snapped the above and headed home since it was way past lunch time.

This was a very productive morning in late April at the park. It still seems like there are less birds coming through every year.

More birds passing through

Posted on June 1, 2016 by dinajohnston

A very young Baltimore oriole way up high in the tree. He didn’t have all of his adult feathers in yet.

A black throated blue warbler.

A black throated green warbler.

A few blackpoll warblers in the mulberry bushes.

I think this is a female black throated blue warbler.

Brown thrashers were eating the mulberries.

Summer tanagers were in the oak trees.

This is either a female scarlet tanager or a summer tanager.

A lone indigo bunting.

Spring migration felt a little slow this year. It was much harder to find the birds at Fort Desoto. It felt like there were more people than birds in the woods. It was still a fun morning out. No new birds this spring but there’s always next year.

Birds and fish at Bok Tower

Posted on December 7, 2015 by dinajohnston

I thought this bird was going to be something different but I think it’s a palm warbler in his non-breeding colors.

I can’t tell what this warbler is. Unfortunately, I did not get any other pictures of him. I think this is a female black throated blue warbler. The lady friend of the one below.

This male black throated blue warbler was staying inside of the bushes and being very timid. I rarely see these guys.

Female ruby throated hummingbirds were everywhere. I saw these at the bushes in front of the historic house.

The big fish in the pond in front of the carillon tower were looking for a handout. You can pay 25 cents to get a handful of fish food.

More fun stuff from my trip to Bok Tower in early November.

Almost the end of spring migration – Skywatch Friday

Posted on June 5, 2014 by dinajohnston

A rose breasted grosbeak chowing on mulberries.

My first Tennessee warbler.

Bay breasted warbler. This one is fairly rare around here, even during migration.

I can’t remember what this is. Probably just a yellow rumped warbler.

American redstart.

I can’t remember what this is either. I think a red eyed vireo.

Black throated blue warbler.

Prothonotary warbler

Scarlet tanager with a snack in his beak.

I think this is a blue grosbeak. He had some brown on his feathers.

Cardinal with a half eaten grasshopper.

A nanday (black hooded) parakeet showed up in the middle of the little migrating birds. He was looking around like “What are all of these people doing in the woods?” He didn’t stay long.

It was early May and spring migration was still going on. The little birds were passing through on their way up north for the summer. Another Saturday morning with the trails packed with people. I saw my first Tennessee warbler this morning. I know I should have been more excited but really, they are all starting to look alike. Now that it’s June, not a soul is on the trails except mosquitos but the beaches are packed with tourists.

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Two firsts as spring migration winds down

Posted on June 4, 2013 by dinajohnston

Some type of yellow bird high up in the trees.

My first black throated blue warbler.

There were several of them at the park.

I think this is a female cape may.

A female orchard oriole.

My first blackpoll warbler with a berry in his mouth.

Another blackpoll getting ready to eat.

My second sighting of a cape may warbler.

Another female something?

Spring migration was winding down but I had heard there were still a few more birds at Fort Desoto so I headed down there after work one night in late April. I had about an hour and a half before dark so I stayed in one place to see what I could find there. I was at the mulberry bushes with several other people. Everyone was looking for the black whiskered vireo that had been sighted there for several days. No luck that night on the vireo but I did get some other first sightings in. There were several pale yellow birds there and everyone had different opinions about what female they were. After studying the hundreds of pages of these female warblers in my Stokes Birding Guide, I gave up. Any id’s would be appreciated.

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