Tuesday, May 5: Flint Pen Strand
Chuck-will's-widows were calling in my yard around 5:30 in the morning, so I was hoping that they might be calling in Flint Pen Strand if there were a really early start. No such luck! But there were some advantages.
Fog covered the marshes before sunrise which provided a soft background at the lakes. The two White-tailed Deer above were grazing on a ridge between the marsh and the west lake.
Purple Martins were already active around their nest gourds, but there wasn't enough light for fast shutter speeds then. The photo at the far left was taken much later after the fog had burned off.
The Great Blue Heron and Roseate Spoonbill in the photo were still enough that a photo in the predawn light was possible. That was the only spoonbill seen, but there were three Great Blue Herons. All were around the west lake but none very close to the either of the others.
Fog spread across the lakes, obscuring other wildlife that was along the edges, before finally burning off.
For a change, my route took a turn north at Poorman's Pass and then west along the northern side of the Kehl canal. That's where the Barred Owl was perched. It was having a bad feather day but didn't indicate any urgent need to straighten things out.
Only 32 species of birds were identified. Eighteen Purple Martins, 15 Northern Cardinals, 11 Red-winged Blackbirds, and 11 Red-bellied Woodpeckers were the most frequently encountered. Other nice sightings included five Mottled Ducks, a Red-headed Woodpecker, a lone Wild Turkey hen walking through the marsh, one Northern Parula, and a family of Loggerhead Shrikes.
Junior shrike was following its parents. It lacked the black markings on its wings but already had the black mask and most of the black on its tail.
Insects were few, just two species of butterflies plus one Bella Moth and only two of dragonflies.
Herps were gators, all in the two lakes, one Pig Frog that called early in the morning, and almost a dozen Squirrel Treefrogs that called throughout the morning, especially when a little breeze picked up.
Thursday, May 7: Dinner Island Ranch
The last of this season's FWC migratory bird survey didn't find any migrants this month, but there were some nice sightings of regular, year-round inhabitants.
The Purple Gallinule at the left was in the restored berm wetland. Most of the preserve's marshy areas were dry, so a variety of birds that like water were there including a Limpkin, Great Egret, Great Blue Herons, Little Blue Herons, a Black-crowned Night Heron, and a lone Green Heron.
Willows have really filled on the south side of the berm, which provided habitat for White-eyed Vireos, Northern Cardinals, Carolina Wrens, and Boat-tailed Grackles. Common Ground Doves were in the road and grassy shoulders.
It was a rough drive to get there because crews were adding dirt and starting to grade the road. I got permission to drive the road while they were working and managed to get around the piles of dirt and gravel in the road. The only birds I saw while driving to the berm road were a female Northern Harrier and a pair of Sandhill Cranes.
Thirty-seven species of birds were identified. Similar to last month, Eastern Meadowlarks outnumbered all of the others with 54 individuals counted. The dry pastures and fields were ideal for them.
After the meadowlarks, the most frequently seen were 33 Cattle Egrets, 25 Boat-tailed Grackles, 21 White-eyed Vireos, 19 Northern Cardinals, and 18 Carolina Wrens.
The only warblers were a half dozen Northern Parulas and two Common Yellowthroats.
Raptors in addition to the Northern Harrier were eight Red-shouldered Hawks and four Swallow-tailed Kites.
There should have been a nice variety of sparrows in the fields along with the meadowlarks, but the day's goal was to try and find migrating birds, so most of the time was spent in woodlands where they would have been most likely to have been.
Two gators were spotted, one in a newly dug cattle water hold and the other in the dwindling water in one of the swales. Mammals were just White-tailed Deer. The fawn in the photo was tagging along behind a doe.
Friday, May 8: Pepper Ranch Preserve
Dense fog made driving a little more challenging and definitely obscured an early birds in the preserve, but once the sun rose to burn off the fog, it was a nice morning with blue skies and sunshine. But the humidity that helped create the fog made things quite warm.
The observation platform overlooking Lake Trafford didn't provide much to observe other than gators in the lake and Boat-tailed Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds in the cattails and reeds. But the little inlet from the lake that runs parallel to the path leading to the platform was busy.
In addition to White-eyed Vireos, Carolina Wrens, and Northern Cardinals in the trees to the east, a family of four Common Gallinules foraged in the water to the west. The two chicks followed their parents looking for food, first from the parents and then on their own. Five other Common Gallinules were foraging closer to the lake.
Other young birds seen during the morning included several Sandhill Cranes. The two at the lower left were with both parents while some others, a little older and slightly larger, seemed to be on their own.
The Crested Caracara chick fledged some time during the week, so the nest was empty and no Caracaras were seen in the vicinity.
The restored wetland along Sunflower Trace was still a busy place but the majority of the large number of foraging birds had moved to a different location in the wetland from the spot they occupied last week. Although they were noisy, that made them harder to spot because the water was deeper and the plants around them were taller.
Nonetheless, there were still some impressive numbers: 33 Wood Storks and 16 Great Egrets plus a half dozen Roseate Spoonbills and Snowy Egrets, White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Great Blue Herons, and one Tricolored Heron. Also, a Yellow-crowned Night Heron flew up. Black-crowned Night Herons are frequently seen, but this was the first Yellow-crowned Night Heron that I have documented in the preserve.
Another nice sighting in the wetland was a Green Anole. Brown Anoles are everywhere, but it was unusual to spot a Green Anole, especially close to the ground.
Raptors were an Osprey, a trio of Swallow-tailed Kites, gliding overhead and dipping down to bushes and low trees for food, and Red-shouldered Hawks. The only warbler was the Northern Parula.
Black-bellied Whistling Ducks had returned to marsh B although I only saw five of them.
My yard
An adult Bobcat showed up early Monday morning and caught a Southern Flying Squirrel. It reappeared on a trail camera about a half hour later without the prey, so it may have taken it to a kitten somewhere very close.
Around 10 o'clock on Monday night, it reappeared. It first showed up beside the house where it decided not to engage with a Virginia Opossum that was foraging there. At the front of the house, it paused and sat down sat down, looking up at a palm tree where the Flying Squirrels usually hang out. Apparently it decided no one was coming down; plus, there was no element of surprise, so it left. A second appearance just seven hours later would suggest that it is denning somewhere close by and hunting not just for itself but for kittens too. And it was back again Thursday night. Virginia Opossums and Raccoons were in the yard before and after the Bobcat on Thursday.
