Monday, September 29: Flint Pen Strand
Arriving well before sunrise was rewarded with a pair of Barred Owls calling from the cypress dome beside the lakes parking lot. One of the owls was calm and calling to its mate with the regular Barred Owl call. The other seemed a little excited and answered with the its "monkey call." They called back and forth for several minutes before going silent as sunrise approached.
Water levels had receded enough that the land south of the west lake was passable although muddy, but it was still wet between the lakes. That was a great place to stop. A King Rail called from the wet reeds and grasses near the east lake; Common Yellowthroats, a Yellow-throated Warbler, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers,
Northern Mockingbirds and a Downy Woodpecker were in the shrubs and trees at the edge of the cypress dome.
A half dozen Purple Martins skimmed over the banks of the east lake.
And then there were White Ibis!
Multiple waves of between 40-75 individuals flew in from the south and passed over the lakes. An estimate of 445 individuals was probably on the low side, but it should have been close. Another 14 individuals came in later in the morning once the sun was up.
The usual route north on the ridge in the middle of the marsh becomes more challenging each week as the plants grow and close in on the path. Fortunately with the water levels lower, it was possible to walk part way on the ridge and then go down and walk on the now dry banks.
Marsh grasses are still high, hiding many of the wildlife that is probably in there. The Great Blue Heron in the photo would not have been visible had it not stood up to look around.
The little wetland at the north end of the marsh is starting to dry up, but there were a few birds still foraging there. Three White Ibis, a Great Egret, another Great Blue Heron, two Snowy Egrets, three Killdeer, and the Solitary Sandpiiper in the photo were all busy there.
A total of 37 species of birds were identified. After the White Ibis, the most often seen were 21 Little Blue Herons, 16 Great Egrets, 15 Tricolored Herons, 13 each of Northern Mockingbirds and Boat-tailed Grackles, and 10 Mourning Doves.
The two Red-shouldered Hawks in the photo were at the western edge of the cypress dome a visible from the parking lot in mid morning. They flew in together, perched near each other, and flew out together. A total of six Red-shouldered Hawks were seen. The only other raptors were two Osprey.
Thirteen species of butterflies/moths and 12 species of dragonflies/damselflies were identified. Only Gulf Fritillaries and Barred Yellows were commonplace for the butterflies, but six different species of dragonflies had individual numbers in double digits.
Two new insect species were identified. One was a Petulant Leafcutter Bee (Megachile petulans) and the other was a tiny little yellow moth with a long name, a Sarganothis Fruitworm Moth (Sparganothis sulfureana).
Herps were just gators, some Oak Toads, and a few Southern Cricket Frogs that called early in the morning.
Thursday, October 2: Immokalee
The morning began as usual, greeted by the pair of Wild Turkeys just inside the entrance gate and then by almost 100 White Ibis foraging in the wet areas around the individual campground. Although it had been relatively dry at my house, it must have rained a lot in Immokalee because there was a lot more water than last week.
Then, two Armadillos came romping toward me. They must have really poor eyesight because although I stopped, they kept coming. Finally, one of them peeled off into the woods while the other stood on its hind legs to try and catch a scent of what was ahead (me).
But I was downwind, so it didn't sense anything. Eventually, it wandered off in the opposite direction of its companion.
Not much was happening on the Lake Trafford observation platform other than almost 200 Cattle Egrets roosting all along the shore and even on the roof of the observation platform.
The Belted Kingfisher at the left was the second spotted. The first was at Lake Trafford while this one was at the B marsh. In the photo, it is working on a Crayfish that it caught.
This week and next ought to be the peak times for winter bird migration, so a stop at the group campground to look for warblers in the giant oaks seemed like a good idea. However, the only birds there were Blue Jays, more Wild Turkeys, and more White Ibis.
A short trip to a little pond buried in the pines behind the campground was cut short by a Limpkin that had just snagged a nice Apple Snail. I didn't make it to the pond so as not to disturb the Limpkin.
A total of 37 species of birds were identified, but none were uncommon. Obviously, Cattle Egrets and White Ibis were by far the most often seen; then, bird species numbers really dropped.
Both Pepper Road and Sunflower Trace Road had been mowed in preparation for next week's public sunflower viewing. However, field M hadn't been mowed yet so the opportunity to hunt for interesting insects was still there.
In addition to the expected bees, flies, butterflies, and dragonflies, two new species were identified. One was the Four-speckled Hover Fly (Dioprosopa clavata) at the right. Two of them were spotted. The literature says they are a beneficial pollinator but even more importantly, their larva are relentless predators of aphids.
The other was one of the thick-headed flies, Physoconops excisus, but I couldn't find a unique common name for it. Several species of plushback flies were there as were myriads of the tiny Coffee-loving Pyrausta Moths. White Peacocks and Ceraunus Blues were the primary butterflies in the field while Band-winged Dragonlets and Citrine Forktails were the most common dragonflies/damselflies.
The Southeastern Sunflowers were amazing -- whole fields of bright yellow, all facing the sun. Next week's viewing should still be spectacular.
The only mammals in addition to the Armadillos were Gray Squirrels and the only herps were gators in Lake Trafford and lots of Brown Anoles.
My yard
Last week when I was in the yard with Daisy, there was lots of little bird activity and I didn't have a camera or binoculars with me to verify what was heard. So this week, I set an old Nikon camera by the back door so I'd be sure to capture the little birds.
Sunday was the first trip out with the camera-- no little birds, but a very vocal juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk was in the pines in the front yard. It stayed around all morning, and it stayed and was vocal through Wednesday.
On Daisy's walk on Wednesday afternoon, stops in the backyard depended on what she wanted to do. During that walk, the Great Blue Heron at the bottom right was also walking through the backyard although much closer to the canal.
Daisy saw it but didn't seem to care, and the heron was aware of us and equally unimpressed.
On our afternoon walk on Friday the only interesting sighting was the Velvet Ant (a wasp) at the right. Daisy was watching something else, but when she noticed me crouched down to get a photo of the wasp, she came over to see what was so interesting. The wasps have a really nasty sting, so I moved away before Daisy got too close to it and all of us moved on, the wasp in one direction and Daisy and I in the opposite direction.
Other birds in the yard have been Great-crested Flycatchers, Blue Jays, Northern Cardinals, Brown Thrashers, Tufted Titmice, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Mourning Doves, Carolina Wrens, and Common Grackles.
Nighttime critters have been the Southern Flying Squirrels, Virginia Opossums, Raccoons, a Coyote, and both mother bear and her daughter.
The juvenile female is approaching her mother's size but she still isn't quite as bulky. The juvenile is in the top photo and mother in the bottom photo. Mother has a little more belly and her head is a little thicker, but as the juvenile bulks up for the winter, it will became harder and harder to tell them apart.
Both photos were the same night. Mother was here a little before 9 PM and her daughter was her around 11:15 PM. So far, there hasn't been any interaction between the two, but if they both keep showing up each night, that will eventually happen.
The juvenile female seems to consider my yard her territory. She was here Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights and again early on Friday morning.. Bear scat in the front, side, and back yards indicate she's mostly eating Saw Palmetto berries.
Butterflies in the yard during the day have only been Zebra Longwings, Dorantes Longtail, Gulf Fritillary, and Cloudless Sulphur. The Zebra Longwings have been busy depositing eggs on the Passionvine in the back yard.
Daytime mammals have been Gray Squirrels, Cottontail Rabbits, and Hispid Cotton Rats.