Tuesday, October 20: Flint Pen Strand

The weather was near perfect early in the morning: blue skies, cool temperatures, relatively low humidity, and a steady breeze. Water levels were down a little since the last visit to the white trail, so everything on the trail was walkable with water no higher than ankle deep.

Wildlife was nice, too. The American Bittern above was in the tall grasses between the two lakes and was the most unexpected bird sighting of the day. Migrants were arriving although not in great numbers yet. The most often seen of all of the birds were 14 Gray Catbirds. Other arrivals were Eastern Phoebes, Palm Warblers, and a Yellow-rumped Warbler. After the Catbirds, 13 Northern Mockingbirds and 11 Boat-tailed Grackles were the most encountered.

Grasses were very high in the marsh, so some birds that were there were mostly unseen. Occasionally a Little Blue Heron or White Ibis head would pop up to look around and then disappear again. Even Great Blue Herons were harder to spot. Three of them were identified around the lakes and later two were seen in the northeast corner of the marsh, but those two may have been part of the trio seen earlier, so only three were counted for the morning.

Two Limpkins were spotted, but they flew up which made it much easier to see them.

In all, 33 species of birds were identified.

It was also a good day for insects with 13 species of butterflies and 11 species of dragonflies and damselflies identified. The most of any of those were 141 Gulf Fritillaries. They were everywhere, especially along the southern leg of the white trail. Some of the females were emitting strong pheromones which attracted clusters of eager males.

After the Gulf Fritillaries, 11 each of Phaon Crescents and White Peacocks were the most seen species.

While there were plenty of dragonfly species, individual numbers weren't that great except for Hyacinth Gliders. A cluster of 20-30 individuals swarmed an area near the picnic table by the lakes parking lot. Whatever they were eating was too small for me to see, but hopefully the prey was mosquitoes. There were still lots of them.

The only herps were Green Treefrogs that called and one gator in the east lake.

No mammals were seen, but there were fresh White-tailed Deer, Bobcat, and Raccoon tracks in the wet parts of the trail.

Friday, October 23: Pepper Ranch Preserve e

A major detour on Immokalee Road because of an accident resulted in a late arrival and consequently, many of the early morning birds that first start moving and calling were missed. However, 35 species of birds were observed even with the late start.

The most numerous, as usual, were Cattle Egrets with 246 counted at their nighttime roost on the shores of Lake Trafford. A photograph was needed in order to count them where the image could be enlarged on the computer and they weren't moving around. Thirteen Double-crested Cormorants were also seen from the lake observation platform as they flew out from their night roosts to begin foraging.

Next were 47 White Ibis, all in a large flock that settled into Marsh B in mid morning. That's also where all three juvenile Common Gallinules were seen and heard and one Black-bellied Whistling Duck flew in and disappeared in the vegetation. There were probably more whistling ducks in that area, but if so, they were quiet and didn't show themselves.

No Peregrine Falcons or American Kestrels were seen today, but one member of the falcon family, a Crested Caracara, was spotted perching at the top of a snag near the bat house water hole.

The Cattle Egrets,White Ibis, and Double-crested Cormorants, plus 10 Turkey Vultures, were the only birds with numbers in double digits. Close but not quite there were nine Eastern Meadowlarks and eight Sandhill Cranes.

Five of the cranes were close together in one pasture, and they were very vocal. Eventually they separated with two staying in the pasture and the other three walking away.

The preserve opens to the public next weekend, so I walked the Panther Pass trail to clear limbs and branches that had accumulated over the summer. Other than some dead palm fronds, the trail is clear now except for one small tree that wasn't moved because it was clad in Poison Ivy. But it's small enough that walkers can step over it. Bicyclers will have to portage to pass.

The only birds along that trail were several Great-crested Flycatchers.

Other nice bird sightings during the morning were a Belted Kingfisher, a pair of Barn Swallows, Eastern Phoebes, a half dozen Wild Turkeys, and a pair of Loggerhead Shrikes. The only warbler spotted was a Palm Warbler.

Insects were scarce. Just two butterfly species, White Peacocks and Monarchs, were seen and the only dragonflies were Carolina Saddlebags and Scarlet Skimmers.

The only mammal was a Gray Squirrel and the only herp was a Red-belied Turtle. Surprisingly, no gators were seen either in the marshes or in Lake Trafford. They may have decided to remain below the water's surface due to the cool early morning temperatures.

Many of the Southeastern Sunflowers were still in full bloom although the fields were not quite as dense as they were two weeks ago at the sunflower viewing events. There should still be plenty to see next weekend when the preserve opens for the season. Unfortunately, lots of mosquitoes were still present.

My yard

Nighttime activity was light other than the juvenile female Black Bear showing up around midnight last Saturday night. She was her usual laid-back self and enjoyed some peanuts in both the side and front yards (video). She's getting to be a big girl now and looks very healthy.

The peanuts stopped going out Monday night after too many Raccoons started showing up. It will take several days for them to realize there isn't food in the yard and move on before peanuts for the opossums and rabbits can be put out.

There are still just four Painted Buntings at the feeders. The two males will share the feeder, but they don't want the females and the two females don't share very well either.