Bird Board
TAS Shark Valley/LoopRoad Field Trip-Saturday, October 31, 2015
Ten intrepid birders participated in Tropical Audubon Society's annual fall field trip to Shark Valley and Loop Road on Saturday, October 31, 2015. Overcast skies and lower humidity kept the weather conditions quite comfortable. Mosquitoes were not that much of a problem and there were no deer flies. Water levels in both locations were high but the bird diversity was better than expected. Sixty-two (64) species (may have missed a few seen by others), including twelve (14) warblers, were tallied including:
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
White Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Snail Kite (1 at abandoned airboat meeting place) (1 at airboat ramp just west of meeting place)
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Purple Gallinule
Common Gallinule
Laughing Gull (on the Tamiami Canal near the Miccosukee Hotel)
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Barred Owl (heard on Loop Road)
Chuck-will’s-widow (flew across Tamiami Trail at dawn near Trail Gun Range)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
American Kestrel
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
White-eyed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
House Wren
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Black-and-white Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Cape May Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler (heard)
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Eastern Towhee (heard)
Northern Cardinal
Painted Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Several Dragonflies (including Green Skimmer, Roseate Skimmer, Black Saddlebag Skimmer and Halloween Pennants)
Red-waisted Florela Moth (a real beauty!)
Liguus Fasciatus FloridaTree Snails (several color forms)
Orthalicus floridensis Banded Tree Snail
Life is good..........................
Comments
PHOTOS. This little adventure gave me a chance to further play with my new camera body, and to get more familiar with the 583 page operating manual. Much of the camera's sophistication is above my pay grade, but as I continue to learn, and as the birds continue to pose, the images get marginally better. The first thirty two images on my photostream are of some of the birds observed saturday. Some withstand enlargement by clicking on them.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/joelnrosenthal/
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