Celery Fields in Sarasota with Caloosa Bird Club

What a sweet day this was! Not only did I have my great friend Carol riding with me but the weather also felt like we were back in Florida And, And, the birding was incredible! My only regret for the day is that it had to come to an end but, hey, that's okay - because this new day is what goals, anticipation, adventures and excitements are made of.....so it's all good.

We arrived at Ackerman Park a bit early and took the opportunity to enjoy the view. We watched this pair of Brown-headed Cowbird (both female) consume their breakfast before turning our attention to another....

a young male Red-winged Blackbird, which up until a few minutes ago thought it was another specie.....goes to show how much I still have to learn and grow along the way.

Ducks! There were so many ducks to look at and it really made my day.

It also provided me with more opportunity to reinforce what I knew and refresh what I had forgotten.

So seldom do I see those beautiful ducks - I truly enjoy watching them.

Then we moved a bit down the street and parked across the entrance to the Celery Fields and there I was blessed with a Savannah Sparrow sitting on top of the wooden railing - how sweet is that!

Oh Boy! I just wanted to go and climb that hill while the song in my mind played "Climb every mountain....."

I missed what flew overhead to disrupt the peace that the Glossy Ibis had been enjoying.

It's a snake-eat-snake world out there.

Simple yet sophisticated looking.....a black dress with a splash of color.

Some of our fine looking birding folks in our group - close to 30.

Sweet, more ducks! I have to make a correction here because the Northern Shoveler that I labeled as "female" is actually a male, just not in adult breeding plumage. My identification material shows the female as having a brown-streaked body with a spatula-shaped bill that is gray on top and orange along the opening....that should have been my clue right there.

The male Northern shoveler in it's feathered glory.

The Green-winged Teal is not too shabby either with its colorful feathers - standing there by a Killdeer.

A bit further was the entrance to the Myakka State Park....I can really feel myself coming alive when I am surrounded by so many trees....my soul says: "I'm home".

On the backside of the Myakka State park is a boardwalk where many species can be observed. The kestrel was observing us.

Glossy Ibis.....feeling an itch to tell this guy......

well, what can I say.....signs are made to ????? you fill in the blank.

 And so this makes for a perfect day - almost 80 species went on my list for that day and out of that only 1 warbler....the famous Palm.

Pond Apple Trail with the SanCap Audubon Group

A chilly start this morning with warmth in my heart as I looked forward to a morning of birding. A pretty good sized group gathered up behind the Sanibel Chamber of Commerce where the Pond Apple Trail begins. This trail has been going through quite a bit of transformation and I feel that it is one of the best kept secret - perhaps not for long now.

A map showing the habitat within the trail - leading to the water overlook. Soon this trail will connect to some other properties and will expand the trail past the Bailey Homestead property....this is exciting.

A few members of the group -(I believe we had close to 50 people today). Here we were all trying to see if we could spot the Bald Eagles behind the Dairy Queen - since a couple chicks have been reported, we figured that one of the adult was sitting in the nest and couldn't be seen from down below.

After seeing/hearing a few warblers and woodpeckers, we made our way to the water retention ponds and there we spotted several Killdeers - always fun to watch and listen to.

Across the water pond, some keen eyes spotted the Wilson Snipe - he stayed put without batting an eyelash....that I could see anyway.

A lonely Woodstork trying to stay warm.

A Cattle Egret was sandwiched into some vegetation and basking in the sun - his friend was busy eating nearby.

One of the many resident gators.

A Little Blue Heron - this one is immature and within two years will become totally blue.

An Anhinga getting ready to get back in the water.

A Great Egret - feeling at ease and fishing while we watched.

Some of the folks in the front portion of the group - were fortunate to witness this pair mating....us folks in the back got to see this.

I'd say that they make a fine pair, don't you?

On our way back - Turkey Vultures could be seen in numbers - some in a thermal, others resting on the snag.

Time to leave. We got back to our car and decided to try the Bennett's Roast coffee house with a donut to die for...yum. We sat outside and basked in the sun while enjoying this sinfully delicious treat, from my seat I was hearing the Bald Eagle and the Red Shouldered Hawks while watching Turkey Vultures in a thermal....not a bad day at all.

My E-Bird List for today - with 34 species http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S16502475

American Kestrel

Shortly after spending a few hours at the Bailey Tract, I went home and was instantly greeted by a Kestrel.

A curious Kestrel.

Pine Island, Bokeelia, St.James City - with the Caloosa Bird Club

What a beautiful and sunny gorgeous day this was! My friends - John and Carol picked me up and we left at 6:30 this morning....eager and ready for a great birding day. We arrived in Pine Island and met up with the group, combining people in cars and the caravan began....57 people in 18 cars.

Our first stop..."SmokeHouse Bay Preserve".

Peace and quiet - just us folks with the birds....sweet.

It wasn't long before we started seeing some Buntings....Indigo and Painted.

Then, overhead, 4 powered paragladers....very noisy - pretty but noisy.

This is a hot spot for Sparrows...here is Savannah

American Goldfinch

Then a Grasshopper Sparrow....we had to wait a while to get close to take a look. Since our group was so large, we made 3 small groups and kept some space in between....hence the wait to see the Grasshopper, but hey....patience is a virtue and it does pay off.

A very pretty and colorful caterpillar - sorry but I don't know what kind it is and I hope a knowledgeable soul will share some tidbits of information for me to pass along and learn from.

Thanks to Aki K, Jennifer K and Elaine S for their information - this is a Banded Sphinx which becomes a beautiful Moth. Further information can be found at http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?guide=Caterpillars

As I mentioned earlier - this was a caravan trip and we made several stops....this was one of them....sweet place with a lot of diversity with a great park setting.

Across the street - there lives a few Yellow-crowned Night Herons.

On the move

His hangout.

"I'm gonna get you....my little pretty."

By the water side - quite a few species we saw there. Look carefully and you'll see a line of white pelicans flying above Cayo Costa - heading to the right to Boca Grande. We also saw a lot of Horned Grebes and Common Loons among others.

Ospreys, ospreys everywhere...and I thought that we had a lot in Sanibel...maybe not so much after all.

A Starling contemplating some juicy berries.

Great garden setting - we only covered a portion of it and saw many warblers, vireos, woodpeckers etc etc

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

A Yellow-throated Warbler

So, so, lovely....I just love to live in Florida.

Check this pier out!

Black Skimmers and Laughing Gulls

Check the legs out!

Oystercatchers with Brown Pelicans

How many birds can we fit in one square yard?

We broke for lunch and topped it off by visiting a Bald Eagle's nest with chick.

The Red-shouldered Hawk waited for us to exit the property....Thank you for sharing your space.

 We saw a total of 80 species for the day and there are 4 separate bird list, one for each location.

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S16454441

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S16454446

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S16454461

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S16454469