While I have been here for a week I have yet to make it to the ocean. Our trip to Babcock Wilderness Ranch Preserve netted me 4 new species for the year. A walk around the neighborhood yesterday added 1 new species to my 2014 Year List and 2 species to my Florida Year List We took a drive to Pine Island last night and while we saw a few birds around the town and as we crossed the causeway, we never got near the ocean as most of the island is private property with only a few access points to the nature reserve. Most of them were hiking trail too difficult for my mom to use with her walker and when we finally did find one tiny public park at the end of a street we were soon being bitten by sand fleas or no-see-ums. We soon jumped back in the car and left.
I did go birding in my brother's neighborhood late yesterday morning and into the early afternoon and so added Green Heron and Grasshopper Sparrow to my 2014 Year List as well as my Florida Year list. The Grasshopper Sparrow was also new to my Florida Life List. It was quite a find and I stalked a pair for 20 minutes trying to identify and photograph them. They were in the brush along the canal and we kept playing hide and seek with each other as I tried to get at least one picture with the whole bird in it! I finally succeeded but had no idea what I was seeing until I came home and studied the pictures and asked questions. Once I get home I will have photos to show you! Many Thanks to Rick Wright for his help!
I am amazed at how many birds I have found just by walking around this neighborhood. So far I have added at least one new species to the Cape Coral Neighborhood List every day I have been here! Not too shabby I think. my goal is to get over 100 species in Florida before I leave. since I am currently at 92 species I think my chances are good. My goal is to find a Florida Scrub jay and a Limpkin before I leave and I only have one week left to do it!
I did go birding in my brother's neighborhood late yesterday morning and into the early afternoon and so added Green Heron and Grasshopper Sparrow to my 2014 Year List as well as my Florida Year list. The Grasshopper Sparrow was also new to my Florida Life List. It was quite a find and I stalked a pair for 20 minutes trying to identify and photograph them. They were in the brush along the canal and we kept playing hide and seek with each other as I tried to get at least one picture with the whole bird in it! I finally succeeded but had no idea what I was seeing until I came home and studied the pictures and asked questions. Once I get home I will have photos to show you! Many Thanks to Rick Wright for his help!
I am amazed at how many birds I have found just by walking around this neighborhood. So far I have added at least one new species to the Cape Coral Neighborhood List every day I have been here! Not too shabby I think. my goal is to get over 100 species in Florida before I leave. since I am currently at 92 species I think my chances are good. My goal is to find a Florida Scrub jay and a Limpkin before I leave and I only have one week left to do it!
Here are my eBird Stats as of 2-28-14:
- Life Birds-465
- Year List-189
- Month of February--99 species
- Florida Life List--92 species
- Florida Year List--67
- By species: 371
- By checklists: 33 (283 checklists submitted so far this year)
