BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kibet" data-source="post: 3538755" data-attributes="member: 126488">Day 1 Saturday 4th MarchBoyd Hill (SPAS) – Ft De Soto – East Lake Residential ComplexThe arrival the previous night was uneventful but after sun down so there was no birds to mention. The flight was only a third full so was rather comfortable flight from Gatwick to Tampa. Even the train through London was uneventful, being empty most of the way. I had a choice of Audubon walks today, although only two with Tampa’s walk being too far away. I decided on the St Pete’s AS walk over the Clearwater AS walk, as was hoping to see more small birds and with birders from the area, it would help me be able to identify when I was on my own for the rest of the week. More on that later though.It was a later start with the walk beginning at 0745, and we arrive at the Boyd Hill Nature Center around 0715. We were immediately greeted with an Osprey flying overhead. This was the first of about 30 Osprey seen that day. A woodpecker flew overhead and when the leader of the walk showed up, they identified it from my photograph as the very common Red-Bellied Woodpecker. My immediate thought when he said that we would be seeing many was either that I would be seeing many of them or I would struggle to see another during my entire trip. Luckily it was the former. As a prewalk check, we went to a bush (firebush) near the entrance to the center next to a playground to check for Hummingbirds (none were there, but they were expected soon). As the walk introduction began (about 45 people), a Bald Eagle soared overhead allowing me to improve on my foggy shots of last November. We entered the nature reserve, which was free to enter due to it being the Audubon walk, and with the high winds, the leader was not holding out much hope on smaller birds. Disappointing, as one of the reasons I went on this one was to get used to some of the names. We moved to a bridge overlooking some water with Green Heron with a Common Gallinule and an Anhinga on the branches in the distance. 3-4 Osprey flew over during this time. As we left the bridge and started up the path, a Cooper’s Hawk posed in a dead tree, unbothered about the number of people sitting and watching from below. Everyone was able to see it, and was still there after we left. A Red-Bellied Woodpecker was at a nesting hole at the next tree, allowing me to improve on photographs earlier. The next part of water had Coots, a single female Ring-Necked Duck, another Bald Eagle, as well as Ospreys flying over time to time. A Tri-colored Heron was seen in the distance, as well as some ducks (could not determine what they were) flew overhead. Rejoining the path, a Downy Woodpecker was seen at a nesting hole (many woodpeckers seen seemed to be preparing nesting holes during this visit). This followed by an Eastern Phoebe, which again was happy on a perch whilst everyone was able to be put on it. We then reached the area of the Great Horned Owl nesting, where it was hunkered down from the wind, so only the “horns” could be seen with the occasional eyes. More Osprey and a Bald Eagle was followed by a Short-Tailed Hawk (Dark Morph as it is Florida). The ST-Hawk taunted me through most of the trip only allowing me to obtain pictures of it flying away from me.We walked to the edge of the reserve, where we saw a Loggerhead Shrike in the distance, followed by a Fish Crow, where I was told the joke about how to tell the difference between an American Crow and a Fish Crow. You ask if it is an American Crow, the Fish Crow will say “Na-Na”. On the walk back to the entrance, a Northern Cardinal was seen and an Osprey on a nest. Additionally, the Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly was also present.After the Audubon walk, I went on to Fort De Soto (less than 10 dollars including causeway toll). The problem with Fort De Soto was that it is very large, meaning there was a high walk:bird ratio. So despite the promise of a large variety of birds on ebird, it was hard to find the sweet areas. Other than Osprey, the first bird to be seen was Yellow-Rumped Warbler, which seemed the most common warbler present during the trip. Ring-Billed Gull was seen at the beach as well as about a pod of seven Dolphins. Moving away from the beach, Northern Mockingbird was seen in the trees near a picnic shelter. Followed by another Eastern Phoebe and a White Peacock Butterfly.  Eurasian Starlings were near a shop and a Gray Catbird was in a palm. The Gray Catbird absence in Boyd Hill, with hindsight, was probably due to so many people in the group as they are very skittish. A Turkey Vulture added into the raptor count for the day as it flew overhead. As we moved to inner water, a Laughing Gull and Brown Pelican were seen. At the trees next to this area, Common Grackle and American Kestrel finished up the day after I stopped counting Osprey due to their abundance (probably count was between 25-35 in the area after including the drive back).After the drive back, a spot of lunch we went for a trip around the East Lake complex that I was staying in. Here I saw three species that I would not see anywhere else, but that is getting ahead of myself and I do so like to tease. A Red-Bellied Woodpecker was in a neighbour’s tree, proving that they were indeed very common and easy to see. As we walked around the complex, it became obvious that you had to look between the houses to make sure you never missed anything. A Little Blue Heron stood behind one house, and a Great Blue Heron was seen on the other side of the lake through another gap. Then one of the first of the species that I would not see elsewhere, a Wood Stork. I was distracted by a shadow and realised that two Eastern Bluebirds had flown to the lamppost (or Streetlight) over my head. They sat there long enough for me to retrace my steps to get the sun behind me. An Anhinga flew over in the distance. This was followed shortly after by seeing sapsucker holes in a tree, and the movement spotted by my Father and his wife, yielded the culprit, a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker (number 2). This was swiftly followed by a skulking Cardinal, allowing me to improve my previous shots. White Ibis were becoming quite common now and in groups of 2-3. Some on a lawn and some in the water, joining the odd Little Blue spot and the Great Blue, one of which was demolishing some sort of crayfish.The third bird that I would only here this week, was a Black-Crowned Night Heron, at the same spot as the previous Little Blue. A pair of American Crow would have finished off the day had it not been for the abundance of White Ibis. Photographed New Species – 16/60</blockquote>

Verification