What a fantastic morning at Orlando Wetlands Park! The area was just filled with birds. Of course, top on my list was seeing a Vermilion Flycatcher. It was right where has been–in the cypress trees in cell #17. But the area was also filled with other birds. Lots of Blue-winged Teal and Green-winged Teal, as […]
Tag: Long-billed Dowitcher
Pectoral Sandpipers in Shasta County?
Well it’s not unheard of but pretty rare to see Pectoral Sandpipers in Shasta County. You see the Pectoral Sandpiper is a medium-sized sandpiper that breeds on wet tundra in both the North American and Siberian Arctic and winters mostly in southern South America1. I know range maps basically show the “average” or “normal” range […]
Recent Birding Tour of Northwestern Kyushu
Between September 16 and 19 I led a couple from Canada around birding spots in Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Saga, Fukuoka and Oita prefectures. Before the tour started, I took the ferry across to Kumamoto from Shimabara, spotting a large flock of Streaked Shearwater just out from Shimabara Port, and then Brown Booby as the ferry neared […]
August Migrant Shorebirds
I visited Daijyugarami, Saga prefecture, last Friday to see what birds had started migrating through. The highlights were a solitary juvenile Asian Dowitcher, a Long-billed Dowitcher in breeding plumage, a Red Knot also in breeding plumage, a Broad-billed Sandpiper, a Long-toed Stint, four Black-faced Spoonbill, one Saunders’s Gull, a few Black-tailed Godwit and plenty of […]
Bobolinks at Marl Bed Flats
This morning I drove out to Marl Bed Flats this morning. I was hoping to see a Long-billed Dowitcher that was reported here a few days ago. I didn’t find him, but I did find a lot of other birds. I was surprised to see about 100 Bobolinks. These are the first I’ve ever seen, […]
Saunders’s Gull (Chroicocephalus saundersi)
Yesterday morning I visited Daijyugarami for the first time this year. A little early for the rarer migrant waders, but there were plenty of Grey Plover, Red-necked Stint, Dunlin, Kentish Plover and Greater Sand Plover. There were also quite a few Black-faced Spoonbill slowly coming into breeding plumage, along with a sprinkling of Far Easter […]
Merritt Island NWR, 1/19/2013
Yesterday I drove out to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. I visited three areas: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Canaveral National Seashore, and East/West Gator Creek. When I arrived on the island and drove toward Blackpoint Dr, I saw a man pulled over looking into the trees. I decided to look at what he found, and it […]