Migrants on Sanibel, Summer Tanager and more

A different look at today's migrants on Sanibel, FL. The best action was on Pond Apple Trail. The male Summer Tanager looked down on us. The Northern Waterthrush was in the "Commerce Pond" the first water area as you walk from the Chamber of Commerce parking lot, showing a view another waterthrush may see as it faced it. What's with those eyebrows anyway? The female Northern Parula sat looking upward, her yellow throat glowing. An Ovenbird was so skulking in the underbrush to the right of the pond in deep shadow, I gave it a "diffuse glow" from photoshop to capture the feeling. And a female Northern Cardinal was determined to build her nest in the woods.

Warbler Migration and More Happening Now!

Prothonotary Warbler, male

Prothonotary Warbler, female

Hooded Warbler, male

Hooded Warbler, male

Northern Parula Warbler, female

White-eyed Vireo

Cave Swallow

White-eyed Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo

Eye candy migrant warblers and more are coming into TX, FL and other Gulf Coast States. Soon they will come to you..

Gray Kingbirds Have Arrived!!

Gray Kingbird migrants were coming into Sanibel today, a few at the lighthouse and this one was on the wires near the East End Deli. They are  in the flycatcher family of birds, hence the sitting on wires and flying out to catch insects as this one did. This species mainly breeds in coastal FL and a little into coastal AL and GA. What a treat to see these arrive!! Migration is just gearing up, lots more warblers and songbirds to come.

Beautiful Black-necked Stilts have just arrived!

Black-necked Stilt, male

Black-necked Stilt

Black-necked Stilt, preening

Black-necked Stilt, female

Black-necked Stilts have just arrived here on Sanibel, FL and elsewhere. Such a beautiful shorebird! The male has a jet black back and female has a more brownish back. Their most outstanding feature is the bubble-gum-pink long legs which enable this bird to wade out into deeper water to get insects off the water surface. Stilts are mostly coastal in eastern and Gulf states but can be found on inland lakes and marshes of the Midwest and West. The nest is a scrape or mound of vegetation placed near water. The female lays 3-4 eggs and incubation takes 25 days. When the young hatch they are fully feathered and can feed themselves, the parents job is mainly to protect them. By the way, if you want to know this type of breeding and nesting information, which is great to know to enjoy birds more, you  should pick up a copy of our new The Stokes Essential Pocket Guide to the Birds of North America, it has all that information as well as all new photos and great ID info. Available now at online booksellers, bookstores and wild bird stores (just ask.)

Blackpoll Warbler Migration Underway, Sanibel, FL

Blackpoll Warbler, male

migrant arrived at the Sanibel Lighthouse

and helped himself to a well-earned meal, having come all the way from South America where he wintered!

Yesterday and the day before we saw migrant Blackpoll Warblers arriving at the Sanibel Lighthouse park, Sanibel, FL. This bird is a male and he looks like a cross between a chickadee and a Black-and-white Warbler! These birds breed in the northern boreal forest then fly all the way to South America to spend the winter. In winter Blackpoll Warblers look nothing like this and are streaked olive-green above with pale yellow or whitish underparts with indistinct olive streaking on flanks, white undertail coverts and dark or pink-sided legs and always yellow soles of feet. Yes, you can see the yellow soles of their feet if you look! See our The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America for complete photos and ID information.

Black-billed Cuckoo, Sanibel Lighthouse park, FL a Wow Migrant for here!

Black-billed Cuckoo

There are slender white tail markings, very different than the bold white tail spots of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

Birders went cuckoo today over the sighting of a migrant Black-billed Cuckoo at the Sanibel Lighthouse park, Sanibel, FL. This is a rare bird for here and many birders and tourists lined up to get a view or photograph while keeping a respectful distance from the bird. The cuckoo put on a show and posed in the shrubs, a few times going down into the grass to grab a small lizard for a snack. 

We see Black-billed Cuckoos on our NH property although not very frequently. Here in Sanibel, where they have Mangrove Cuckoos in Ding Darling NWR, and Yellow-billed Cuckoos as migrants, the Black-billed Cuckoo is the one that steals the show.

Blue-Winged Warbler, Common Nighthawk and More Migrants, Sanibel Lighthouse

Blue-winged Warbler

Common Nighthawk

Yesterday this beautiful Blue-winged Warbler was among the migrant birds landing at the Sanibel Lighthouse, Sanibel, FL and thrilling birders. The Common Nighthawk was resting on a branch of a tree. Storms out in the Gulf of Mexico and north of us made it a wise choice for these migrants to land, rest and feed. We also saw Blackburnian, Worm-eating, Prairie, Palm, and Cape May Warblers and Common Yellowthroat, Eastern and Gray Kingbirds, Indigo Buntings, Orchard Orioles, and, at dusk, many hundreds of Barn Swallows and some Northern Rough-winged, Cliff, and Bank Swallows staged at the lighthouse and some began moving to the mainland, awesome sight!

Tennessee and Blackburnian Warblers, Sanibel Lighthouse Today.

Blackburnian Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

Tennessee Warbler

These  showed up today at the Sanibel Lighthouse Park, Sanibel, FL, migrants who crossed the Gulf of Mexico! The Tennessee was eating the fruits of the fig trees there. Birders were thrilled with the beauty of the Blackburnian.

Worm-eating Warbler Migrant, cool bird!

Just saw this Worm-eating Warbler migrant on Sanibel Island, FL. It eats mainly caterpillars "worms" from dead leaves during wintering and from live foliage during breeding. It breeds in the East in forests with dense shrubby understory and nests on the ground. It is a more unusual migrant here, we do not see many of them, so seeing this one was very special.

More Spring Migrants, Sanibel Lighthouse, FL, Buntings, Orioles, Kingbirds!

Indigo Bunting, male in Gumbo Limbo tree.

Palm Warbler in Florida-privet shrub

Western Kingbird 

Gray Kingbird, look how big the head and bill are!

Birders from Canada; Sarah, Kory and baby Emily Renaud and Jeremy Bensette.

Orchard Oriole, male hiding in fig tree

Orchard Oriole, 1st yr. male, in fig tree.

Birds keep coming into the Sanibel Lighthouse park, Sanibel, FL. It is so rewarding to see these hungry migrants, many of whom have just successfully crossed the Gulf of Mexico, find food and shelter in the many native trees and shrubs planted in the park. So many birders show up to see these wonderful birds, including the group of birders, pictured above, who live near Point Pelee Canada and who were seeing many life birds! Such fun to meet newest birder, baby Emily, who was being introduced to birding! The social scene is as fun as the biding!

J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge Stokes Photo Tour

As a fundraiser for the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, on Sanibel, FL, Don and I led a birding and photography tour through the refuge yesterday. This was a special treat for all as the refuge is closed to the public on Fridays. Ding is one of the crown jewels of the National Wildlife Refuge system, has incredible opportunities for birding and photography and is a safe haven for the birds.

Participants were first treated to a yummy breakfast buffet in the beautiful refuge headquarters.

Then we headed out in to look for some of the fabulous birds Ding has to offer, such as this Reddish Egret.

Our trams were provided by Tarpon Bay Explorers, who offer their own excellent tours. My tram was for the photography participants. My challenge was to teach photography to participants who hand many different levels of skill and kinds of cameras, some of them DSLRs, some point-and-shoots. I was helping people learn about the tools of photography like exposure compensation, Aperture Priority, ISO, etc. I also took photos myself with my Canon SX 50 HS, which is the new point and shoot super-zoom that can reach 24-1200mm in the digital range and up to 4800mm in the optical range. All the photos here were taken with that camera. 

Photographing white birds in bright light is tricky as it is easy to overexpose the photo. Participants learned about using exposure compensation settings on their camera which can help avoid this.

There were opportunities for flight photography. This Magnificent Frigatebird, 3rd-4th yr., soared overhead at a distance. I zoomed in on it and used the SX 50's "Sports Mode" to capture these photos.

This is hardly cropped, that's how close the zoom got.

Don led the tram and taught bird identification. We made frequent stops to look for birds and photo ops.

A Yellow-crowned Night Heron was hunting for crabs and fish in one of the ditches. Even though birds in Ding Darling are very used to humans and allow close approach (unlike most birds in other places), we cautiously approached this bird. The American Birding Association has an excellent written code of ethics to help birders and photographers know how to treat birds.

Since the camera I was using has a powerful telephoto lens, I was able to get eyeball shots, while staying a distance. A big benefit of telephoto lenses is that you can keep a good distance and not disturb a bird, yet photograph it. The Canon SX 50 HS is also lightweight at 1.31 pounds.

This bird hunted slowly then exploded into action, catching this unlucky crab!

At the tower pond, many shorebirds were resting on the sand bar. Willets, a common shorebird with black and white patterns on their wings, kept flying in. I like this photo where it looks like angel's wings. Drama in the midst of dullness.

White Pelicans are some of the stars at Ding. Many of these beautiful, big birds winter there then return to their western breeding areas. This one was preening. Photo shot at 195x. For more on the SX 50 HS go here. Have fun with photography and continue to learn more and experiment with your cameras.

We are thinking of all of you in New England, our home, please stay safe in the blizzard!!