My Sector of the Sarasota Christmas Bird Count December 30 2023

 

Totally by surprise was a Royal Tern flying overhead 6 miles from the ocean!  A first for my sector of the Christmas Bird Count

By Nicholas Atamas - Photograph taken with EF 70-200mm F/4 L on a Canon EOS300D at 200mm, F/6.3 exposed for 1/1600sec, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=678974

Here are the results from this morning's run of my 2 square mile chunk of suburbia inside the Sarasota Christmas Bird Count circle. 70 species plus the confusing Mallard/Mottled (here called Muddled Duck) Duck complex makes this the best year by 5 species for my count.  I now have 86 species plus the hybrid duck in my sector over 5 years.

New species for my sector included Pied billed Grebe, American Coot, Royal Tern  (complete surprise inland) Black-crowned Night-Heron, Red-headed Woodpecker, Brown-headed Nuthatch (at the southern limit of its range here) Eastern Towhee, Orange-crowned Warbler and Summer Tanager (heard first using its classic "pick-it-up" call)

Oh, yes, and the annual Cottonmouth with a shitty attitude was curled up by his favorite wetland in Deer Hollow.  I think that snake waits there all year long for me to show up so he can scare the trump out of me.

Major misses include Common Ground-Dove -- they nest in our development just haven't started to call yet.  White-winged Dove - there is usually one or two by Gecko's Restaurant wetland but nobody showed up today, and Glossy Ibis!! There were more than 100 of them in the area 1-2 weeks ago but they all disappeared today.

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck	21
Blue-winged Teal	3
Mottled Duck	8
Ring-necked Duck	1
Hooded Merganser	1
Pied-billed Grebe	1
Rock Pigeon	81
Eurasian Collared-Dove	6
Mourning Dove	8
Common Gallinule	9
American Coot	1
Limpkin	4
Sandhill Crane	2
Laughing Gull	1
Royal Tern	1
Wood Stork	2
Anhinga	3
Double-crested Cormorant	7
Black-crowned Night-Heron	1
Little Blue Heron	3
Tricolored Heron	1
Snowy Egret	1
Green Heron	1
Western Cattle Egret	11
Great Egret	2
Great Blue Heron	2
White Ibis	147
Roseate Spoonbill	1
Black Vulture	1
Turkey Vulture	18
Osprey	2
Cooper's Hawk	1
Bald Eagle (Subadult/Adults)	2/1
Red-shouldered Hawk	3
Belted Kingfisher	3
Red-headed Woodpecker	1
Red-bellied Woodpecker	7
Downy Woodpecker	2
Pileated Woodpecker	1
American Kestrel	1
Nandy Parakeet	2
Eastern Phoebe	2
Blue-headed Vireo	3
Loggerhead Shrike	2
Blue Jay	37
Fish Crow	30
Tufted Titmouse	3
Tree Swallow	84
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1
Brown-headed Nuthatch	3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	5
Carolina Wren	2
European Starling	23
Gray Catbird	1
Brown Thrasher	1
Northern Mockingbird	11
Eastern Bluebird	1
House Finch	3
Eastern Towhee	1
Red-winged Blackbird	19
Brown-headed Cowbird	7
Common Grackle	37
Boat-tailed Grackle	117
Orange-crowned Warbler	1
Common Yellowthroat	4
Palm Warbler	44
Pine Warbler	2
Yellow-rumped Warbler	31
Summer Tanager	1
Northern Cardinal	3
Total Individuals	854
Total Species	70
Total Party Hours	5.5
Party hours on foot	2
Party Miles on foot	2.7
Party hours by car	3.5
Party miles by car	11.7
Start time	655
End time	1230