Breanna's Birding Blog: July 2013

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Reddington Beach - July 20, 2013

Also stopped at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary today. It is so sad they cannot afford to take in injured birds anymore. Outside the sanctuary on the beach are nesting skimmers. They were being heavily gaurded this year compared to previous years, so my pictures were not as close. Still very cute babies!

Fort de Soto - July 20, 2013

Went to see if I could find the Brown Booby reported at Fort DeSoto yesterday. There were a lot of other birders there too. No luck with that one, but I did find two other birds I have never seen before: Gray Kingbird and Brown Headed Cowbird (female)--->(at first I thought these were female blue grosbeaks, but now I see they are most likely the female cowbirds.) Also seen were Short-billed Dowitchers, mockingbirds (juvenile pictured), and some beautiful dolphins. Several of the fishermen on the pier were not happy because both the dolphins and birds were stealing their bait fish. Wish they could enjoy the wildlife like I do!

Al Palonis Park - July 20, 2013

Found several Yellow-Crowned Night Herons again at this park at the end of Gandy Bridge in Tampa. I liked seeing the juvenile for a change too!

White-Winged Scooter at Gandy Bridge - July 20, 2013

Went to again find the white-winged scooter mentioned in an earlier post. She was again spotted immediately, but this time she had a friend: a short-billed dowitcher. It was so interesting to see them both preening together on the shore. She must be lonely! Good thing this shorebird decided to associate with her. They stayed together the entire 20 minutes or so that my mom and I were there observing.

Hummingbird Moth in New Port Richey - July 19, 2013

I am always excited to see these. Most often I see them at Lettuce Lake on a Button Bush, but today it was found on some plumbego, a garden plant. Sometimes I think I enjoy moths even more than butterflies! Very pretty!

Lettuce Lake Park - July 19, 2013

Back at lettuce lake again this morning and found a variety of interesting creatures among the water hyacinth and other water plants. Most interesting find today was this Pine Warbler, which I have most likely seen before, but never identified and photographed until today. Also found a baby green anole (brown phase) on the boardwalk. He was so small!