| Although it was not the same as the 29 warbler weekend last weekend (I could not even come within 20 of this number), Ft. DeSoto was hard to pass up this weekend. I arrived on Friday night and found a few lingering migrants from the fallout. Other than a Black-throated Blue at the tower, all of the migrants were at the Mulberry Tree area. Included in this flock was a nice male Rose-breasted Grosbeak, three Orchard Orioles, Blackpoll Warbler, and several Indigo Buntings. On Saturday I arrived at first light to find East Beach Woods completely dead. I moved on to the Mulberry Trees to boost my warbler list for the day up to one with a male Blackpoll in the same tree as the previous day. Orchard Orioles were heard but not seen, a few male Indigo Buntings still molting into their completely blue plumage were seen high up in the Australian Pines. The tower was rather unimpressive with the only new bird being a White-eyed Vireo. Earlier sightings of tour groups made me check out some of the lesser known about spots. I took a walk off the trail in Arrowhead Picnic area where I had seen some interesting birds over the years. Rather few birds were chipping, but a lonely female American Redstart was found flitting a few feet above my head, and a male Kentucky Warbler was surprisingly tame as he made it onto my year list. A flyover Bobolink was a rather easy tick for the year. A female Black-and-white Warbler on the way out of the picnic area helped the warbler list get half way to double digits. For a while North Beach gave me hope for the rest of the day. Palm Warblers, another Redstart, and Parula were seen near the pond. There was an odd sounding bird in the turnaround that I thought I remembered hearing from Texas the week before. This really nasal call was the highlight of the day, a Dickcissel sitting on the powerline. The bird later flew down to eye level about 20 feet away. The shorebirds at North Beach were about average with the most unusual species being three Whimbrels. |
