Audubon Celery Fields, Sarasota, Sarasota, FL, USA, 19-Nov-2012

10:55 AM - 3:00 PM

Protocol: Traveling
2.0 mile(s)
Comments: Another day out with father-in-law for a long walk around this fantastic site which have me some wonderful life birds. Weather: bright, sunny, warm; breezy. <br />Submitted from BirdLog NA for iOS, version 1.5.2
32 species

Mottled Duck 2 over; darkish all over, a distinctive duck of the region. Life-tick.
Wood Stork 6 total; two or three seen flying around on the approach & from the carpark, then a few more in the smaller pools at the far end from the carpark.
Double-crested Cormorant X
Anhinga 2 , a couple on a bush next to a narrow, creek-like section of the largest pond adjacent to the mound.
American White Pelican 1 with the spoonbills, stork & ibises in the small pond near to Coburn Road. It also flew to an island to in the middle of the main pond when's mower disturbed the area.
Great Blue Heron 1
Snowy Egret X
Little Blue Heron 2
Tricolored Heron 3 total; first one seen towards back pond. Blue plumage with white underwing, distinct size allowing id. Life-tick.
Cattle Egret X
White Ibis X
Glossy Ibis X

Roseate Spoonbill 14 total; at first a few seen with some wood storks as we approached the Coburn Road side. I took photos of their beautiful plumage as they eventually moved away out of sight. As we continued on, more were seen on a larger pond with other species reaching good numbers. A mowing machine then caused them all to take flight & move to the middle of the big pond allowing an accurate count. Unmistakable bird: life-tick.

Turkey Vulture X
Osprey X
Northern Harrier 1 ringtail over the sides of the large pond away from the rest of the reserve.
Bald Eagle 3 overhead at various points.
Red-shouldered Hawk 2 total; the first one perched on a birdhouse in the middle of the main pond. Smaller than red-tail but distinctively a buteo. Later another appeared & their call along with mottled chest identified them. This couple then perched atop one of the high floodlights on the road next to the reserve where they stayed until we left.

Common Gallinule 2 in the ditch between the elevated path & the end of the reserve on the Coburn Road side. A brief look but unmistakable. Life-tick.
American Coot X

Limpkin 6 total; first one seen grazing by the side of the creek-like section of the first pond. It was 20ft away & carried on for 10-20 minutes occasionally vocalizing. It moved gradually away & eventually took wing. 4 more were seen later in flight from the carpark as we waited to get picked up. Easy to identify: life-tick
Laughing Gull 12 at Ackerman Lake visible from the elevated path at the back of celery fields.
Forster's Tern 1 or 2 roving over the ponds.
Belted Kingfisher 4 total; 2 near the large back pond, then 2 more towards the Coburn Road side.

Loggerhead Shrike 1 perched in small trees in the small meadow between the mound & main pond. It moved between the trees as if hunting but I saw no spiked prey. It then suddenly flew off. At one point I had it & the re-sighted meadowlark almost in the same binocular view!
Fish Crow 2 visible from the elevated path at the Coburn Road park.
European Starling 1 as we waited to get picked up.
Palm Warbler X
Savannah Sparrow X
Red-winged Blackbird X

Eastern Meadowlark 1 seen from the path coming down the mound in a small grassy area adjacent to creek-like section of first pond. Its head was just above the grass & as it moved its brilliant yellow couloir was also revealed. It staying still for a while before moving out of sight. On the way back I saw it again in more or less the same spot for closer & longer looks with photos. An amazing looking, beautiful bird. Life-tick.
Boat-tailed Grackle X - one & twos, & a group of approx. 20 at the end as we waited to picked up.

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S13477728