Roseate Spoonbill by Dan

Time gets away from me and I realized that two trips were made to the Circle B Bar that were never written about. So I am going to combine the two. On February 24th and the on March 10th we made our way to one of the neatest places to bird here in central Florida. Both days were cloudless and cool but nice. The biggest problem out there right now is that we are in draught conditions and some of the water holes are drying. It seems the birds that like shallower water are finding  it great, but some have moved on.

One group of White Pelicans at distance with friends

The highlight of both trips were the White Pelicans. There numbers were in the 1000’s. I gave up counting after 1,000 and found out that a week earlier over 5,000 had been counted. It was neat to watch them lift up in groups and circle abit until they got in their V-formations and then head off. It was awesome to watch. My other joy was watching my first Common Yellowthroat that I had seen up close. He looks like a “yellow bandito” with a black mask (The picture is blurry, but you can see him). We also spot a “huge” alligator and an otter. Below is a list of what was spotted on those two trips. We were with some home schoolers on one of those trips, so we were training as well as looking. There are many more birds to see out there. My life list is up to 73 out there, plus the ones I couldn’t ID.

White Pelicans by Lee

Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Bobwhite
Pied-billed Grebe
American White Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis

Common Yellowthroat

Roseate Spoonbill
Wood Stork
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
Purple Gallinule
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Lesser Yellowlegs
Wilson’s Snipe
Mourning Dove

Red-shouldered Hawk by Dan

Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
Tree Swallow
Tufted Titmouse
Sedge Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Northern Mockingbird
Palm Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Boat-tailed Grackle

For more visits to Circle B Bar Reserve