Sarasota to Naples

Florida

Friday 3 March 2023 84 °F

THURSDAY, MARCH 2:

Today, Dan, my dad, and I birded Myakka River State Park and Cape Coral on our way to Naples, in hopes of finding Short-tailed Hawk (a would-be lifer), Burrowing Owl, and herps. We started at a marsh area in the state park where there was a CATTLE EGRET:

And GLOSSY IBIS:

SANDHILL CRANE:

WILSON’S SNIPE and LESSER YELLOWLEGS:

American Alligator!

More of the Yellowlegs:

WOOD STORK:

BLACK VULTURES:

NORTHERN BOBWHITE was a really nice surprise along the trail:

RED-SHOULDERED HAWK:

Then, it dove into the nearby ditch and caught a Nerodia sp. watersnake which it then flew into the nearby forest and presumably feasted upon. So not the greatest way to see my first Florida snake, but a cool sighting nevertheless!

BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER:

NORTHERN PARULA:

Then, the drive along backroads on our way to Naples was pretty productive bird-wise with LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE:

RED-TAILED HAWK:

RED-SHOULDERED HAWK:

BALD EAGLE:

A nice large flock of WHITE IBIS:

Then, upon getting to the Burrowing Owl colony in Cape Coral, I spotted a large blob next to the roped-off section for the owls…could it be???

GOPHER TORTOISE!!!!

Though I know these endangered reptiles are one of the main reasons Burrowing Owls persist in Florida, I was not expecting to see one as they are so uncommon. But we ended up actually seeing two, so this was an amazing lifer!!!!

And of course, BURROWING OWLS never disappoint:

I even snapped a photo of these two keystone species together, an uncommon and awesome sighting!

This EASTERN MEADOWLARK was also nice:

And on the rest of the drive down to Naples we were treated to my FOY SWALLOW-TAILED KITE, an absolutely amazing bird of prey of which I will never tire!

My bird of the day, though, unfortunately went unphotographed as I spotted my life bird SHORT-TAILED HAWK, a light morph, soaring over I-75 on thermals while we zipped down the highway! An absolutely awesome Buteo species and I am really hoping to photograph it over the next few days. So a slightly unsatisfying look, but satisfactory enough for a positive ID as I saw that darker head contrasting sharply with its bright white underside.

And finally upon arriving to our hotel in Naples, I spotted another FOY: this MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD! Cool.