Favoritos de laplante

With Valeri Ponzo, Don Fraser, and Dave Gagne; a less-than-stellar visit to this spot (previously) good for wintering sparrows. The weather was sunny and 39 degrees with a light breeze. We left at 1007 after finding no sparrows (other than Eastern Towhee) and kicking one too many cactuses... We headed to the Micanopy Broad-billed Hummingbird spot.

With Valeri Ponzo, Don Fraser, and Dave Gagne; a less-than-stellar visit to this spot (previously) good for wintering sparrows. The weather was sunny and 39 degrees with a light breeze. We left at 1007 after finding no sparrows (other than Eastern Towhee) and kicking one too many cactuses... We headed to the Micanopy Broad-billed Hummingbird spot.

With Fran Meyerson. We spent 20 minutes scanning the Gulf then watched the ducks in Lighthouse Pool. I spent about 30 minutes chatting with Adam Bradley, a birder from Utah who is spending the next two weeks in Florida. The weather at the start was sunny, 66 degrees, and breezy. We left around 1400.

With Fran Meyerson. We spent 20 minutes scanning the Gulf then watched the ducks in Lighthouse Pool. I spent about 30 minutes chatting with Adam Bradley, a birder from Utah who is spending the next two weeks in Florida. The weather at the start was sunny, 66 degrees, and breezy. We left around 1400.

With Fran Meyerson. We spent 20 minutes scanning the Gulf then watched the ducks in Lighthouse Pool. I spent about 30 minutes chatting with Adam Bradley, a birder from Utah who is spending the next two weeks in Florida. The weather at the start was sunny, 66 degrees, and breezy. We left around 1400.

With Valeri Ponzo; Day 2 of our 3-day Thanksgiving holiday trip to the eastern Panhandle.

Our itinerary for Day 2 was:

0655-1008 CST: Chipola River Water Management Area (Calhoun County; return trip from yesterday)

1016-1118 CST: Altha Park (Calhoun County)

1122-1153 CST: Mount Olive Cemetery Road (Calhoun County)

1245-1304 CST: lunch at the Blountstown Subway (Calhoun County)

1335-1343 CST: Willis Bridge Park (Calhoun County; 1 species!)

1400-1506 CST: Chipola River Boat Ramp (Calhoun County)

1615-1708 CST: Sam Atkins Park (Calhoun County; we got rained out)

1845 CST: we checked into the Apalachicola Bay Inn (Franklin County). We ate at a rather pricey restaurant in Apalachicola, where all food was served in Styrofoam containers and plasticware, which was all thrown into the trash when we were finished; weird.

We barely saw the sun on any of the three days; most photographs were taken under gloomy skies, which meant that I often had to boost the light saturation to get a usable image, even if the image ended up looking washed-out.

Val and I have set a goal of attaining 50 or more bird species in each of Florida's 67 counties (Val has reached or exceeded this total in 57 counties, while I have reached or exceeded 50 species in 56 counties). Calhoun County was our primary target this trip; we each started the trip with 14 species. Owing to Val's much-better hearing than mine, Val ended this day with 51 species, while I ended up with 45.

This was a seriously cool fungus that Val found; I hope that it can be identified to species.

A solo visit because I was bored, and there were no Red-legged Honeycreepers to chase. The weather at the start was sunny and 80 degrees with a light breeze. By the time I lefy, at 1427, it was partly cloudy (it would rain in 2 hours), 85 degrees, and breezy.

With Dave Gagne initially (after the others left), then joined later by Don Fraser, , Christine Rowland, Joe Colontonio, and Joanna Chamberlain once we found the Philadelphia Vireos. We were again unsuccessful at finding the Wilson's Warbler that Christine et al. saw on 29 and 30 Sep 2022.

We left at 1219. I forgot to record the weather, but it was sunny and in the 80s.

With Don Fraser initially, joined by Dave Gagne, Christine Rowland, Pat Goldberg et al. We walked back and forth along the creek looking in vain for the Wilson's Warbler that Christine et al. saw on 29 and 30 Sep 2022.

The weather at the start was sunny and 65 degrees with a light breeze. We crossed Scenic Highway at 0915.

With Don Fraser initially, joined by Dave Gagne, Christine Rowland, Pat Goldberg et al. We walked back and forth along the creek looking in vain for the Wilson's Warbler that Christine et al. saw on 29 and 30 Sep 2022.

The weather at the start was sunny and 65 degrees with a light breeze. We crossed Scenic Highway at 0915.

With Valeri Ponzo. Less than 90 minutes before sunset; we weren't sure if any gamebirds would still be active. They were!

The pheasants and partridges are presumed escapees from an adjacent hunting "preserve" where hundreds of birds can be released in a single day, mostly to be gunned down immediately by people who pay big bucks for the "sport.".

The bobwhites are presumed wild individuals.

With Valeri Ponzo and many others; a pelagic trip with 40 birders, among them Michael Brothers, Mitchell Harris, Bob Wallace, and Don Fraser.

Adult that made repeated passes over the boat -- YEAH!!!!

eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S30444482