Orlando Wetlands Park, 10/15/2011

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Bald Eagle
This was a great birding day for me.  My biggest highlight lasted only a few seconds, and I wasn't even sure of it when it happened.  I was shooting pictures of a Marsh Wren, and a Fulvous Whistling Duck flew by.  I was able to fire off a couple of shots, but the lighting was so bad that I had my doubts until I was able to look at my photos in my computer.  Palm Warblers were here in force, as well as Common Yellowthroat, but I had more fun with a Swamp Sparrow that posed for me.  And for some reason a female Red-Winged Blackbird decided to show off for me and do the splits.

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Tricolored Heron
I found a bunch of Blue-Winged Teal there, and as I was getting ready to focus, they all flew off in a rush.  So immediately I looked up and a Bald Eagle was flying right for me. I was able to get a few shots before he flew away, but I'm grateful to the Blue-Winged Teal--if they hadn't become alarmed, it may have flown by without me noticing.

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Eastern Phoebe
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Red-Winged Blackbird
(doing the splits)
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Blue-Winged Teal
(spooked by Bald Eagle)
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Swamp Sparrow
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Monarch Butterfly
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Fulvous Whistling Duck
(terrible picture, but it's the first I've seen)
Here's a list of species I saw today:

Non-Birds
Viceroy Butterfly
Monarch Butterfly
Gulf Fritillary Butterfly
White Peacock Butterfly
Skipper (don't know which kind)
American Alligator

Birds
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck X
Fulvous Whistling-Duck 1
Blue-winged Teal X
Northern Shoveler X
Pied-billed Grebe X
Double-crested Cormorant 2
Anhinga X
Great Blue Heron X
Great Egret X
Snowy Egret X
Little Blue Heron X
Tricolored Heron X
Green Heron X
White Ibis X
Glossy Ibis X
Black Vulture X
Turkey Vulture X
Bald Eagle 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 3
Purple Gallinule 3
Common Gallinule X
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Rock Pigeon 1
Mourning Dove X
Common Ground-Dove 2
Belted Kingfisher 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue Jay 1
Fish Crow X
Marsh Wren 2
Gray Catbird 1
Common Yellowthroat X
Palm Warbler X
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Swamp Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Common Grackle 1
Boat-tailed Grackle X

Comments

  1. Nice get on the Fulvous, Scott. I didn't see that when I was there yesterday, but I think I may have seen you (striped shirt and long shorts?). The Fulvous would have been a lifer for me. Did you notice the Northern Shoveler in your flock of Teals? There was 2 of them in the lake with the Teals when I walked past. Looks like you caught one of them in the flock.

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  2. Thanks, Michael. Were you one of the two guys I met on the birding loop? If so, I wish I'd taken the time to chat with you. I always like to meet fellow birders, but I guess I was too focused on warblers at the time--plus I need to get out to Circle B Bar sometimes, and you seem to be an expert on it.

    I'm not positive that the fulvous even landed in the park. I was on the path that cuts diagonally to the influent. I may have seen him in the water by the shore--I did see him fly away from me, but it was so far away couldn't see much of him. Then he turned and flew back and I caught him as he went over me. It's a first for me too, though I wasn't sure what I saw until I got home.

    I didn't notice the shovelers that morning. I normally see them with the teal, but the bald eagle scared them all, and I didn't examine them in flight. Thanks for catching the one in the photo. I'll add it to my ebird list.

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