Snail Kites in Florida

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Lake Okeechobee

I have been on vacation for a while in Florida and one of my main target birds this year was Snail Kite. I saw a couple last year while I was here, but very brief views and no photos. I tried several of the known locations for them right away but was unsuccessful. I finally found a female at Torry Island, in Bella Grade on the south side of Lake Okeechobee. I was talking to a local woman about a Painted x Indigo Bunting, when it flew up from the marshy area. I saw the general area where it landed, so I walked over to and climbed the observation tower to scan for it. After a few minutes, I finally found it sitting really low to the water, but it was at least 200 yards away. Of course, it was on the south side of me, sitting in terrible light. After a few minutes, it flew down to a stump in the water and then again quickly flew and grabbed a snail. It took the snail and flew to another perch and started eating it. This was a really slow process and since it was further away, I gave up watching after 40 minutes or so. This area was also hosting a beautiful male Vermilion Flycatcher and two Tropical Kingbirds. Both of those birds were life birds for me, so I focused on them for a little while. I came back to the observation tower after, and the Snail Kite was still in the same spot and hadn’t moved. I guess I didn’t miss anything to fun. Below are the photos from that day. Enjoy!

Lake Tohopekaliga

A couple weeks later, we took an airboat tour on Lake Tohopekaliga, with Boggy Creek Airboat Adventures. I didn’t bring my equipment with me, as I thought it just going to be a fun boat ride. Well, that was a huge mistake! We saw 6 Snail Kites, which like most birds in Florida are extremely tame. We got within 75′ of a female sitting on a post hunting, in a large, loud airboat! The captain turned off the boat and explained to the others what bird it was and that it’s endangered. I couldn’t believe it, best view I ever had and no camera, unbelievable! After the tour, I talked with our boat captain, and he suggested I do a private tour just for the Snail Kites. So that’s what we did. I booked it for the following day, early in the morning, to get the best possible light. It was amazing and well worth it, if you are interested in getting up close and personal to them. On the private tour we saw 8, including two males, one of which posed beautifully for me. I highly suggest doing one if you’re down ever down that way. Photos below are from the private airboat tour. Enjoy!

Snail Kite information

I’ve included a few links with more information about them.

Everglade snail kite | FWC (myfwc.com)

Snail Kite | Audubon Florida

Snail Kite Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Long-eared Owls in 2022

Jeremy2 Comments

These owls are very hard to find and blend in with their surroundings incredibly well. You can be looking right at them and not see them. They are nocturnal and sleep during the day. Consistent activity around a roosting site can cause them to expend too much energy that is needed for the nightly hunting. If you ever stumble across a roost, please use discretion and proper etiquette. That being said, they are very approachable (within reason) and will let you know if you are too close based on their facial expressions. I will try to show you the various stages that they show you, with the 4 owls at this particular roost, in the following pictures:

Acknowledging you but showing content

Notice that they might look at you, but their eyes are mostly closed. They still watch their surroundings, in case of any potential threats, but are fine with your presence. They will most likely go back to sleep, but you should keep your distance.

A little too close for comfort

Notice how their eyes are mostly open. They are intent on watching you, to make sure you are not a threat to them. At this point you should move away slowly and give them their space, so they can return to sleeping.

Too close, back off

Notice their eyes are wide open and they consider you an immediate threat. If you end up at this point, try to move away very slow and quietly. Failure to do so will most likely end up in flushing one or more from the roost.

Happy New Year, with a Purple Sandpiper!

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I was still sleeping from New Year’s Eve, when I was awoken to my phone’s text messages going off. I’m thinking who on earth is texting me at 7:30am, on New Year’s Day! I reached for my phone to silence it, so I could go back to bed. Obviously, I had to see who it was and when I saw it was our group text, I clicked on it and saw Purple Sandpiper at McKinley Marina. So much for any extra sleep! I raced down there, and it was still around. An awesome way to start the new year off. It was in the corner of the marina, where the walkway starts for the fisherman’s pier. There is a little patch of sand that has built up, which it was feeding on. It was cold and windy, with waves crashing over the rocks spraying water everywhere. It was still very early and pretty dark, making it extremely challenging for pictures. Thankfully it was very close for viewing, that I could take off my extender and shoot at a 600mm, with a F-stop of 4, allowing more light into my camera. A nice bonus for using a lens like that! It sounds like a good amount of people were able to view it, before it flew off about 9:15am, with a Ruddy Turnstone. The turnstone has been around for a while but wasn’t there until closer to 9. I can’t imagine they left, rather just flew out and sat in the rocks somewhere. Might be worth a check early tomorrow morning. Good luck! Pictures below are from the morning. Enjoy!

Tufted Duck in Milwaukee

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A Tufted Duck was found on Sunday 12/26, at the Hoan Bridge Harbor/Petroleum Pier in Milwaukee. It was still present as of today, 1/1. This bird has been enjoyed my many people from different states. I think it will be the third state record. Unfortunately, it’s usually far out and a scope is needed for good looks at it. I’m only 15 minutes away from the area and had off of work last week, so I was able to check every day for it. Finally, yesterday morning it came rather close when moving from the South end to the North end. I was able to get fairly decent photos of it. Of course, the sun was nonexistent for most of the week, so lighting was terrible which is typical for winter in Wisconsin. It’s nice that it stuck around for people to see, and it seems like it will be here for a while, as long as there is open water. I’m sure most people have seen it that wanted too, if not, good luck if you try for it! Photos below are from the week. Enjoy!

* Help to view the Tufted Duck… There are 3 access points underneath the Hoan Bridge. The southern one is usually locked. The middle one is usually open and gives you access to 75% of the area. The Northern one is right in front of the Petroleum Pier and gives you access to the last 25%. The Tufted Duck prefers to hang around the pier area, sometimes going on the north side of it, with very little view and no access. I have seen the duck on the southern end twice, so they all move around. It’s usually 100-200 yards out.

Incredible find at Waukegan Municipal Beach, a Small-billed Elaenia!

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On Friday 11/26/21, a Small-billed Elaenia was discovered near Waukegan Municipal Beach, IL. The exact location can be found at these coordinates, 42.3620817, -87.8185852. It doesn’t show up on eBird as an alert, so people might not know about it, that don’t live in Illinois or belong to certain groups. I think it was originally posted to a Facebook group “what’s this bird?”

The Small-billed Elaenia is a tyrant flycatcher of South America. If confirmed, it would be only the 4th record in North America. Remarkably, another was found in 2012, not too far from here, at Douglass Park in Chicago! More information about this species can be found at the following link, Small-billed Elaenia – eBird

I decided to try for the Elaenia on Tuesday, 11/30. The bird was seen in 8 o’clock hour, so I figured I would have good chance to see it. I arrived just before 10am, and there were at least 10 others looking for it as well. It was over an hour before it finally “popped” up, just after 11:15. Everyone that was present, was rewarded with fairly good looks at it. After this it was in and out of view for the next couple hours. This bird was in a mixed group of yew shrubs and cedar trees, behind a chain link fence. The yew shrubs are very thick and it’s really easy to lose sight of it in there. It was eating the red berries of the yew shrubs, and occasionally a few insects that were flying around the shrubs. A very cool bird to see and an enjoyable day talking to people from all over. Pictures below are from the several hours spent there on Tuesday. Good luck if you try for it! Enjoy!

Red-necked Grebe in Milwaukee

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There has been a Red-necked Grebe in the Milwaukee Harbor the last couple days. It has been seen north, near Lakeshore State Park and south into the river mouth. Today I spent a few hours starting at sunrise and never saw it. Right away, a tug boat went down the river, which didn’t help. There were a couple hundred mergansers, that all took flight and scattered. It’s possible that it was in or near that group early on. Then it was reported near the lighthouse around 11am, go figure. I went back down there and it was starting to head up the river mouth, by the time I arrived. I watched it for about 45 minutes and it was moving slowly west. When I left, it was around the first bend, heading south towards Jones Island. The one that came through in January of ’20 was in winter plumage, but this one is near breeding plumage. It is a very pretty bird! Pictures below are from the late morning. Enjoy!

Stunning Harlequin Duck in Sheboygan

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For anyone that doesn’t already know, the male Harlequin Duck in Sheboygan is finally in full breeding plumage. He has been there for almost a year now. In spring on his first molt attempt, he acquired about 50% of his plumage. I was really hoping that he would stick around until the fall, so I could see him in all his glory. Well… he did and he is absolutely stunning!!! It is worth the trip to Sheboygan, if you have the chance. The only time I’ve seen one like this, is at the zoo. Now if you do go, you need to have patience and check the entire area, as he moves around quite a bit. I saw him right in the marina, just north of the public boat launch. I walked right past him, only 15′ away. Others have had him closer to North Point, by the jetties. He also likes to sleep on the docks and also on the rocks, both out by the break and right next to shore. If at first you don’t see him, keep looking. Good luck if you try for him and if you need motivation, check out the photos below. Enjoy!

Harris’s Sparrow at Warnimont Park 10/4/21

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I stopped by the Kelly Senior Center, on the south end of Warnimont Park this afternoon. I was hoping to find something cool and I did, my third Harris’s Sparrow in less than a week! Funny that I find another too, because I almost went back to Whitnall today instead. I didn’t get very good photos of the two at Wehr Nature Center, so I contemplated going there again. Like the Wehr birds, it was with several White-crowned and a couple White-throated Sparrows. They would come out of the trees and feed in the grass, for extended times. When the wind would kick up and blow the leaves around, they would all fly back into the trees and then come back out. They moved around quite frequently, along the tree lines. The majority of the time, they were all in the grass area with the bird feeders. I also had 11 warbler species, however most were very uncooperative and didn’t want their picture taken today. I’m guessing the bird will stick around a few days this week, considering its in good habitat, with good food sources. Good luck if you try! Enjoy!

Shocking Find along Sheridan Drive, on 9/12/21

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I was out at sunrise this morning, along Sheridan Drive, in Cudahy this morning. I’ve been here almost every day this week, and is my favorite fall migration spot. I was already having an excellent warbler morning, when I stumbled across a stunning Azure Tit (yellow-breasted)! I was watching a very nice pocket of warblers and vireos, when I kept hearing a “weird” bird call. It was just a single note, but I could not figure it out for the life of me. After a few minutes, out pops this colorful bird! I knew it was a type of tit just by looking at it, and I thought Blue Tit, but wasn’t sure. I just started snapping pictures following it from branch to branch, hoping to get some good photos for documentation. The sun had just went behind the low lake clouds and it was rather dark, so not great conditions for photos. I ended up with just over 100 pictures of it, in that short of time. It passed by with a group of three Black-capped Chickadees and several Bay-breasted Warblers. It seemed fully alert and wild, and was not tame by any means. It came and went in less than 30 seconds and I didn’t see or hear it anymore. What an exciting sighting! I ended the morning with 54 species and 20 warblers, best warbler day of the week. I had huge numbers of Blackpoll Warblers and Swainson’s Thrushes. Hopefully the weather cooperates this week and I can get out after work for some more action. The Azure Tit is a beautiful bird and sure made a great morning into an amazing morning! Enjoy!

Baird’s Sandpiper at Lakeshore State Park 9/7/21

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I was out chasing warblers at Warnimont Park yesterday evening, when I saw an eBird hourly report of a Buff-breasted Sandpiper in Milwaukee. The location was inaccurate and the only details were “along the lakefront”. Since I had only 14 warbler species and it was rather slow for songbirds, I decided to head down to LSSP, and see if that was the location for it. On my way, photos were posted of the buffy and it sure appeared to be LSSP. When I arrived behind the Summerfest grounds, I could see people on the beach and a dog in the water, which is a terrible combo for shorebirds! I looked through my binoculars and could see a bird along the waters edge. I walked out and got to the beach, the bird had just flown from the other side, to right in front of me, how convenient! The sun was setting and the lighting was terrible. I tried to position myself to better the light, but it really wasn’t possible. I got setup and started taking photos. I immediately knew this was NOT a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, but rather a Baird’s Sandpiper. Sometime in the hour and a half from original sighting to me getting there, the buffy left and was replaced by a Baird’s. I was ok with that, because I did not have one for the county on the year. The bird was extremely tame, like most sandpipers, if you sit still around them. I watched it feed for about 30 minutes. A Green Heron also came flying in and walked around the beach for a little while. At one point, it seemed like it was going to chase the Baird’s. The Baird’s ran around him and I had to stand up, which flushed the heron across the water. Towards the end of viewing, a few friends joined and it was nice to chat for a little while. It was a beautiful evening with a spectacular sunset. Enjoy!