Florida Birding in April 2009

I flew to St. Petersburg, FL and was met by daughter Kary Bahr who lives there now.  She and I birded on all the days that she didn't have to work.  On 1 Apr, I walked the mile in the residential area near her condo and photographed an amazing array of species in ponds that seem to be everywhere, including in a golf course.  I got my first new lifer, a Limpkin, there!  David Laliberte in St. Petersburg had provided me with tips on good birding spots.  Kary and I went to the Royal Palm Cemetery and got the Blue-crowned Parakeet pair.  Then we found the Black-hooded Parakeets nearby.  Finally, Kary wanted to try the new Clam Bayou Park where we found a wonderful flock of 13+ friendly Black-hooded Parakeets.  Bill Scheible, Cedar Rapids, IA, arrived on 2 April and we went back to Sawgrass Lake Park where we saw the pair of dark-morph Short-tailed Hawks that are nesting there.  That was a lifer for all of us.  We then took Bill back to Clam Bayou Park and he got the Black-hooded Parakeet.  For the rest of the trip, we birded the St. Pete area, Kissimmee Lake Park area, and went up the west coast to meet Jim Dinsmore (formerly from IA and now The Villages, FL) where all three of us got the Budgerigar for a lifer!  We also attended a Pirates/Twins spring training baseball game in Bradenton, FL.  It was a fun and productive trip for all.

A series of photos, generally in chronological order, follows.

Click on photo to enlarge.

1222-9331 Common Moorhen, Sawgrass L Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 31 Mar 2009

1230-9331 Mottled Duck, Sawgrass L Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 31 Mar 2009

1231-9331 Great Egret, Sawgrass L Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 31 Mar 2009

1234-9401 Lizard sp, hotel, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1243-9401 Limpkin, Feather Sound Drive, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1249-9401 White Ibis, Feather Sound Drive, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1252-9401 Great Blue Heron, Feather Sound Drive, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1269-9401 Lesser Scaup and Mottled Duck, Feather Sound Drive, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1278-9401 Anhinga female, Feather Sound Drive, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1282-9401 Northern Mockingbird, Feather Sound Drive, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1288-9401 Common Grackle, Feather Sound Drive, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1292-9401 Great Egret, Feather Sound Drive, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1294-9401 Eurasian Collared-Dove, Feather Sound Drive, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1299-9401 Lesser Scaup, Feather Sound Drive, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1300-9401 Brown Thrasher, Feather Sound Drive, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1304-9401 Slider sp, Feather Sound Drive, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

 1309-9401 Tricolored Heron, Feather Sound Drive, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1324-9401 Bald Eagle pair with nest, Royal Palm Cemetery, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1325-9401 Bald Eagle eaglets, Royal Palm Cemetery, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1328-9401 Blue Jay, Royal Palm Cemetery, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1330-9401 Blue Jay, Royal Palm Cemetery, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1333-9401 Bald Eagle parent, Royal Palm Cemetery, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

 1345-9401 Blue-crowned Parakeet, Royal Palm Cemetery, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1347-9401 Blue-crowned Parakeet, Royal Palm Cemetery, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1368-9401 Osprey nest with parent and chick, Clam Bayou Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1382-9401 Black-hooded Parakeet, Clam Bayou Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1405-9401 Black-hooded Parakeet, Clam Bayou Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1419-9401 Osprey, Clam Bayou Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1434-9401 Black-hooded Parakeets preening before bedtime, Clam Bayou Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 1 Apr 2009

1451-9402 Anhinga, Sawgrass Lake Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 2 Apr 2009

1452-9402 Anhinga, Sawgrass Lake Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 2 Apr 2009

1457-9402 American Coot, Sawgrass Lake Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 2 Apr 2009

1462-9402 Alligator, Sawgrass Lake Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 2 Apr 2009

1465-9402 Alligator checking me out!, Sawgrass Lake Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 2 Apr 2009

1467-9402 Mottled Duck, Sawgrass Lake Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 2 Apr 2009

1472-9402 Eastern Gray Squirrel, Sawgrass Lake Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 2 Apr 2009

1476-9402 Fish Crow, Sawgrass Lake Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 2 Apr 2009

1477-9402 Poor, distant shot of Short-tailed Hawk dark morph, Sawgrass Lake Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 2 Apr 2009

1480-9402 Kary and Bill admiring endangered Gopher Tortoise, Sawgrass Lake Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 2 Apr 2009

1481-9402 Gopher Tortoise, Sawgrass Lake Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 2 Apr 2009

1483-9402 Gopher Tortoise, Sawgrass Lake Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 2 Apr 2009

 1485-9402 Tricolored Heron, Clam Bayou Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 2 Apr 2009

1497-9402 Black-hooded Parakeets, Clam Bayou Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 2 Apr 2009

1500-9402 Black-hooded Parakeets, Clam Bayou Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 2 Apr 2009

1502-9402 Black-hooded Parakeets, Clam Bayou Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 2 Apr 2009

1511-9402 Monk Parakeet, Clam Bayou Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 2 Apr 2009

1519-9402 Monk Parakeet, Clam Bayou Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 2 Apr 2009

1531-9402 Black-hooded Parakeets, Clam Bayou Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 2 Apr 2009

1543-9402 Great Blue Heron, Clam Bayou Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 2 Apr 2009

1549-9402 Brown Pelican, Clam Bayou Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 2 Apr 2009

1551-9402 Tricolored Heron and Snowy Egret, Clam Bayou Park, St. Petersburg, FL, 2 Apr 2009

1552-9403 Florida Scrub-Jay, Lake Kissimmee area, FL, 3 Apr 2009

1555-9403 Florida Scrub-Jay, Lake Kissimmee area, FL, 3 Apr 2009

1565-9403 Common Ground-Dove, Lake Kissimmee area, FL, 3 Apr 2009

1573-9403 Laughing Gull, Fort De Soto Park, FL, 3 Apr 2009

1576-9403 Laughing Gull, Fort De Soto Park, FL, 3 Apr 2009

1577-9403 Black-bellied Plover, Fort De Soto Park, FL, 3 Apr 2009

1581-9403 Black-bellied Plover, Fort De Soto Park, FL, 3 Apr 2009

1583-9403 Western Sandpiper, Fort De Soto Park, FL, 3 Apr 2009

1585-9403 Western Sandpiper, De Soto Park, FL, 3 Apr 2009

1588-9403 Semipalmated Plover, Fort De Soto Park, FL, 3 Apr 2009

1591-9403 Western Sandpiper, Fort De Soto Park, FL, 3 Apr 2009

1595-9403 Sunshine Skyway Bridge at sunset from Fort De Soto Park, FL, 3 Apr 2009

1601-9403 Least Sandpiper, Fort De Soto Park, FL, 3 Apr 2009

1604-9403 Least Sandpiper, Fort De Soto Park, FL, 3 Apr 2009

1620-9403 Reddish Egret, Fort De Soto Park, FL, 3 Apr 2009

1621-9403 Reddish Egret, Fort De Soto Park, FL, 3 Apr 2009

1622-9403 Reddish Egret, Fort De Soto Park, FL, 3 Apr 2009

1631-9403 Dunlin in the dusk at Fort De Soto Park, FL, 3 Apr 2009

1629-9403 Red-breasted Merganser in the dusk at Fort De Soto Park, FL, 3 Apr 2009

1782-9405 Osprey and chick, Honeymoon Island, 5 Apr 2009

1632-9403 Dunlin and Forster's Tern in the dusk at Fort De Soto Park, FL, 3 Apr 2009

1637-9404 Sandhill Crane, Fort De Soto Park, FL, 4 Apr 2009

1638-9404 Sandhill Crane, Fort De Soto Park, FL, 4 Apr 2009

1650-9404 Snail Kite, Kissimmee Lake, 4 Apr 2009

1653-9404 Snail Kite, Kissimmee Lake, 4 Apr 2009

1665-9404 Boat-tailed Grackle, Kissimmee Lake, 4 Apr 2009

1667-9404 Palm Warbler, Hillsborough River State Park northeast of Tampa, 4 Apr 2009

1668-9404 Palm Warbler, Hillsborough River State Park northeast of Tampa, 4 Apr 2009

1673-9404 Pine Warbler, Hillsborough River State Park northeast of Tampa, 4 Apr 2009

1678-9404 Pine Warbler, Hillsborough River State Park northeast of Tampa, 4 Apr 2009

1683-9404 Little Blue Heron, Hillsborough River State Park northeast of Tampa, 4 Apr 2009

1693-9404 Summer Tanager, Hillsborough River State Park northeast of Tampa, 4 Apr 2009

1704-9404 Summer Tanager, Hillsborough River State Park northeast of Tampa, 4 Apr 2009

1709-9404 Eastern Bluebird, Hillsborough River State Park northeast of Tampa, 4 Apr 2009

1710-9404 Eastern Bluebird, Hillsborough River State Park northeast of Tampa, 4 Apr 2009

1724-9405 White-tailed Deer, Weekiwachee Preserve, Hernando County, FL, 5 Apr 2009

1731-9405 Budgerigar, Hernando Beach, FL, (lifer for Jim Dinsmore, Bill Scheible, and Kay Niyo!), 5 Apr 2009

1734-9405 Budgerigar, Hernando Beach, FL, 5 Apr 2009

1736-9405 Budgerigar, Hernando Beach, FL, 5 Apr 2009

1738-9405 Budgerigar, Hernando Beach, FL, 5 Apr 2009

1775-9405 Palm Warbler, Honeymoon Island, FL, 5 Apr 2009

1778-9405 Palm Warbler, Honeymoon Island, FL, 5 Apr 2009

1791-9405 Opuntia spp in bloom, Honeymoon Island, FL, 5 Apr 2009

1793-9405 E Diamondback Rattlesnake, Honeymoon Island, FL, 5 Apr 2009

1793a-9405 E Diamondback Rattlesnake head, Honeymoon Island, FL, 5 Apr 2009

1793b-9405 E Diamondback Rattlesnake seven rattles, Honeymoon Island, FL, 5 Apr 2009

1804-9408 Red-shouldered Hawk, one of pair, hunting in ditch along road in preserve on north side of Old Tampa Bay, 8 Apr 2009

1809-9408 Red-shouldered Hawk, other of pair, hunting in ditch along road in preserve on north side of Old Tampa Bay, 8 Apr 2009

L1020303-9403 McKechnie Field, Bradenton, FL, Pirates vs Twins, 3 Apr 2009

L1020305-9403 McKechnie Field, Bradenton, FL, Pirates vs Twins, 3 Apr 2009

L1020312-9403 Bill, the Pirates fan, McKechnie Field, Bradenton, FL, Pirates vs Twins, 3 Apr 2009

L1020316-9403 Kary, the Twins fan, McKechnie Field, Bradenton, FL, Pirates vs Twins, 3 Apr 2009

L1020322-9403 Score tied 4 and 4 at end of 10th inning!, McKechnie Field, Bradenton, FL, Pirates vs Twins, 3 Apr 2009