Some Birding Info

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

 Cassin's Kingbird

I received this in an email from my brother Bob who volunteers at the Corkscrew Swamp near Naples, Fl. where he and my SIL winter.

I was out in the Everglades Monday just north of Big Cypress.  We were there for the big backyard birdcount Audubon runs all across the US. We counted 53 species.  There where birds in the 100s of  thousands. This is an area which was the first effort at Everglades restoration south of sugar plantations.  It was started 10 years ago and consists of hugh ponds of many acres.  It is untilizing native plants to filter the water from the plantations of pesticides and fertilizers before the water flows into the Everglades.

One group of Roseate Spoonbills we counted was 120.  Another group of Black Necked Stilts was 130.  The leader said not to count the Coots and Moorhens as they would use 15000 and 12000 respectively since there were too many to count.  We had 10 of us from Corkscrew Swamp and a dozen cars from other groups doing the counts from the levies around the area.  One unusual bird that usually winters in Mexico and Central America was there called a Cassins Kingbird.  There were two pairs.  Other new birds for me were: Black Bellied Whistling Ducks,Fulvous Whistling Ducks and Purple Swamp Hen (an exotic).