laplante's Favorites

With Dawn Mertes for the first part; a visit to check on the status of the Sparkleberry bushes and any hairstreaks that were on the blooms. We walked counter-clockwise from the parking lot since the main priority was the main sparkleberry patch; Dawn left after we spent maybe 25 minutes here. The weather at the start was sunny, 76 degrees ("feels like" 76), with a light breeze. I walked the rest of the trails by myself. I left at 1414, at which time the weather was sunny, 80 degrees ("feels like" 82), with a light breeze.

A solo visit, rather last-minute. There was a report the night before about 2230 on the main Florida birding Facebook group about a possible Tufted Duck at Lake Morton in Lakeland. I decided to chase it. This morning, by 0730, before I left, two European birders had commented that the duck was a hybrid, with Tufted Duck being one parent and either a Ring-necked Duck or a Lesser Scaup being the other parent. Clearly, this news massively dampened enthusiasm for chasing the duck. I'm sure that 60+ birders who had packed their cars last night had decided to stay home once the duck was identified as a hybrid. Birders can be funny about that oftentimes ... I decided to chase the duck regardless, since it was reasonably close (less than a 90-minute drive), I had nothing else planned today, and it's always fun to see all the swans, geese, and other exotic waterfowl -- and the native species too. I arrived at 1030 and the ONLY other birder present was John Cima, who had discovered the duck about a week ago. If not for the two posts this morning, probably 100 birders would have descended on the park today. The weather at the start was sunny and 67 degrees ("feels like" 67) with a light breeze. When I left at 1230, it was sunny and low 70s with a light breeze.

I parked at the southeastern corner of the lake and walked counter-clockwise, since the light was better than walking clockwise. I tried to tally every individual of every bird species present, but it is nearly impossible given the amount of birds and the fact that I was concentrating (as always) of photographing as many birds as I could.

My camera, a Panasonic Lumix FZ80 (my sixth, I think) quit working yesterday; the camera turns off when I try to zoom in (it has 60x, zoom, which I use to the maximum). It's still under warranty, so I need to send it back. To my surprise, returning home yesterday, I found an old Lumix FZ80 (maybe my fifth) that I had forgotten about, sitting on a shelf in my closet. The exposure knob no longer functions -- a known defect with this camera model, in my experience -- but a faulty camera with a functioning 60x, zoom is 1,000,000 times better than no camera or a camera with no functioning zoom.

The first few dozen images I took today, in bright sunlight in my standard "Intelligent Auto" setting, were quite dark (the exposure "broke" in a very dark setting). I deleted most of these images, since I do not believe in editing images (other than cropping) that I upload to iNat. I experimented with other settings. To my surprise and delight, the "SCN" setting -- for scene selection -- proved to be a wonderful alternative, taking images that were beautiful in shade and only slightly (at times) overexposed in direct sunlight. Overall, I was quite pleased with this camera today -- I took more than 1,200 photographs here and at Colt Creek State Park, where I visited after leaving Lakeland!

If I have posted multiple records of a species, then I am positive or nearly certain that they represent multiple individuals. Selected bird species and estinmated numbers at Lake Morton Park follow:

White Ibis: 300+, with 95% in adult plumage

Mallard: I quit counting quickly, but I estimate 75-100 in a typically massive degree of variation in plumages. I did not see any Mallards that I thought were back-crosses with Mottled Ducks, but I marked two males as "Mallards, Pintails, and Allies."

Mute Swan: 35-40, with two active nests with eggs

Black Swan: 20-25, with 2 nests with eggs and a pair with two cygnets. NOTE: why can't I "count" the eggs or cygets as wild birds from "captive" parents? According to iNaturalist guidelines referencing captive plants or animals, the progengy of these individuals should be "countable" and Research-Gradable. Right? Or wrong?

American White Pelican: 60, mostly in one flock. At one point, a dozen or more individuals fed in a flock literally along the shoreline, less than 15 feet from where I was standing, taking videos. American White Pelicans are noisy when foraging!

Swan Goose: 1, seemingly not a hybrid/back-cross.

Graylag Goose: 1, seemingly not a hybrid/back-cross.

I did not see either of the two Black-necked Swans or the single Coscoroba Swan that were present in previous years; apparently they are now dead.

I took a ton of photographs of the putative Tufted Duck hybrid. Additional comments on Facebook since I took my photographs suggest that the duck may simply be a very worn female Lesser Scaup. Accordingly, I am listing it as "Scaups, Pochards, and Allies."

A solo visit, rather last-minute. There was a report the night before about 2230 on the main Florida birding Facebook group about a possible Tufted Duck at Lake Morton in Lakeland. I decided to chase it. This morning, by 0730, before I left, two European birders had commented that the duck was a hybrid, with Tufted Duck being one parent and either a Ring-necked Duck or a Lesser Scaup being the other parent. Clearly, this news massively dampened enthusiasm for chasing the duck. I'm sure that 60+ birders who had packed their cars last night had decided to stay home once the duck was identified as a hybrid. Birders can be funny about that oftentimes ... I decided to chase the duck regardless, since it was reasonably close (less than a 90-minute drive), I had nothing else planned today, and it's always fun to see all the swans, geese, and other exotic waterfowl -- and the native species too. I arrived at 1030 and the ONLY other birder present was John Cima, who had discovered the duck about a week ago. If not for the two posts this morning, probably 100 birders would have descended on the park today. The weather at the start was sunny and 67 degrees ("feels like" 67) with a light breeze. When I left at 1230, it was sunny and low 70s with a light breeze.

I parked at the southeastern corner of the lake and walked counter-clockwise, since the light was better than walking clockwise. I tried to tally every individual of every bird species present, but it is nearly impossible given the amount of birds and the fact that I was concentrating (as always) of photographing as many birds as I could.

My camera, a Panasonic Lumix FZ80 (my sixth, I think) quit working yesterday; the camera turns off when I try to zoom in (it has 60x, zoom, which I use to the maximum). It's still under warranty, so I need to send it back. To my surprise, returning home yesterday, I found an old Lumix FZ80 (maybe my fifth) that I had forgotten about, sitting on a shelf in my closet. The exposure knob no longer functions -- a known defect with this camera model, in my experience -- but a faulty camera with a functioning 60x, zoom is 1,000,000 times better than no camera or a camera with no functioning zoom.

The first few dozen images I took today, in bright sunlight in my standard "Intelligent Auto" setting, were quite dark (the exposure "broke" in a very dark setting). I deleted most of these images, since I do not believe in editing images (other than cropping) that I upload to iNat. I experimented with other settings. To my surprise and delight, the "SCN" setting -- for scene selection -- proved to be a wonderful alternative, taking images that were beautiful in shade and only slightly (at times) overexposed in direct sunlight. Overall, I was quite pleased with this camera today -- I took more than 1,200 photographs here and at Colt Creek State Park, where I visited after leaving Lakeland!

If I have posted multiple records of a species, then I am positive or nearly certain that they represent multiple individuals. Selected bird species and estinmated numbers at Lake Morton Park follow:

White Ibis: 300+, with 95% in adult plumage

Mallard: I quit counting quickly, but I estimate 75-100 in a typically massive degree of variation in plumages. I did not see any Mallards that I thought were back-crosses with Mottled Ducks, but I marked two males as "Mallards, Pintails, and Allies."

Mute Swan: 35-40, with two active nests with eggs

Black Swan: 20-25, with 2 nests with eggs and a pair with two cygnets. NOTE: why can't I "count" the eggs or cygets as wild birds from "captive" parents? According to iNaturalist guidelines referencing captive plants or animals, the progengy of these individuals should be "countable" and Research-Gradable. Right? Or wrong?

American White Pelican: 60, mostly in one flock. At one point, a dozen or more individuals fed in a flock literally along the shoreline, less than 15 feet from where I was standing, taking videos. American White Pelicans are noisy when foraging!

Swan Goose: 1, seemingly not a hybrid/back-cross.

Graylag Goose: 1, seemingly not a hybrid/back-cross.

I did not see either of the two Black-necked Swans or the single Coscoroba Swan that were present in previous years; apparently they are now dead.

I took a ton of photographs of the putative Tufted Duck hybrid. Additional comments on Facebook since I took my photographs suggest that the duck may simply be a very worn female Lesser Scaup. Accordingly, I am listing it as "Scaups, Pochards, and Allies."

Aripeka-Bayport Christmas Bird Count with Dave Bowman; iNat Stop 1 of 3. The weather at the start was clear and 54 degrees ("feels like" 53), with a light breeze. Don Fraser dropped us off at the gate and proceeded to Linda Pedersen Park, while Dave and I began the ~5-mile "marsh stomp" through the Black Needlerush (Juncus romerianus) salt marsh. We did well, finding American White Pelicans, American Bittern, 4 Reddish Egrets, 5 Clapper Rails, 11 Wilson's Plovers, Marsh Wren, Sedge Wren, 6 Nelson;s Sparrows, and what I hope was a Saltmarsh Sparrow (ID pending). We returned to the gate at 1150 tired and exhausted. Don picked us up and we headed to Hernando Beach for a 2+-hour boat trip through the Hernando Beach boat channel courtesy of Sara Tunder and Freedom Boat Club.

East Pasco Christmas Bird Count with Pat Goldberg; iNat Stop 1 of 14. I reversed my party's course and started in the south. We walked around the lake and birded around the oaks. The weather at the start was pre-sunrise, and 56 degrees ("feels like" 54) with a light breeze. We left at 0800 and headed to the retention pond on the former Gore's Dairy.

East Pasco Christmas Bird Count with Pat Goldberg; iNat Stop 1 of 14. I reversed my party's course and started in the south. We walked around the lake and birded around the oaks. The weather at the start was pre-sunrise, and 56 degrees ("feels like" 54) with a light breeze. We left at 0800 and headed to the retention pond on the former Gore's Dairy.

A solo visit; a successful chase of the absolutely EPIC Gray Gull (native to the Pacific coast of South America), which will represent the first record for North America (north of Mexico) if accepted by members of the Florida Ornithological Society Records Committee and then by members of the American Birding Association Checklist Committee.

This was a return visit, after I left Dune Allen and visited Ed Walline Regional Beach Access to search for the Gray Gull after it flew east during my first visit. The Gray Gull was not at Ed Walline, so I returned to Dune Allen in case the gull was here. It was -- right off the boardwalk, with 67 Laughing Gulls, 3 Cabot's Terns, 2 Royal Terns, and 5 Sanderlings. There was nobody on the beach to disturb us, so I took over 600 photographs and 5 videos of the Gray Gull as it roosted and preened.

I did not record the weather for this visit, but it was sunny and mild with a light breeze. I left at 0907 and began the long drive home, putting 640 miles on Jet this day.

A solo visit; a successful chase of the absolutely EPIC Gray Gull (native to the Pacific coast of South America), which will represent the first record for North America (north of Mexico) if accepted by members of the Florida Ornithological Society Records Committee and then by members of the American Birding Association Checklist Committee.

I left Spring Hill at 0138 and drove nonstop to Santa Rosa Beach, excepting a fuel stop in Perry. Upon my arrival, no birds were visible, so I started walking east. The weather was clear (pre-sunrise), 65 degrees ("feels like" 65), and breezy, with a light fog.

I walked maybe 600 feet east and could see no gulls ahead of me, so I turned around to return to the beach access, when I saw the Gray Gull with a few Laughing Gulls not far in front of me. I took several photographs of the Gray Gull before it flew east and out of sight. I returned to Jet and left at 0728. I drove east to Ed Walline Regional Beach Access to see if I could refind the Gray Gull.

A solo visit; a successful chase of the absolutely EPIC Gray Gull (native to the Pacific coast of South America), which will represent the first record for North America (north of Mexico) if accepted by members of the Florida Ornithological Society Records Committee and then by members of the American Birding Association Checklist Committee.

I left Spring Hill at 0138 and drove nonstop to Santa Rosa Beach, excepting a fuel stop in Perry. Upon my arrival, no birds were visible, so I started walking east. The weather was clear (pre-sunrise), 65 degrees ("feels like" 65), and breezy, with a light fog.

I walked maybe 600 feet east and could see no gulls ahead of me, so I turned around to return to the beach access, when I saw the Gray Gull with a few Laughing Gulls not far in front of me. I took several photographs of the Gray Gull before it flew east and out of sight. I returned to Jet and left at 0728. I drove east to Ed Walline Regional Beach Access to see if I could refind the Gray Gull.

A solo visit; a successful chase of the absolutely EPIC Gray Gull (native to the Pacific coast of South America), which will represent the first record for North America (north of Mexico) if accepted by members of the Florida Ornithological Society Records Committee and then by members of the American Birding Association Checklist Committee.

I left Spring Hill at 0138 and drove nonstop to Santa Rosa Beach, excepting a fuel stop in Perry. Upon my arrival, no birds were visible, so I started walking east. The weather was clear (pre-sunrise), 65 degrees ("feels like" 65), and breezy, with a light fog.

I walked maybe 600 feet east and could see no gulls ahead of me, so I turned around to return to the beach access, when I saw the Gray Gull with a few Laughing Gulls not far in front of me. I took several photographs of the Gray Gull before it flew east and out of sight. I returned to Jet and left at 0728. I drove east to Ed Walline Regional Beach Access to see if I could refind the Gray Gull.