Friday, July 29, 2016

Another Harns Marsh Preserve Fail

Having missed the Everglade Snail Kite at Harns Marsh Preserve last week, I was compelled to make a follow up trip on 26 July to attempt to observe the species.


The Apple Snail eggs above (image 1) were photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.

I was much more observant to find Apple Snail eggs as well. The clutch of eggs above I questimate to contain 500, well within the range of 200-600 for this invasive species of snail. There were other Apple Snail egg clutches observed on vegetation within the marsh.


The Limpkin above (image 2) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The Great Blue Heron with prey above (image 3) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The Least Bittern above (image 4) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The Least Bittern above (image 5) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.

Ten Limpkin were observed before the first turn north of the parking area. As Limpkin in Florida rely almost exclusively on Apple Snails for their sustenance (as do Snail Kites), it would seem that Harns Marsh has a healthy supply of the food source.


The Chimney Swift above (image 6) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The Purple Gallinule above (image 7) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The Common Gallinule above (image 8) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The juvenile Boat-tailed Grackle above (image 9) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.

Yet, it was again a disappointment not to see a Snail Kite. Their numbers have never been huge at Harns Marsh that I'm aware of, but I have personally seen upwards of five distinct Kites in one visit at this location. eBird checklists from Harns Marsh Preserve in recent months show Snail Kites have been present.


The Red-winged Blackbird above (image 10) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The Red-shouldered Hawk above (image 11) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The Red-shouldered Hawk above (image 12) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The Boat-tailed Grackle above (image 13) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.

Everglade Snail Kites, as of this writing, appear to be making a recovery in their numbers after a staggering 80% reduction in their numbers in the ten years preceding 2009. The Audubon Florida Everglade Snail Kite Nesting Season Summary 2012 is an interesting read.


The Great Blue Heron with prey above (image 14) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The Limpkin above (image 15) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The Limpkin above (image 16) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The Great Blue Heron with prey above (image 17) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.

There were a total of 30 bird species seen or heard with assurance with it possible for a few more to be added if I recognized the distant call or song. A much greater effort was made to document species not photographed well, or at all, at Harns Marsh last week.


The Great Blue Heron with prey above (image 18) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The Great Blue Heron with prey above (image 19) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The Tricolored Heron above (image 20) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The juvenile Tricolored Heron above (image 21) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.

Least Bittern were very active in flight calling periodically from the get go this week. The very colorful Purple Gallinule made its appearance shortly thereafter, while Gray-headed Swamphen weren't seen until much later after sunrise.


The Little Blue Heron above (image 22) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The Gray-headed Swamphen above (image 23) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The Green Heron above (image 24) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The Gray-headed Swamphen above (image 25) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.

A juvenile Purple Gallinule was observed feeding on the same Bent Alligator-Flag (Thalia geniculata) flowers as possibly one of its parents. According to eBird historical Bar Chart data, Purple Gallinule will disappear from Harns very soon from the time of this writing for six weeks. It will be interesting to see if the Gray-headed Swamphen will follow suit with no eBird data for the invasive species at Harns Marsh in preceding years.


The Tricolored Heron above (image 26) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The immature Sandhill Crane above (image 27) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The Purple Gallinule above (image 28) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The Purple Gallinule above (image 29) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.

Even absent the Snail Kite, Harns Marsh Preserve in Lehigh Acres always offers a rewarding wildlife experience. Dragonflies were very abundant during this week's visit though very infrequently perched in my observations. The Northern Flicker was a nice bonus.


The juvenile Purple Gallinule above (image 30) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The Least Bittern above (image 31) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The Least Bittern above (image 32) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The Red-bellied Woodpecker above (image 33) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.

If you have not made the effort to explore the eBird website, you are strongly encouraged to do so. The hours will pass very quickly. And be sure to make a special effort to visit Harns Marsh Preserve.


The dragonfly above (image 34) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The Northern Flicker above (image 35) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.


The Turkey Vulture above (image 36) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.

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The Black Vulture above (image 37) was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in July 2016.

9 comments:

  1. I wonder if all the kites are hiding in the adjoining canals Bob. Loved the in-flight capture of the Least Bitterns!

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    1. As you may recall, Hemant, it's a four mile walk around the marsh offering a lot of territory for the kites to be found. That's unquestionably too for for me to trek carrying the gear in the summer weather. I, however, check the identity of anything that moves over the north marsh visible from the area just south of the first turn in the road north of the parking area. In times past I have observed the kites flying far in the distance. I also check the cypress tree in short order which is a favored perch for them. While the Snail Kites may occasionally be seen on the wires on Sunshine Boulevard, they were not observed there either. They could very well be in the south marsh behind the middle school. The bitterns put on quite a show both visually and audibly. Imagine how many out of focus images I captured! As you are likely aware, the White-tailed Kite was reported as a rare bird in Cochise County, AZ, yesterday.

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  2. Thought # 3 , the GBH with fish was interesting. This Spring I was at Green Cay in Boyton Beach and took a picture of a GBH with a snake wrapped around it's beak. Also liked the close up of # 39 of the dragon fly. It's amazing how many parts there are to the body of the dragon fly that you can see.
    Thanks Bob!
    Adele.

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    1. Thank you, Adele. Where can we view your images? Your Great Blue Heron photo taken at Green Cay sounds exciting. I regret not devoting more effort to the dragonflies, but the breeze was not compensating for the warm up and humidity in the late morning. I devoted a lot of time to attempt to identify the dragonfly species with confidence unsuccessfully. I will be ordering a dragonfly guide soon.

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  3. I've never put my photo images on-line...I really do not have a clue how to do that. I'm not computer savy...plus I'm not a professional photographer...I just take simple pictures of what I see. I've been so blessed just to be at the right place - at the right time to get some neat photos! I really enjoy being out in nature and especially enjoy learning about birds! I usually use a canon rebel camera with a 300 or 400 mm lens. I'm a retired school teacher and have time to do more bird watching now. You're photos of flying birds are exceptional! You can get a really nice guide about dragonflies at the gift shop at 6 Mile Cypress Slough.

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    1. A good compelling image can be taken with any photo gear, even a cell phone camera. Your gear is particularly good which makes capturing a great image easier. I recommend that you consider starting a blog since you are a Blogger member, and upload your images here. Use youtube to watch video tutorials that will explain everything to you. If you have a question, don't hesitate to ask me. Be sure to let me know if you would like criticism on the appearance of your blog. I just ordered a handful of bird guides from thriftbooks.com. I will likely order my dragonfly guides through them as well. Thanks for your comments.

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  4. Replies
    1. I'm looking forward to your progress, Adele.

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    2. I've started a very SIMPLE blog. I know I've already made many mistakes. You can find it at http://birdsaboutus.blogspot.com

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