The tide at Bunche Beach was very low at my sunrise arrival, and thus the birds were very dispersed over the flats. I chose to head to the west channel as I would have the sunlight at my back. There were all the shorebirds expected with a mistakenly identified Short-billed Dowitcher. What I thought was yellowlegs would be an extremely rare sighting at Bunche though reported. I observed the banded Piping Plover born at Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore with the bird seen at Bunche Beach Preserve many times. The Great Lake venue is in the relative neighborhood of extensive wildlife traveler Hemant Kishan who was kind enough to direct me to rarities in my own backyard here in southwest Florida on the Gulf of Mexico.
More Ruddy Turnstones were present than usual and I was as captivated by their feeding behavior as ever. A major distraction was the camera overexposing images that were captured using continuous shooting. I attempted to solve the problem in the field unsuccessfully. I ultimately returned the camera to its factory default settings and used my user's guide authored by Artie Morris adjusting everything to his specifications which solved the problem before my trip to Ding. After settling down at Bunche at a spot I favored that morning the birds surrounded me as usual. In an instant for inexplicable reasons, with no predator seen, the hundreds of birds around me just up and disappeared from view.
Although my trip to Sanibel Island was with the intent of possibly photographing never personally observed species at Bailey Tract as reported by the Stokes' in their blog, I couldn't resist a visit to Ding Darling NWR first as the tide level was low. There were a greater number of American White Pelican loafing at the dawn hour than I had been seen before at this venue. In times past, the pelicans would apparently fly from their roosts to their preferred feeding and resting area in what I had thought was almost predictable. This was the case to a degree as the flock of pelicans grew larger in my short observation as I was anxious to see what the Stokes' and certainly many dozens of other wildlife enthusiasts had already seen.
I was surprised by the large number of Yellow-crowned Night-Herons seen which I would guess well above a dozen in number either in the flats to the east of the observation tower or skulking in the mangroves. It was interesting to observe along Wildlife Drive that birds were virtually absent to the west of the observation tower although there were many hundreds to the east of it. I could have readily spent several more hours making observations here, but again was compelled to move on. Wherever there was water along my journey this day I was of course on the lookout for Razorbill. The species would remain elusive, but I did catch sight of a lone Common Loon on the north side of the Causeway shortly before dawn on the drive onto Sanibel Island as a stunning full moon set behind distant high altitude clouds.
My arrival at Bailey Tract was still fairly early. I took a brief look at the map of the wildlife area at the trailhead with thought of Clapper Rail apparently first observed by photographer William Heyd affiliated with the Sanibel Captiva Audubon Society on 20 January. This is all I was able to learn about Mr. Heyd beyond his conducting volunteer work for the local Audubon chapter. Upon reaching the East Pond where both Clapper Rail and Sora had been observed in the previous week, a number of observers were already giving me an indication of where the excitement was hidden stealthily in the reeds. My first species seen in this immediate area, although overlooked by others understandably, was a Grey Catbird very well camouflaged in the shady conditions. I was more intrigued with a bird much more distant in a sunny open area that I knew was special by its silhouette.
After studying the photos posted by Lillian Stokes, I knew I was looking at a Clapper Rail. It would be followed by a second lifer observed in as many minutes as I caught my first glimpse of Sora. Short-tailed Hawk would remain elusive as did Wilson's Snipe. The latter was my fault as I chose not to travel to its location (forgetting about it actually) as I was hurried to get home to start this report and get it done as promised. The Stoke's are soon launching what appears to be a very exciting update to their guides which should be investigated. A return trip or two will be made to Bailey Tract soon to hopefully make observations of the same species seen and more while noting the availability of water to them.
It was a treat to meet Denny Souers and Bill Lane while chatting with Ed Combs who told me of his favorite wildlife venues and that Domestic Avenue Ponds is the find of Tom Obrock (Tom is back!). On 31 January, Tom advised me that he had observed Wilson's Snipe as earlier reported at Bailey Tract. Denny mentioned that the water level had appeared to drop from his observations made the day before. For some inexplicable reason, another fellow photographer/ observer of the Sora chose to park herself directly in the line of my view of the bird. As discourteous as it was, I gave her a reasonable amount of time to get her pics, but after it was evident she would be there for long period I chose to settle down next to her at the water's edge to be able to see the Sora again.
Having run out of time for publication of this article with intent to include more images, and finally caught up with the stuff I was compelled to have you see, an overflow post will be made before next week's Friday routine.
Addendum: Nice job with that Clapper Rail! A few ID corrections: Bird in photo 11 (Greater Yellowlegs) is a Short-billed Dowitcher. Bird in flight in photo 21 and 22 (Least Sandpiper) is a Red Knot. -- Thank you, Robert.
Please see: Rails At Bailey Tract Overflow
