Ding Darling Stokes Birding and Photography Tour 2018

American White Pelicans

Snowy Egret

Mottled Duck (hybrids)

Pied-billed Grebe, ruffling feathers

I had the pleasure today of leading, with Don, a fundraising the annual "Stokes Birding and Photography Stokes Tour" for J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. On Fridays the refuge is always closed, so when we took two tram buses of participants into the refuge we had the place to ourselves! Don taught bird identification and I taught bird photography. The birds were most cooperative and on the second pond we had a number of species come in for close photo ops, including the birds above that I photographed with my Canon SX 50. Lighting conditions are always a challenge in the Florida sun. The bright light can product photos of light birds with blown out highlights so photographers need to learn how to compensate for that. My participants had all levels of skill and cameras ranging from cell phones to expensive DSLR high end cameras and lenses. We covered the elements of exposure, how to know what to photo, how to move fast and anticipate the birds actions, bird photography ethics and much more. It was a fun time! Thanks all!

Red Knots Coming Through!

I photographed this Red Knot yesterday at the J.N. Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel, FL as it rested on a sandbar in the middle of some other shorebirds. The bird to its left is a Short-billed Dowitcher, also acquiring breeding plumage. Red Knots are not red in their winter plumage, but this one is on its way to acquiring its summer red plumage. This amazing shorebird is going to migrate soon to its arctic tundra breeding grounds, a spectacular journey. For now it will rest and stock up on fuel so it arrives in good condition. Safe journey!

Baby Ospreys Now!

Ospreys, fish-eating raptors, are breeding now on Sanibel, FL. This female is delivering fish to her partially grown young. She ate some of the fish herself first, starting with the head,  then she began to feed the babies, pulling off very small bits of fish.

The Osprey nestling period is 50-55 days. Ospreys can have from 1-4 young and eggs do not hatch at the same time. The first egg may hatch up to 5 days before the last one. The oldest hatchling dominates its siblings and may monopolize the food brought. If food is abundant food will be shared and all the chicks will survive. Ospreys breed in parts of the West and northern U.S and across Canada, and live all year in FL and parts of the Gulf Coast. You can see them migrating through much of the country.

Rare White-crowned Pigeon is at Ding Darling NWR, FL

Saw the rare White-crowned Pigeon yesterday at J. N. Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel ,FL. This is a very unusual bird for here, although there have been a very few sightings previously on Sanibel. Their status is listed as Threatened in FL. They live in the very southern tip of FL. Research has indicated that the total distribution of this bird occurs in the Caribbean Basin, the Bahamas and extreme southern Florida, but they make long over-water flights between breeding and wintering areas within this region. They are threatened due to loss of habitat and hunting and poaching in their range. White-crowned Pigeons feed mainly on fruits of hardwood trees and they are an important dispersal agent for these trees. It was nice to see this bird on the Shell Mound trail, which had a lot of fruiting hardwood trees, thus providing the type of habitat crucial for this bird species. What a special bird for us to see!!

Yellow-throated Warbler beauty, J. N. Ding Darling NWR

This Yellow-throated Warbler was at J.N. Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel, FL yesterday, gleaning tidbits off the Sea Grape leaves. Such a beautiful warbler!

Short-tailed Hawk, J.N. Ding Darling NWR today!

Short-tailed Hawk, light morph

Short-tailed Hawk seen today at J.N. Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel, FL.  It is unusual to see this hawk perched. Mostly seen soaring above as it hunts. This is a hawk seen mainly in FL and a little in southern TX and southern AZ. It also comes as a dark morph with very dark body and underwings. Always special, and somewhat rare to see here on Sanibel. Lucky day!

Spotted Sandpiper - with Spots!

A spotted Sandpiper - with spots! All winter they are missing the spots in their plumage. Now, the spots appear in the breeding plumage. Such a cool bird. They walk while constantly bobbing their tail. They have a breeding strategy called polyandry where the female establishes and defends a territory and mates with up to four males. The male incubates the eggs and cares for the young. Spotted Sandpipers breed across much of North America near rivers, streams and other waterbodies. They winter along the coasts of North America. I photographed this one recently at J.N. Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel, FL. It will migrate soon.

Great White Pelican at Ding Darling NWR, 1st N.A. Record, or Escapee?

Great White Pelican mania continues at J.N. Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel FL. First North American record or escapee? Here's the latest. No (AZA) zoos in this country are missing any Great White Pelicans. Great White Pelican authority Sheila Murphy, of the American Zoological and Aquarium Society and Senior Bird Keeper at the San Diego Zoo did a census last week of Great White Pelicans at all 10 AZA facilities who house this species and determined no Great White Pelicans were missing. Zoos band and may microchip their pelicans and this female Great White Pelican has no bands on her legs. So the speculation mounts as to where she came from. Great White Pelicans breed in Africa, Asia and Europe. She was last seen at Ding on Tuesday, when she flew off (see my photo of her taking flight) and joined a small group of White Pelicans headed east. Birders are trying to relocate her. The Florida Ornithological Society Records Committee is reviewing this report and will meet in August to discuss it. They will be looking at the zoo records and other places that may have kept these birds in captivity. If no sources they research are missing any Great White Pelicans then maybe she will go down in history as a record of the first wild Great White Pelican who made it to North America. How lucky for us she showed up at Ding Darling NWR. This story is to be continued.

Short-tailed Hawks! So cool!

We've seen two different Short-tailed Hawks in the last several days here on Sanibel, FL. Lucky us! The light morph was over J.N. Ding Darling NWR and we saw the dark morph over the Pond Apple Ponds. Short-tailed Hawk, is a sought-after Florida speciality for birders and not easy to see. This bird breeds primarily in southern and central Florida and a little in southern AZ and south TX. 

The Short-tailed Hawk comes in two morphs, a light morph, shown here, and a dark morph. Dark-morphs are dark below with blackish brown body and wing coverts, paler flight feathers and tail, and dark trailing edge to wings. Short-tailed Hawks mostly soar and may hang in one spot for a time. We almost always see them in flight when we encounter them.

Beautiful Redhead (duck) seen in J.N. Ding Darling NWR, rare for there!

Yesterday we saw this beautiful Redhead, male, at J.N. Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel, FL. This duck is rarely seen at this location. It was feeding with some Blue-winged Teal in the tower pond. Redheads winter across much of the southern half of the country, so look for them in your areas. We were delighted to see this one at Ding!
Happy Birding!

Beauty at Ding Darling NWR

Roseate Spoonbill, Tricolored Heron

Great Blue Heron

Don, Lillian, Ken Burgener (founder of Carefree Birding tours), and Dawn and Jeff Fine.

Went birding today at J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Sanibel, FL and the birds were numerous. Here's a Roseate Spoonbill next to a Tricolored Heron, a study in pink and blue. And a Great Blue Heron posed so cooperatively near the road with the beautiful water as a backdrop. Ran into some fun birding folks as well.

White-crowed Pigeon Still at Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel, FL

The White-crowned Pigeon is still at J.N.Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Sanibel FL, on the Shell Mound trail. This is the celebrity bird of the winter, as it is quite unusual to be seen here and listed as Threatened in the state of Florida. Here is is sitting in the Snowberry it loves to eat. So many birders have come to see and enjoy it.

White-crowned Pigeon, Again, Sanibel, FL!

We saw a White-crowned Pigeon on the Shell Mound Trail, Ding Darling NWR this morning. We had also seen this bird there last year. Maybe it is the same bird. Such a treat to see as it is listed as threatened in FL.
This is a very unusual bird for here, although there have been a very few sightings previously on Sanibel. Research has indicated that the total distribution of this bird occurs in the Caribbean Basin, the Bahamas and extreme southern Florida, but they make long over-water flights between breeding and wintering areas within this region. They are threatened due to loss of habitat and hunting and poaching in their range. White-crowned Pigeons feed mainly on fruits of hardwood trees and they are an important dispersal agent for these trees. It was nice to see this bird on the Shell Mound trail, which had a lot of fruiting hardwood trees, thus providing the type of habitat crucial for this bird species. What a special bird for us to see!!

Always Look Up When the Birds Look Up!

While other Snowy Egrets were busy catching lunch at J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge,

this one kept looking up at the sky

So we looked up and this Bald Eagle, 1st yr. flew over our heads.

While Bald Eagles mainly eat fish, they can also sometimes catch birds. So the Snowy Egret was showing some concern. When birds look up, look up too, they may lead you to a sighting of some cool other other bird, like this eagle. By tuning in to the behavior of birds you will enrich your birding experience.

Mangove Cuckoo Magic, Ding Darling NWR 2/28/14

Mangrove Cuckoo which we were lucky to see today in J.N Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Note the yellow orbital ring, curved bill and yellow lower mandible.

Note the long tail with bold white tips to feathers.

Mangrove Cuckoos are secretive and often stay quietly sitting in the mangroves.

Here's another view of the remarkable tail.

We led a Stokes Birding Tour as a fundraiser for the refuge and had the refuge to ourselves as it took place on friday, a day the refuge is closed to visitors.

We were able to see the cuckoo because we ran into the Mangrove Cuckoo research team of Rachel Frieze and her husband, Steve, from the Ecostudies Institute and they were observing this cuckoo. 

Don and I led a Stokes Birding Tour as a special fundraiser for J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge and our whole group got to see a Mangrove Cuckoo, the holy grail bird of southern Florida and on every serious birders want list who visits here. We took two trams through the refuge on friday (when the refuge is closed) and saw wonderful birds. How lucky for us that we ran into Rachel and Steve, who are researching Mangrove Cuckoos in the refuge, and they had one in view!! What a thrill for all of us!
There is still lots to learn about Mangrove Cuckoos, who are very secretive and uncommon and exist in the U.S. in mangrove habitat only in southern Florida. Ecostudies has been studying the life history and ecology of Mangrove Cuckoos in this refuge since 2012. They track the cuckoos during the year to understand their seasonal movements and habitat requirements. It is important to learn about this since the Mangrove Cuckoo population in southwest Florida has been declining.
You can help support the Mangrove Cuckoo research by making donations through the Ding Darling Wildlife Society (who helps support the cuckoo research) and earmark the donations for the Mangrove Cuckoo research.
Thank you all for coming on our Stokes Birding Tour!
I took all these photos with my Canon SX 50!
(FYI, it is not legal to play tapes in Ding Darling NWR in order to lure out birds.)
Lillian Stokes

Marbled Godwit beauty, one of the prettiest shorebirds!

Marbled Godwit, one of the prettiest shorebirds

Doing shorebird yoga

Beautiful pink bill

How many Marbled Godwits can you find hiding among the Willets?

Here are some recent shots I took at J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge where 2 Marbled Godwits are hanging out among the other shorebirds, much to the delight of the birders and photographers. This has got to be one of the prettiest shorebirds. This is a shorebird you can see in winter on mudflats in southern coastal areas of the East, West and also on the Gulf Coast. In summer they breed in wetlands and grasslands in the northern plains areas and into Canada. Enjoy their beauty.

Just Too Cute!! Common Ground Doves

Oh this is just too cute! Two Common Ground Doves, male on left, female on the right. They were sitting in a tree at J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Sanibel, FL. These are among the smallest of the N.A. doves and found in the some of the southernmost areas of the country. We get them at our feeders in FL.

Ovenbird Up Close, J. N. Ding Darling NWR, Canon SX 50 HS

Ovenbird on the ground, viewed from above, at the entrance ramp to J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Visitor's Center. This is such a cool view of that head pattern of the two dark stripes on either side of the orange crown. (Photographed with Canon SX 50 HS super-zoom point and shoot camera (cost $429), AV, 1/60, ISO 2000, f5.6, + 1/3, 100% digital zoom ratio.) This was a difficult photo situation and bigger, more expensive DSLR cameras like my Canon 1D Mark IV (cost me $5,000) would have produced better photos. Even for DLSR cameras, the low light, moving bird that was mostly obscured by twigs and brush, it would be a photo challenge. I only post these photos to show what is even possible with this little camera in a tough situation. If you want a camera that shoots in low light with better quality photos, get one of the more expensive DLSR cameras from Canon or other manufacturers. It you want a fun camera with an incredible zoom power (up to 1200mm, or 4800mm with digital zoom), weights a little more than a pound and costs a lot less, then you might be interested in the SX 50 HS.

This bird was walking on the ground under bushes and tangle in a shaded area, just the kind of place a wintering Ovenbird would like. Ovenbirds winter in Florida, the southern tip of TX, and farther south.

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Can you find the Ovenbird? It was very camouflaged against the leafy, bushy understory. The lower light level made photography a challenge. 

I was amazed I got any clear photos at all. The bird was constantly moving, there were branches in the way, and the very low light levels meant I had a slow shutter speed. I bumped up the ISO to 2000 to increase shutter speed, but even then I still had shutter speeds of 1/60 or 1/50. I kept shooting, waiting for the few seconds when the bird paused and was somewhat still. This camera has image stabilization, which helped. I am constantly surprised at the photos I get with this camera.

Heres the ramp that leads to the visitor's center building and bookstore. The ovenbird was on the right side, near the top of the ramp, so we were looking down on it from above. 

What a secretive and wonderful bird and so special to know it's making a living wintering in this national wildlife refuge. Many people walked by us, not knowing the ovenbird was below. Some stopped to ask what we were looking at. When we said "Ovenbird" some people knew what we meant and were thrilled to see it. For other people, when we had to explain "It's a warbler that walks on the ground," they responded "Can it fly?" We realize there's still so much education about birds to do, and we're happy to do it.

FYI, the AOU (American Ornithologist's Union) has changed the classification of warblers and this is included in our new field guides, The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region, which will be for sale on March 26th. For example, Ovenbird is the first bird in the warbler section, followed by Worm-eating Warbler and the two waterthrushes. The genus Dendroica is gone. The Genus Setophaga, which used to include only the American Redstart, now also includes Hooded Warbler, two species from the genus Parula, and everything that used to be in the genus Dendroica. So, if you want to be current, get our new guides which you can pre-order here.