Tuesday,
October 1: Pepper Ranch Preserve
The weather was really varied during the morning. It began with fairly heavy fog, then cleared, then was partly cloudy, then cleared again, and then was totally cloudy. But it was a nice day to be out.
Two new snowbirds appeared. The first was a Ruby-throated Hummingbird near the start of the grassy path to the observation platform and the second was a pair of Eastern Wood-Pewees in the M field. More Palm Warblers had arrived.
The check of Southeastern Sunflowers was mixed. The field at the south end of Sunflower Trace Road was full of blooms with more to come. However, the oil well field blooms were scarce. There were more than there were last week, but not very many. Conservation Collier staff is meeting on Friday to decide whether or not to hold or cancel this year's sunflower festival. If this morning was any indication, the odds favor cancellation.
The
M field had been recently mowed in preparation for the festival which meant
that the variety of insects that are usually found in the grasses and wildflowers
was tremendously reduced.
One new insect that was nearby was one of the Tumbling Flower Beetle species on the sunflower bloom at the left.
Only seven species of butterflies/moths and seven species of dragonflies/damselflies were identified, and none of those were very plentiful.
The most often seen of the avian species were Black Vultures with 92 individuals counted. All but eight of them were in one big kettle that found a thermal and was slowly rising over one of the pastures.
Other birds with individual numbers in double figures were Great Egrets, Cattle Egrets, Common Ground Doves, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, White Ibis, and Wild Turkeys. The group of turkeys at the top of the page were near the ranger station while a second large group was trotting along Sunflower Trace Road.
Gators and Brown Anoles were the only herps seen, and White-tailed Deer and Gray Squirrels were the only mammals.
There had to have been some serious weather sometime in
the past week. All of the tall aquatic grasses around the observation platform
had been flattened, palm fronds and small branches and limbs littered some
of the pastures and the road, all of the potholes in Pepper Road were overflowing
with water, and a large oak tree in Ann Olesky Park on the southern border
of the preserve had been uprooted.
Thursday,
October 3: Flint Pen Strand
More snowbirds are arriving. This morning the Red-eyed Vireo at the left was the best sighting because they are rarely seen in Flint Pen Strand. There were also two American Redstarts, one male and one female. All were in or along the edges of the cypress dome east of the parking lot. One Gray Catbird was also an early arrival in the same area.
Other warblers were the immature Common Yellowthroat at the lower left and more Palm Warblers.
Water levels were higher this morning than they were the previous visit, and they are likely to go up some more with the rain that is forecast for the weekend and start of next week.
None of the wading birds were in the lake where it was a bit deep for them, even around the edges, but with the marsh and most of the pine area to the east under water, there were plenty of places for them to find easy prey. The only birds in the deeper water were Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and Blue-winged Teal. One Anhinga was near the water and an Osprey had a perch overlooking the west lake.
Some
of the emergent vegetation in the flooded areas near the lakes had the
bright pink Island Apple Snail eggs attached, so if the female Snail Kite
returns this winter and spring, she should have plenty of food to choose
from.
Dragonflies were loving all of the water and small prey available. Fourteen species were identified. Halloween Pennants were the most common followed by Needham's Skimmers, Four-spotted Pennants, and Eastern Pondhawks.
Two new insect species in the FWC/CREW wildlife area were discovered. One was a Southern Green-striped Grasshopper (Chortophaga australior) in the photo. Just one of those was seen in the road south of the lakes.
The other was the American Sand Wasp (Bembix americana). There were lots of those little things visiting blooms along the edges of the same road. They are in the center photo below.
Wasps were very common. Others in the photo are a Mexican Paper Wasp at the right and a Parker's Thin-waisted Wasp at the left. The view of the Mexican Paper Wasp is looking up from below. There were also Southern Paper Wasps, a Horse's Paper Wasp, and some of the tiny Scoliid Wasps that were too far into the low vegetation to determine which species they were.
Mammals were just a pair of Cottontail Rabbits and one
Marsh Rabbit, and herps were just some gators cruising the lakes, Southern
Cricket Frogs calling, and one baby Black Racer sunning next to the trail.
My yard
Other than one visit from a young bear at the start of the week, it was just the regulars each night: Gray Foxes, Southern Flying Squirrels, Virginia Opossums, and one Raccoon.
A female Painted Bunting has been reported elsewhere in Collier County, so I got out the bunting feeder and some of the good seed, but so far, birds have only been the regulars.