Can You Hear the Birds Hernando?

Glossy Ibis and Sandhill Crane at Grove Road

The Red Van Gang gathered at 5:30 AM on Wednesday morning for a day of birding in Hernando County.  It’s been almost four and a half years since I last birded there, but recent posts to Birdbrains piqued my curiosity.  Our first stop was to be Grove Road, but we were distracted by swallows flying over a field on SR 50 just west of there.  We saw plenty of Purple Martins and Barn Swallows and a few suspicious looking swallows with squared-off tails, but never really got definitive looks. 

A U-turn at the next intersection got us back on track to Grove Road. The sun was to our back affording us great views of the shorebirds and waders that were feeding in the ponds just north of the water treatment facility.  In a matter of seconds the four of us were ticking off new county species: Black-necked Stilt; both dowitchers; both yellowlegs; Semipalmated, Least, Pectoral and Stilt Sandpipers; Semipalmated Plovers, and Killdeer.  There were plenty of waders around and a few Mottled Ducks in the distance. 

The next stop was at the Chassahowitzka WMA walking trail off CR 550 just east of US 19.  The skies were threatening rain, so our stay was brief but productive.  A Cooper’s Hawk was perched in a tall pine just west of the parking lot, many Prairie Warblers flew about both sides of the trail, and the brush near the restroom produced a Brown Thrasher and White-eyed and Red-eyed Vireos.  We took the left turn at the restroom and then the first right.  We soon found a Great-crested Flycatcher, a Prothonotary Warbler and a Hooded Warbler.

Trying to stay ahead of the rain, we next drove out to Pine Island.  Along the road we saw a couple of Eastern Kingbirds and a Common Ground Dove on the way out.  There were few shorebirds at the park, but a Forster’s Tern added one new county lifer.  Otherwise there were a few Willets, one Ruddy Turnstone and one Least Sandpiper.  There were also a small number of Laughing Gulls and Royal Terns and a lone Belted Kingfisher.

Bayport

The Bayport fishing pier didn’t produce much, but still proved to be worth the time.  We got the day’s best view of a Spotted Sandpiper and also enjoyed the sight of a couple of Manatees surfacing just off shore.  The Spotted was identified due to its erratic flight style and then scoped at a distance.  That’s when the skies opened, so we decided it was a good time for lunch.

After lunch, and after a discussion of our options for the day, we decided to make another visit to Grove Road to see if there was anything new.   I’m glad we did.  Many of the same shorebirds were there but there were several more Stilt Sandpipers (pictured below left).  (We had to take pictures through the fence, the birds were not close, and it was raining, so we didn’t get a lot of usable photos.)  A Green Heron flew overhead and a Solitary Sandpiper worked the near edge of a pond on the extreme north end of the property.  We saw numerous swallows including Barn and Northern Rough-winged as well as Purple Martins, but once again identifying the one or two mystery swallows that we saw was problematic.  While watching the swallows we saw about a dozen Blue-winged Teal fly in.  Call me crazy, but I love the sight of ducks in flight and especially Blue-winged Teal.  I felt blessed to be standing there.

Stilt Sandpiper, Grove Road, Hernando County

It was getting late, we decided to leave Grove Road and take a leisurely drive through the northeast section of the county on the way back to I-75.  Along the way we picked up a few more county lifers such as Loggerhead Shrike and Red-headed Woodpecker.  We made an impulse-stop at the Chinsegut Nature Center.  This seems like a very nice spot and the ranger there was very helpful.  We watched the well-stocked feeders for a while then walked a little bit of the trails.  We saw a mixed flock of Tufted Titmice, Carolina Chickadees, Carolina Wrens, Northern Parulas, and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, but no migrating warblers. 

That wrapped up a wonderful day in Hernando County.  We tallied 80 species for the day including 24 county lifers for me.  It doesn’t get much better than good birding in the company of good friends.

By the way, apologies to all for the lame ABBA reference in the title.  You had to be there …

Bayport