[Updated 2022-08-31]
Changed from "days seen" to "% days seen", for easier year-to-year comparisons.
Added "% days seen" column to the spreadsheet.
As threatened promised, here is my 1st attempt at an Annual
IslandWalk State of the Birds Report.
My wife & I purchased our IW residence on Charlton Way, 110 yards up the west bank of Lake #1, in the spring of 2009. We spent only 2-3 weeks/year in IW until around 2016(?), when I decided to start wintering down here. I absolutely love it in IslandWalk, BTW!!!
Due to COVID, I was mostly in IW from Dec 2019 to mid-Sep 2020.
This past season, I got to IW in early December, 2021, and went back north May 2, 2022. I was also in Kentucky March 14-21. We did not take our February caribbean vacation due to COVID.
The data set is 22 lists, 11 walking the X route, 11 walking the X2 route (shown here). These routes are 5.2 to 5.7 miles - truncated now in the NW corner, due to construction.
I manually entered these in this spreadsheet - it took around 20 minutes, & meanwhile gave me a good review of the data. I will be reporting, if relevant, i.e., a reasonable amt of data, the following 4 datapoints:
- % days seen - % of days I saw (or heard) the bird walking the X or X2 route;
- total birds counted;
- average;
- max.
For birds seldom seen, I will list 1st sighting, latest sighting, & total sightings, or some such.
I will anecdotally compare this year's #s to my recollection of prior years. I think I was collecting X & X2 in the 2020-2021 season. I'll think about doing that after I see how this 1st report works out.
Here's the link to the IslandWalk hotspot at eBird.org.
Additionally, each bird name listed below is linked to its IslandWalk activity page in eBird.org. So click on the name, you will get a picture & all the data eBird has on that bird in IslandWalk.
Swimmers
I guess all are dabbling "ducks"? "Dabbling" === "stick your bill down in the water & swish it around & eat what you get from that".
- mottled duck: % days 100; tot 813; avg 37; max 66. 4 clutches of ducklings, 4, 7, 7, 10 maybe. 1 clutch was originally 10; 2 days later 7; 5 days later 3 ducklings. What is eating these? Turtles?
2 sightings of a male mallard, also seen a couple of yrs ago. mallard & mottled ducks interbreed.
- muscovy duck: % days 95; total 310; avg 15; max 34. I saw ~2 clutches of ducklings in March/April. 15 ducklings total?
Muscovy #s are 40% of mottled #s. For years, very similar #s, so I'm thinking muscovy duck #s down by ~2/3.
- common gallinule: % days 86; tot 72; avg 4; max 11. 1 single duckling + 1 clutch of 6. 1st counted by me in IW 4/2020. They seem to be becoming more common. Smaller than a chicken, bright orange bill duck-shaped but < 1" wide, black w white tailfeathers. They don't like people, if you walk towards them they will rapidly retreat and issue a comical, nasal "hoot, hoot, hoot" call. Note, prior to 2011, these were called moorhens. Moorhens are now a separate species, not found in Florida.
Divers
- pie-billed grebe: % days 77; tot 59; avg 3.5; max 10. These were here when I got here, and were gone by mid-April. Such a cute little diving bird. Count'em quick! They don't have webbed feet, they have long toes ribbed w keratin, each of which looks like the michelin rubber man! You never see these because they almost never get out of the water. I got to see Grebe Feet 1x, when I spooked 1 as I was going over the Island Pond bridge, & it dove & swam away underwater.
Mating season was apparently early March. Their beak colors were much brighter - they stood out more.
- hooded merganser: % days 27; tot 22; avg 3.7; max 9. They were here when I got here, gone by mid January. I got to see some nice courtship displays, females dancing as well as the males.
- lesser scaup: % days 18; tot 52; avg 13; max 16. These were here from mid February through early March. Easy to spot for their herringbone silver backs.
- ring-necked duck: % days 0. My recollection is that these normally show up in a mixed flock with the scaup. 0 this season. Last counted in IW by me 2021-03-04: 6.
- double-crested cormorant: % days 95; tot 166; avg 8; max 25. ?!?!? from maybe a 2-3 average from previous memory, a cormonant surge?!?!? On the 25 day count, 1 group of 11, 2 groups of 6. Note, this season, I saw a few times a cormorant spread its wings while sitting on the lake bank, similar to its anhinga cousin.
- anhinga: % days 95; tot 104; avg 5; max 12. I would guess 2-3x the 2-3 avg of previous years.
- brown pelican: % days 59; tot 34; avg 1.8; max 4. Normally they dive from 15-20' up straight down. I had 1 who dove from 5-6' up at a 30 deg angle, & still had good success. Someone suggested that it could be that it changed its method due to the lakes being so shallow now.
- belted kingfisher: % days 50; tot 14; avg 1.3; max 2. 1 evening on Lake #1 there was a group of 3 flying towards the NW. 1 day I saw 1 make 6 consecutive strikes in a row. They seem to dive at a 30 deg angle from 5-6' up. I did not see or hear (they have a distinctive chitter) a kingfisher after March 6. Pete Laviola counted 1 April 2.
Waders
- great egret: % days 100; tot 106; avg 5; max 9. I'm guessing numbers ~2x any previous years. Note there is some observation bias since you can spot a great egret ~200 yards up the lake. Orange/yellow beak (brighter => male), black legs, black feet.
- great blue heron: % days 59; tot 20; avg 1.5; max 2.
- snowy egret: % days 86; tot 68; avg 3.6; max 9. With the tricolored heron, in most years the most reliable wader. Surprisingly sparse mid-March - mid-April. Black beak, black legs, yellow feet. This year saw up to 3 adolescents - grey & black splotches in their feathers, lavender feet. The adolescent white ibis also have the grey & black splotches.
- cattle egret: % days 0. I counted 1 in IW on 2020-12-24. Biking 6-7 yrs ago on Oil Well Rd past Ave Maria, I saw lots of these, hanging out w cattle (go figure). Orange beak, orange legs, orange feet, orange highlights in the plumiage. Having seen so many immature snowy egrets this year, it's possible that that is what this was.
- tricolored heron: % days 95; tot 86; avg 4.1; max 9.
- little blue heron: % days 82; tot 32; avg 1.8; max 4. After years of being mostly absent - 0-2 sightings/year - suddenly showing up almost all the time. Nice!
- green heron: % days 0. 1 sighting, of 3-4 total, 1st counted in IW 2/2017 by Eric Thom. The other herons & egrets strike like a hammer, with their neck extended. The green heron coils its neck, & strikes out from its head held against its body - more like the jaw from Aliens.
- wood stork: % days 9; tot 2; avg 1; max 1. I think there has been at least 1 wood stork in IW the complete time of my residence. 2 yrs ago, 1 was feeding on the other side of Lake #1, & I got the binoculars on it for visiting friends. OMG, fearsome, stomp, stab, shake around, repeat. That downward-curving bill is 9" long, 5" x 3" at the base, a fearsome weapon.
- white ibis: % days 100; tot 227; avg 10.3; max 27. They work the streets as well as the lakes. My daughter Alexis the MLA sez she attended a presentation in which evidence was presented showing that the street ibis are diverging from the lake ibis.
- glossy ibis: % days 55; tot 40; avg 3.3; max 23. My 1st count of the dataset, 23 glossy ibis?!?!? Maybe migrating. After that, back to the fraction of white ibis counts.
- limpkin: % days 0. I've seen 1 of these in IW maybe a total of 4-5x. I saw 1 this season 2022-04-04 (walking Carlyles) near the Martinique walking path.
Hah! Linking the eBird page in, I've had 17 total counts: 3 in 2016 starting June 6, 1 in 2018, 12 in 2020. This is why I have an exocortex.
Beach Birds
- killdeer: % days 5; tot 1; avg 1.0; max 1 - Jan 28. Total sightings over the years, 4-5. I also see these in Lexington. Most recently counted in IW by Pete Laviola 2022-04-02.
- black skimmer: % days 0. 1 counted by Pete Laviola 2021-12-26.
Over my entire time in IW, I've seen a total of 3-4 gull-like birds. I don't know gull-like birds at all.
Raptors
- osprey: % days 59; tot 14; avg 1; max 2. When I 1st got down, there was a huge osprey hanging around Lake #1 for several days. See the following on bald eagles.
- bald eagle: % days 14; tot 3; avg 1; max 1. 2x, 1x over Lake #19 & 1x over Lake #1, a bald eagle attacked & drove off an osprey. Territorial, I guess.
- cooper's hawk: % days 9; tot 2; avg 1; max 1. Surprised to see this. Don't remember it.
- red-shouldered hawk: % days 0. The prevalent local hawk. All-time I've counted maybe a total of 2-3. Last counted in IW 4/2020 by barry mantell.
- broad-winged hawk: % days 0. 1 counted 2021-11-22 by George Eschenbach.
- swallow-tailed kite: % days 0. I saw my 1st ever in IW March 10, in the air over the north end of Lake #1. No, just checked, I saw my 1st ever in IW 2017-06-01 - I would have been here then putting the hurricane shutters up. I also counted 1 in 2020. I used to see a lot of them biking out Oil Well Rd before and after Ave Maria.
- loggerhead shrike: % days 86; tot 67; avg 3.5; max 12. The smallest raptor. Shrike #s seem to keep trending up. In 2020 we had a shrike pair nesting in the live oak behind our cage produce a young shrike. We had a pair again this year, and I think they had 2 young'uns.
I love this bird. They are not afraid of humans, you can walk up to within 2-3' of them. I always tell them "hello! hello!". Training shrikes to talk, FTW! LOL!
- black vulture: % days 32; tot 60; avg 8.6; max 20. Absolutely 1 of my least fav birds. Vulture v0.5. Smaller & much weaker flier than turkey vultures, much more flapping. Can't smell death from 5 miles away like turkey vultures. Will kill small animals including pets if not much roadkill lately.
- turkey vulture: % days 68; tot 32; avg 2.1; max 8. In general, it is kind of pointless to count these. Depending on the amount of dead stuff, like when we had a fish kill a few years ago, for that I counted 150 vultures, & estimated actual # present more like 250. They cleaned up 100s of dead fish in 3-4 days - as our most excellent Lakes Committee forecast.
These guys are such stong fliers, it is a pleasure to watch them ride the thermals.
Corvids
- fish crow: % days 91; tot 380; avg 19.0; max 58. These are hard to count. They move around a lot, and once the "caw" goes out, 40-50 can converge in minutes at most.
I have seen american crows at Shark Valley Everglades National Park, but never in IW. The bird books say that the more nasal "caw" of the fish crow is the only differing characteristic.
- blue jay: % days 100; tot 206; avg 9.4; max 23. Pretty normal.
Perching Birds (Passerines)
- mourning dove: % days 100; tot 138; avg 6.3; max 16. Ubiquitous across the US.
- eurasian collared dove: % days 82; tot 38; avg 2.1; max 4. Considered an invasive species, these larger doves have a 3 note call as opposed to the 5 note call of the mourning dove. They also have a fan-shaped tail rather than a pointed tail as the mourning dove has. Their #s don't appear to be increasing; they are outnumbered 3-4 to 1 by the mourning doves.
- common ground dove: % days 0. 1st counted by Eric Thom 2017-02-20. I saw 1 on the SW shore of Lake #17 last season; most recently counted by Pete Laviola 2021-05-30.
- common grackle: % days 100; tot 690; avg 31.4; max 94. IW's most ubiquitous perching bird.
- boat-tailed grackle: % days 64; tot 32; avg 2.3; max 8. These seem to be getting more common. They are more reliably distinguished from their common cousin by their call rather than their larger size. They call "shoop, shoop, shoop, shoop, (shoop)" or sing long, sweet notes - never any of the scratchy squacks of the common grackle. Their females are more brown than black. I had tentatively concluded that they like to forage at the lakes' edge much more than the common grackle, but I'm not sure about that.
- red-winged blackbird: % days 5; tot 2; avg 2.0; max 2. On my last walk of the season, April 30, I saw 2 of these towards the S end of Lake #2, my 1st time ever in IW. Also heard their distinctive call. Birdbook says they are everywhere in the US. Pete Laviola 1st counted 1 on 2021-06-05.
- european starling: % days 9; tot 12; avg 6.0; max 10. I have seen large numbers of starlings around northern Collier County - they love the utility lines at the corner of Vanderbilt Beach Rd & US 41 - but don't see them often in IW. They sometimes are in a mixed flock with the fish crows and/or grackles.
- northern mockingbird: % days 100; tot 398; avg 18.1; max 46. The 2nd most ubiquitous passerine in IW. Throughout mating season, which I would say starts late February, these guys are singing their hearts out. I would frequently count 2-3/block.
- brown thrasher: % days 18; tot 6; avg 1.5; max 2. Cousins of the mockingbird, they sing multiple songs like the mockingbird, but usually repeat each song 2-3x. They also seem to stay closer to the ground than mockingbirds. I used to see these only in the SW corner of IW, I saw a pair this year in the NE corner near Tobago.
- northern cardinal: % days 41; tot 10; avg 1.1; max 2. In the past, I had only seen these in the NE corner. This season also saw them on the south and west sides.
- red-bellied woodpecker: % days 100, tot 142, avg 6.5, max 11. IW's ubiquitous woodpecker. Very easy to recognize its calls.
- pileated woodpecker: % days 5, tot 1, avg 1.0, max 1. I also saw a couple on the wing this season, and other birders have counted them as well. I see some every year. The biggest woodpecker.
- downy woodpecker: % days 0. I counted 6x, 7 birds, in 2020. Most recent count by George Eschenbach 2021-01-11. The smallest woodpecker.
- northern flicker: % days 0. I counted these 10x or so summer of 2020, 0 this season. Last counted by Pete Laviola 2022-03-19.
- palm warbler: % 82 days; tot 159; avg 8.8; max 21. If it waves its tail up and down frequently, it's a palm warbler. They are gone by early April.
- black-and-white warbler: % days 0. In January of 2021, we were walking up to the pool and near the Charlton-Freeport bridge my youngest daughter spotted this bird. I thought at 1st a downy woodpecker, but no, markings different, more zebra-like. I had my iPad with me and came up with the tentative ID from searching using the iBirdPro app. On the way home, at the spot we sighted it, I played its song from the app, and it answered! I love living in the future!
I did not see 1 this season, George Eschenbach counted 1 Jan 6.
- yellow-throated warbler: % days 0. I have never seen 1, George Eschenbach counted 2 Jan 6.
- prairie warbler: % days 0. I have never seen 1, George Eschenbach counted 1 Jan 6.
- blue-gray gnatcatcher: % days 0. I believe I have counted these in IW in past years - checked, 5 counts, 7 birds Jan 2020 - Jan 2021. George Eschenbach counted 1 Jan 7.
I 1st saw these at Lakes Park in Ft. Myers. I played their song in the iBirdPro app and we had 10 or so come to check it out.
- chuck-will's-widow: % days 5; tot 1; avg 1.0; max 1. April 6 I was sitting in the lanai at around 9pm. I heard a melodic 5 note bird song being repeated. I fired up the Merlin bird ID app and it immediately ID'ed it, FTW! What fun!
It is the largest nightjar in North America, a cousin of the whip-poor-will. It is really odd looking, a turret head with no neck - I doubt I will ever get to see 1, as it is nocturnal.
Thanks to the other birders who also entered data for IW. I hope they don't mind my using their names, which are visible on the ebird.org site.
Until next year, I guess! I would anticipate cloning this report, removing all the commentary, and adding new commentary (probably a whole lot less, as this was catching up to forever ago) as appropriate.
