NORTH COUNTY
* Gnatcatcher Chicks !!!
* Walker's Busy Yard
SOUTH COUNTY
* The many faces of Lake Maggiore
* Cooper's Hawk chicks
* Hummingbird at Boyd Hill
* Boyd Hill Bird Walk
BIRD PROFILE - Page Five
* Pinellas' Short-tailed Hawk
click above headings to view
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SEE AN INJURED BIRD?
Contact the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary to see
what you can do!
(727) 391-6211
To contact the site-owner direct e-mails to: Ron Smith
Never seen a Barn Owl in Pinellas ??? Well, the above two images are provided by Dave Kandz, who came across this obliging owl west of the Derby Lane Dog Track on 10 March 2007, just after 8 PM. Over the past 40 years or so they have been known to nest in the tower at Stetson University in Gulfport, at the tower at Sacred Heart Church in Pinellas Park, an old silo that is no longer present but was located just north of where the WalMart is today on U.S. 19, just north of Gandy Blvd/Park Blvd., and also were seen utilizing a billboard in front of the Derby Lane Dog Track in the late 1990's. They're there. We have just three days, errrr nights, to find one for the June Challenge.
KESTREL MAKES 130
What a great June Challenge it turned out to be as on the last day Judy Fisher found an American Kestrel to reach the hoped-for Challenge goal of 130 species.
The Challenge gave area birders (more than 20 took part) something to do during the usually slow month of June in Pinellas. And as expected some really good birds for this time of the year were found. I'm not sure what species might have been considered the rarest, but the holdover Surf Scoter, first found in late May, might have been it.
Also very exciting to hear about was the female Redhead at Honeymoon Island SP, the pair of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks at the Roosevelt Wetlands, and the Eastern Kingbird at the entrance of the Brooker Creek Preserve.
A few other very exciting species were also were found this month due to effort: Short-tailed Hawk at Sawgrass Lake CP (more on this particular bird in Species Profile), the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in the yard of Barb Walker, the Yellow-throated Vireo at the Preserve, as well as Red Knots, Dunlin, and Common Terns all photographed by Mia Mystery at Fort DeSoto CP. And lastly, just by being a volunteer in the protection and surveying of Least Terns by Dave Kandz, a Black Tern made the month's list.
All in all, a great effort! PinellasBirds.com hopes to do it again in 2009.
Tom Bell took these great images of a successful dip and catch by a Green Heron at Bird Island at Coffee Pot Bayou near downtown St. Petersburg.
