Hello all!
We had an amazing birding trip to Jim Neville this past Saturday.
Attendees: John H, John R, Sophia, Danielle, Nel, Roland, Tiffany,Tom, Chris, Vladyslav, Torsten, and Matt. We took our usual route, starting with Restored Locations 1-2, then moving to Unrestored 1. Then we took a 20 minute break, and afterwards finished with Restored 3, and Unrestored 2-3.
Some of the highlights include:
There was a Palm Warbler at the entrance, which is very rare this time of year, since most warblers have started heading up north. Probably the highlight of our trip! I’ve included a picture taken by Tom.
There were definitely more pollinators around the gardens, especially Gulf Fritillary butterflies. We also observed the digger wasps again at Unrestored 1. They were gathered at the same place, presumably waiting for females to emerge from the ground so they could breed. This time, we saw a couple holes in the ground from which females emerged. These wasps were very docile, so we definitely took the time to watch them closely during our time there. It was very cool! I’ve included a picture of a Gulf Fritillary taken by Tom.
We saw three Magnificent Frigatebirds recurring throughout the trip, soaring overhead. I’ve included a picture of one taken by Roland.
Afterwards, we saw an immature dark-morph Short-Tailed Hawk, which stumped us for a little while since we usually only see the adults, but both are still a pretty rare sight to see! I’ve included a couple pictures taken by Tom and Roland.
Though we didn’t see this as a group, Tom went to the island a little early and observed a family of Mourning Doves with 3 fledged young. Good to know that the island is host to successful breeding!
Here’s our eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S242115124
Our next trip will be in mid June, probably 6/14 or 15. I’m leaving for Taiwan on 6/23 and I’ll be there until early August but there will still be a July survey – I’m counting on your help to avoid a break in data gathering!
Thanks to all our volunteers, I hope to see you there next month!
Sophia H
