Birding with David Simpson

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March 21, 2024

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Pasco County Birding 12/24/2013

Redhead (l) with Widgeon (r) Today, I spent a few hours birding Pasco County with local experts Dave Gagne, Bill Pranty, and Valeri Ponzo. We decided to sleep in and start at the former Gulf Harbors Golf Course at 7:30 this morning. This area is quite remarkable for birding yielding 70+ species in a couple hours in a winter morning. Redheads were present in the ponds by the thousands. Among them were several Gadwalls and a Ruddy duck . Nelson's sparrow has been seen here lately as has a wintering Yellow warbler . Wind conditions made it difficult to see songbirds, but we did get great shots of the ducks, including a single Greater scaup . Three county ticks for me. Later, we checked a couple spots for the wintering Bar-tailed godwit that has been teasing birders in north Pinellas and south Pasco Counties lately. It has been seen at Fred Howard Park in Pinellas County and Anclote Gulf Park in Pasco lately. Not by us on this day. I did manage to add Marbled godw

Swallow watching in Florida

Northern Rough-wing Swallow One of my favorite things to do in August and September in Florida is watch migrating swallows. Most of the time, 99% of the swallows you see will be Barn swallows. That's not to say they will be boring. There are numerous juvenile birds with shorter tails and variably pale underparts. Adults are also paler than in the spring; many of them will be pale to the point of being almost white underneath. Once in a great while you will encounter what I like to call and Fork-tailed snow-swallow which is a fancy way of describing a leucistic Barn swallow. I've only seen 2-3 of these among the millions of Barn swallows. Where do you look for swallows in migration? Try edges of water bodies, especially Lake Okeechobee. If you're near the beach, head there. Swallows (and many other birds) use the coast as a navigational aid. Large open spaces like agricultural fields and pastures often attract migrating swallows and make good vistas for obser

How I bird T. M. Goodwin WMA - Broadmoor Tract

People often wonder how I keep seeing so many species on my trips to Broadmoor. There is a method to the madness. My goal when birding Broadmoor, and pretty much any other time I am in the field, is to collect good eBird data. To that end, I tend to run basically the same route each time. However, I can’t help but try at various points to try at various points to add more species. So without further ado, here is how I make the magic. Start – I often log 20 or more species before I even start traveling. The levee at the southwest side of the reservoir offters a broad view of Broadmoor and the adjacent St. Johns River Water Management District Upper Basin Project (T. M. Goodwin is also part of that project.) Running to the east is a hedgerow of trees and brush along the border between Broodmoor and the Original Unit of T. M. Goodwin. Having all these habitats together makes it a great start and potentially a great Big Sit. During the summer and fall, Gallinule numbers get a q

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