Today was the first of a two day trip over to the Gulf coast with a number of Waders the main target. We headed down to the beaches a few miles south of Fort Myers, with the first port of call being Bunche Beach Preserve on San Carlos Bay. Despite the tide being on the rise and the beach crowded with sunbathers there were a few waders congregated around a bay along the beach to the right of the car park. Semi-palmated Plovers were the predominant species, but I quickly located a couple of Piping Plovers amongst them which showed well unconcerned with our presence.
Western and Least Sandpipers were also present on the waters edge, and on an offshore sandbank were a few Marbled Godwits along with a few American Sandwich (Cabot's) Terns which were mixed in with a roosting flock of Royal and Forsters Terns and Black Skimmers. Brown Pelicans and Reddish Egrets were noted flying along the shore, and an immature Bald Eagle soared overhead.
However with a combination of the tide and walkers pushing the birds across to the other side of the bay and out of viewing range, we cut our losses here and headed off further south to Little Estero Island Critical Wildlife Area which is a series of lagoons at the south east end of the island. As street parking seemed non-existent we parked in the car park of Holiday Inn ($5 for the day) and then headed onto the beach behind and then walked left to the far lagoon.
Again the birds present were incredibly tame and we were treated to superb views of another one of my targets Wilsons Plover.
As with Bunche Beach there were numerous Semi-palmated Plovers, along with a few Piping Plovers and both Western and Least Sandpipers. Dunlin, Sanderlings, Turnstones and Black-bellied Plovers were also present, along with another target species American Oystercatcher.
Laughing Gulls and Royal, Forsters and American Sandwich Terns were also present resting on the lagoons, and Double Crested Cormorants and Brown Pelicans added to the spectacle.
Whilst I was lucky enough to successfully find all but one of the target species, and get excellent views of them in the process, I would definitely recommend anyone considering visiting these sites should do so early morning, and preferably at low tide to maximise their potential. Arriving from mid morning onwards we encountered very heavy traffic, crowded beaches causing disturbance and greatly reducing available feeding areas, and to reach the far lagoon at Little Estero it was necessary to wade through a thigh-high channel due to the tide being in. Its also worth bearing in mind that I understand the lagoons are roped off from April 1st so access and views may be restricted after then.
However with a combination of the tide and walkers pushing the birds across to the other side of the bay and out of viewing range, we cut our losses here and headed off further south to Little Estero Island Critical Wildlife Area which is a series of lagoons at the south east end of the island. As street parking seemed non-existent we parked in the car park of Holiday Inn ($5 for the day) and then headed onto the beach behind and then walked left to the far lagoon.
Again the birds present were incredibly tame and we were treated to superb views of another one of my targets Wilsons Plover.
As with Bunche Beach there were numerous Semi-palmated Plovers, along with a few Piping Plovers and both Western and Least Sandpipers. Dunlin, Sanderlings, Turnstones and Black-bellied Plovers were also present, along with another target species American Oystercatcher.
Laughing Gulls and Royal, Forsters and American Sandwich Terns were also present resting on the lagoons, and Double Crested Cormorants and Brown Pelicans added to the spectacle.
Whilst I was lucky enough to successfully find all but one of the target species, and get excellent views of them in the process, I would definitely recommend anyone considering visiting these sites should do so early morning, and preferably at low tide to maximise their potential. Arriving from mid morning onwards we encountered very heavy traffic, crowded beaches causing disturbance and greatly reducing available feeding areas, and to reach the far lagoon at Little Estero it was necessary to wade through a thigh-high channel due to the tide being in. Its also worth bearing in mind that I understand the lagoons are roped off from April 1st so access and views may be restricted after then.
