Birding during the COVID-19 pandemic was a nice respite from sheltering in place. It gets you outdoors and rarely involves contact, so a safe hobby during a scary time. The downside is that it is peak migration time, and many of the best birding locations were closed.
Pinecraft Park in Sarasota County was open, and we birded there twice. Both times, we were chasing the life bird, Swainson’s Warbler. Missed it both trips and the second by mere minutes. We met a nice Amish birding couple who showed us nesting Pileated Woodpeckers, and we pointed out a Barred Owl to them.
Boyrd Hill Nature Preserve was also open and close to home. Mostly the usual suspects, but we also saw a few migrants, including Great-crested Flycatcher, White-eyed and Yellow-throated Vireos, and a Northern Waterthrush. This is a great place to see baby gators in the spring.
Fort DeSoto Park is often called the mecca of migratory birding. The main park was closed, so we had to stay in the boat launch and areas off the main road. While looking for Common Ground-doves, we found a cooperative Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Maybe we should bird along the road more often. One of my birding buddies, Dick Snell, sent me a text alerting us to an Upland Sandpiper in the field by the boat launch. Score another Florida life bird.
Dunedin Hammock City Park is a very nice urban woodland area with several trails, a butterfly garden, and disc golf. This was our first time visiting, and we were surprised by the variety of migrant birds there. Best finds were Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Indigo Buntings, and a small mixed flock of warblers. It was a five-raptor day with Osprey, Red-shouldered and Short-tailed Hawks, Swallow-tailed Kite, and Barred Owl.
All the restaurants had take-out only during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. My friend Jill and I have been meeting for dinner every few weeks since our college days. We decided to meet at Boca Ciega Millennium Park for some great food from the Chicken Salad Chick. There were many thrushes in the picnic area, and we saw Veery, Grey-cheeked, and Swainson’s. After a trip around the boardwalk, we could hear the Chucks-wills-widow in the surrounding woods. Listen to my recording here: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/229706671
Next was our first birding trip with our great-nieces at George C. McGough Nature Park. This was a perfect way to see family during the COVID-19 pandemic. The park has a turtle pond and a boardwalk out to the intercoastal waterway. We saw a few shorebirds and herons with a nice American Redstart along the trail through the woods. We shared our eBird list with our niece Angel and hope she wants to add to it.
Fort Desoto opened on May 16, but migration was mostly over. Still, we managed 20 birding eBird lists and 121 species in the middle of a pandemic. In our next blog, we will tell you about our trip to upstate NY and the awesome birding along the way.
Trip Birds: 121 Year Birds: 46 FL Life Birds: 1
Next Up: South Carolina to Pennsylvania
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