The Lakeland exotics are not all ABA countable but are stunning nonetheless. Lake Morton is a hotspot for many species of swan and goose. Mute Swan is plentiful with Black Swan and Black-necked Swan mixed in. Domestic Graylag Goose and Swan Goose are reliable finds.

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Other good birds are the wintering Ruddy and Ring-necked Ducks. Several families were feeding bread to the birds and although they have good intentions, it’s still harmful. I wish they had signs like the one below to educate everyone that grapes, corn, peas, and lettuce are better options.

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From there we went to nearby Florida Southern College which has the largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world. Our favorite building is the Danforth Chapel built in 1954 and would be a beautiful location for a wedding. Lake Hollingsworth is adjacent to the campus and has some Florida specialties like the Purple Gallinule and Limpkin easily seen from the boardwalks.

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Wimauma

Western Kingbird and Scissortail Flycatcher were reported several times in the orange grove region south of Lakeland. Obviously, we had to drive through Wimauma on the way back. We dipped on both but that’s the way birding is and keeps it interesting. If you always find your target bird it wouldn’t be very challenging. It was fun to have a group of Palm Warblers and Eastern Bluebirds follow us as we idled around the farm fields. Glad they were gone when this Red-shouldered Hawk flew by.

So, the next weekend we decided to give it another try and found the Scissortail Flycatcher off Colding Loop Road. It was on a distant post in a farm field but we were thrilled to see our third Florida specimen and the first since 2012. Here is the way we saw it and a beautiful bird from Texas.

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Sometimes it’s fun to just take a local road trip and see what is out there.

Trip Birds: 50     Life Birds: 0

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