I birded Gemini Springs five times during May, tallying just 45 species for the month.
A lot of my birding time at the park was spent watching a family of Barred Owls and a pair of Red-shouldered Hawk fledglings. I will have some separate follow up posts with these birds of prey in the coming days. The photos below represent the non-baby-raptor highlights from May.
New for the year list: Swallow-tailed Kite; Northern Bobwhite (heard only; may have heard them earlier but not noted); Roseate Spoonbill (flyovers – first ever for my Gemini Springs list); Ruby-throated Hummingbird (another Gemini Springs all-time first for me). The complete list is at the end of this post.
Anhinga | 2 May 2012
Black-and-white Warbler | 2 May 2012
Anhinga | 4 May 2012
Gulf Fritillary | 4 May 2012
Great Blue Heron | 4 May 2012
Red-bellied Woodpecker | 4 May 2012
Raptors were not the only juvenile birds I saw at Gemini Springs in May. On the 4th, a family of Pileated Woodpeckers worked a few trees together, traveling from trunk to trunk.
Pileated Woodpeckers | 4 May 2012
Young Pileated Woodpecker | 4 May 2012
Foggy morning | 7 May 2012
Foggy morning | 7 May 2012
Common Snapping Turtle | 7 May 2012
Great Crested Flycatcher with prey | 27 May 2012
May 2012 bird list, Gemini Springs
Northern Bobwhite – Colinus virginianus
Double-crested Cormorant – Phalacrocorax auritus
Anhinga – Anhinga anhinga
Great Blue Heron – Ardea herodias
Great Egret – Ardea alba
Snowy Egret – Egretta thula
Little Blue Heron – Egretta caerulea
Tricolored Heron – Egretta tricolor
Green Heron – Butorides virescens
White Ibis – Eudocimus albus
Glossy Ibis – Plegadis falcinellus
Roseate Spoonbill – Platalea ajaja
Black Vulture – Coragyps atratus
Osprey – Pandion haliaetus
Swallow-tailed Kite – Elanoides forficatus
Bald Eagle – Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Red-shouldered Hawk – Buteo lineatus
Common Gallinule – Gallinula galeata
American Coot – Fulica americana
Sandhill Crane – Grus canadensis
Black-necked Stilt – Himantopus mexicanus
Mourning Dove – Zenaida macroura
Barred Owl – Strix varia
Ruby-throated Hummingbird – Archilochus colubris
Red-bellied Woodpecker – Melanerpes carolinus
Downy Woodpecker – Picoides pubescens
Pileated Woodpecker – Dryocopus pileatus
Great Crested Flycatcher – Myiarchus crinitus
Red-eyed Vireo – Vireo olivaceus
Blue Jay – Cyanocitta cristata
Fish Crow – Corvus ossifragus
Carolina Chickadee – Poecile carolinensis
Tufted Titmouse – Baeolophus bicolor
Carolina Wren – Thryothorus ludovicianus
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher – Polioptila caerulea
Northern Mockingbird – Mimus polyglottos
Brown Thrasher – Toxostoma rufum
Black-and-white Warbler – Mniotilta varia
Common Yellowthroat – Geothlypis trichas
Northern Parula – Setophaga americana
Swamp Sparrow – Melospiza georgiana
Northern Cardinal – Cardinalis cardinalis
Red-winged Blackbird – Agelaius phoeniceus
Common Grackle – Quiscalus quiscula
Boat-tailed Grackle – Quiscalus major
