#252. Black Bellies
I was sent on "wild goose chases" all over Florida, looking for Black-bellied Whistling-ducks.
On eBird I found a citing for them at Celery Fields. One of the rangers there sent me to Sarasota where he saw "'bout a hundred of 'em". When I got to Sarasota I found about 20,000...cars in a traffic jam. Next, a field ranger said the ducks "hang out in a pond by the house in Arvada". Of course...empty pond. I had already found none at Myaka State Park, on the way to Arvada.
On the other side of the State, we met Paul (D200-Paul) and his wife Angela at Merritt Island NWR...no Whistling-ducks. I had a conversation with a lady and gave her birding info about Magee Marsh in Ohio, and she gave us her "favorite spot for Whistling-ducks only a mile away".
We went to Chain of Lakes County Park, didn't see anything, and were about to leave. My wife said, "What are those things across the pond?"
They were Black-bellied Whistling-ducks, just as the lady said.
Life Bird Photograph #252
#252. Black Bellies
I was sent on "wild goose chases" all over Florida, looking for Black-bellied Whistling-ducks.
On eBird I found a citing for them at Celery Fields. One of the rangers there sent me to Sarasota where he saw "'bout a hundred of 'em". When I got to Sarasota I found about 20,000...cars in a traffic jam. Next, a field ranger said the ducks "hang out in a pond by the house in Arvada". Of course...empty pond. I had already found none at Myaka State Park, on the way to Arvada.
On the other side of the State, we met Paul (D200-Paul) and his wife Angela at Merritt Island NWR...no Whistling-ducks. I had a conversation with a lady and gave her birding info about Magee Marsh in Ohio, and she gave us her "favorite spot for Whistling-ducks only a mile away".
We went to Chain of Lakes County Park, didn't see anything, and were about to leave. My wife said, "What are those things across the pond?"
They were Black-bellied Whistling-ducks, just as the lady said.
Life Bird Photograph #252