Birding at Chinsegut

By Mary Keith, Conservation Chair

A Carolina Chickadee - one of the species spotted on the Chinsegut walk.

Five people joined Mary for a great morning birding at Chinsegut. The weather was lovely, and you cannot have a better start to a birding day than watching a Bald Eagle sail in and perch in a tree across the road from your gathering point! The sun was barely up as it sat there and surveyed its domain! Then we had our first Red-headed Woodpecker of the day within the first hundred yards on the trail. It was followed by another 11 along our 1.5 mile walk in to the lake. One of the Eastern Bluebirds we saw was carrying nesting material, and a Pileated Woodpecker was vigorously excavating a new nest hole.

Other notable species included a Great Horned Owl, a Baltimore Oriole, Swallow-tailed Kites, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a Northern Flicker, six different warblers, three vireo species, and a Summer Tanager. Oh, and at least 22 Sandhill Cranes and a small group of Yellowlegs, both greater and lesser, on the wet prairie! This kind of diversity happens when the trail goes through a healthy and diverse habitat, from pine flatwoods, to oak hammock and uplands, to the edge of a large wet prairie, with a few dry sinkholes thrown in besides. Chinsegut is managed by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation, and they do a great job. We had 58 species total - a great morning.