Don’t miss this opportunity to sign up for a birding class given by PRAS member, Michael Weisensee, an expert birder, guide, and photographer! Register today! Call 941-475-0769 or email tome@checflorida.orgBirding Class by Mike Weisensee
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Please join the Peace River Audubon Society for a field trip to Prairie Shell Creek Preserve on Saturday, January 21. We will be meeting at 8 AM at 8031 Duncan Road, Punta Gorda. Our guide will be Jayne Johnson, who is a senior wildlife biologist at FWC and the organizer of the Christmas Bird Count for Audubon of Southwest Florida. This property is owned by SWFWMD and includes 609 acres of mesic flatwoods and tidal marsh which is a unique natural habitat for the Florida’s Scrub Jay, adjacent to Shell Creek, the Peace River, and Hunter Creek. There are 5 miles of trails but our walk will be about 2 miles, through mostly scrub habitat, including a small lake. Watch for the parking area… which is on the left side of Hwy 17 as you head toward Arcadia. Do not go as far as Prairie Creek Rd which leads to Prairie Creek Preserve… the names can be confusing and we will be be at Prairie Shell Preserve not Prairie Creek Preserve. There are no restrooms at this preserve. Please join us! Call Phyllis at 941-286-7636 if you have questions.
It is important to support our local environmental center, so we met there to check out the hurricane damage and see what birds we could find. We did have a good count… 38 species… despite the fact that the trails were very quiet when we arrived. We all enjoyed seeing a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and several Yellow-rumped Warblers vying for the insects and sap in the sapsucker holes. Michael Weisensee, PRAS member, and Tome Shaaltrel, both from CHEC, were our guides. Not only did we learn all about birds, but we gained knowledge about the plants and creatures along the shore. They both were so personable and informative that it made our trip special. We visited the estuary along Lemon Bay and also the point itself where there were lots of waterbirds feeding. There were ooh’s and aah’s as Roseate Spoonbills flew overhead. Beautiful weather added to the enjoyment of the trip. To look up the complete list of birds seen plus photos by Michael Weisensee visit the ebird link below.
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