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Posted by Brian Rapoza on 12:33:44 03/12/06
Five birders joined me on yesterday's TAS carpool trip to Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area in Osceola County. On the drive to the WMA, a Crested Caracara was seen along the turnpike in Martin County (though I don't keep county lists, that's the first time I can recall seeing a caracara in Martin). Ring-necked Duck, Wood Stork and Red-tailed Hawk were also spotted along the turnpike. Purple Martins were swarming around a gas station at Yeehaw Junction and Wild Turkey were seen as we headed north on US 441. At our first stop, at Lake Marion, we met up with visiting birders from Oregon who had been camping at the WMA the previous week. Seen at the lake were Brown and American White Pelican, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Limpkin and the first of many Bald Eagles, including one seen successfully capturing a fish. Northern Parula were singing from surrounding trees and Sandhill Cranes were spotted in nearby pasture. A Bald Eagle could be seen inside a distant nest along Canoe Creek Road.
At Sunset Ranch Interpretive Trail, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Phoebe, Blue-headed and White-eyed Vireo, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina and House Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet,Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Gray Catbird, Hermit Thrush, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped, Pine, Palm and Black-and-white Warbler, Northern Parula and Common Yellowthroat were seen or heard in the oak hammock. A pair of Bald Eagles were spotted in an open area beyond the boardwalk. Bachman's Sparrows were singing near the entrance to Prairie Lakes Unit Wildlife Drive, including one perched in a pine near the road, offering excellent views. Also at this stop, a Northern Bobwhite was flushed from the roadside, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was seen in a small oak and Eastern Towhee were heard and seen in the surrounding saw palmetto. During lunch at Parker Slough, Barred Owl, Great Crested Flycatcher and Northern Parula were heard; Pileated Woodpecker was seen and heard during a brief after-lunch walk.
At the Lake Jackson observation Tower, Mottled Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, Glossy Ibis, Sandhill Crane, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper and Wilson's Snipe were seen. On the walk back to our cars, a Fox Squirrel was briefly seen and a Black Racer was seen (and briefly captured by Alex Harper) in the adjacent oak/cabbage palm hammock. A Northern Harrier, Tree Swallows and Eastern Meadowlarks were seen and another Bald Eagle was seen (and photographed at relatively close range from our vehicles) as we continued along the widlife drive. Eastern Bluebirds were seen as we neared the hunters camp at the end of the wildlife drive and Pine Warblers and Bachman's Sparrows could be heard singing. The highlight of our mid-afternoon walk around the hunter's camp was finding both Red-cockaded Woodpecker and Brown-headed Nuthatch. At one point, both were in the same tree at the same time! Also seen there were Eastern Bluebird and Savannah Sparrow.
Along Joe Overstreet Road, a Crested Caracara was spotted working a field as it was being plowed. Also seen along the road were American Kestrel, Sandhill Cranes, Grasshopper and Savannah Sparrows and Eastern Meadowlark. More Sandhill Cranes, Glossy Ibis, Wilson's Snipe, Ring-billed and Herring Gulls and Forster's Tern were at the Lake Kissimmee boat landing. We also witnessed for the second time a Bald Eagle successfully capturing a fish. No Whooping Cranes were seen here, as they had been by the visiting Oregon birders two days before, nor were they seen at Double C Bar Ranch on Canoe Creek Road, nor anywhere else for that matter. This is the first time I've missed seeing Whooping Cranes while leading this trip. A Swallow-tailed Kite was seen near Yeehaw Junction on the drive back to Miami and a Caspian Tern was spotted along the turnpike in Palm Beach County before darkness set in, the last of 92 species seen on this trip.
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