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Posted by Nancy Freedman on 14:05:13 02/28/15
While waiting in the parking lot at approximately 7:10 a.m., Black-bellied Whistling Ducks were flying back and forth overhead and a Limpkin was heard. Eight people joined me on a somewhat cloudy morning with peaks of sun. On entering Wakodahatchee, it was evident that most of the trees were leafless, but only Tricolors were in them, no Night Herons (yet). Whistling Ducks were chasing Common Gallinules while a Glossy Ibis sat quietly next to the commotion. The Wood Storks are nesting everywhere now, since they had to abandon the back islands where nothing is nesting to the inhospitality of those two islands. Great Blue Herons were not only nesting but they seemed to be everywhere I looked, on the ground, in the trees, on the nests. A group of 32 Black-bellied Whistling Ducks were marching on the first berm on the left, something I had never seen before. As for Neotropic Cormorants, there was an adult and perhaps 2 younger hybrids. Two Great Egrets with incredible plumage let us watch them mate. A Cooper s Hawk flew into a tree while three Mottled Ducks flew overhead. A clumsy Purple Gallinule climbed around in leather fern and kept falling in the water. The Red-winged Blackbirds were in fine shape and very gregarious. A Brown Pelican flew over while a Green Heron sat on a branch gurgling. A Sora was heard but not seen. The Martin houses have been taken down. A young American Bittern was just below us on the boardwalk. Next came the killing which usually takes place in Green Cay. A Red-shouldered Hawk was eating a Least Bittern in a pine tree. Later came 1 Marsh Rabbit, a Wilson s Snipe and a Kingfisher where three Purple Swamphens had been seen earlier. A Wood Stork actually sat on the railing hamming it up for everyone for quite a while, letting us get very close. And we did see a live Least Bittern shortly thereafter. At the first nest near the shelter as you come in, it seemed the Wood Storks were actually attacking nesting Anhingas and Great Blue Herons. There was a lot of noise, clacking of bills and shifting of positions. A big gator had just eaten what some folks told us was a white bird as we were exiting. Warblers included Common Yellowthroat, Palm and Myrtle as well as a heard Parula.
At Green Cay we were met by two screaming Limpkins and a Marsh rabbit sitting on reeds in the water. Interestingly, we only saw one Wood Stork at Green Cay. There were some Tree Swallows and a fair amount of Purple Martins. A white-phased Little Blue was being chased by a Snowy. We encountered two Purple Swamphens and lots of Purple Gallinules; no Sora and only Blue-winged Teal and a few Mottled Ducks. There were Pine Warblers in the Cypress tree area along with a Black & White and Blue-headed Vireo as well as the usual Gnatcatchers, Palms and Myrtles. A male and female Painted Bunting were at the front feeders when we left. Not much action at Green Cay today.
Four of us had lunch at Morikami Gardens. A new bird added there was a flyover Kestrel.
Then three of us went on to Pondhawk Natural Area which is next to the Boca Raton library on Spanish River Blvd. We walked the .71 mile circular trail, the last half being in a steady sprinkle. We did add a female Lesser Scaup.
When I got home to North Miami, the streets here were flooded!
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