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Posted by Bryant Roberts on 00:00:32 05/20/06
At Hugh Taylor Birch State Park (Pranty Pg. 220) the first bird seen this morning was a female Connecticut Warbler lying in the middle of the road about a hundred yards north of the front entrance building. When I picked her up she stirred a little, moving her wings and feet but her eyes remained half closed so while she was still alive but it didn t look like she would survive long. I took her back to the entrance where the ranger found a box into which I placed the bird and set out of the way in the entrance building.
A walk around Birch turned up another female Connecticut Warbler on the east side of the Scenic Drive a little south of the second exotic large leaf fig a couple of hundred yards north of where the railroad used to cross the road. A Magnolia Warbler was also seen near the south end of the old exotic plant trail as well as a surprising number of Northern Waterthrushes and most of the usual late spring migrants.
When I got back to the entrance I discovered to my surprise that the Connecticut Warbler had apparently recovered but was still in the box which was too tall and narrow for it to fly out of. I took the box to the edge of the hammock by the entrance and put it on its side, the bird soon emerged and took a look around for a few seconds then flew about five yards into the woods and began walking towards deeper cover with no obvious ill effects from her experience. I know that there is usually residual brain damage after this kind of injury which along with the stress of long migratory flights before and after today makes her chances of survival slim, but at least she has a chance.
An afternoon visit to Easterlin Park (1000 NW 38th Street Oakland Park) added an Ovenbird and a few more Yellow-billed Cuckoos to the day list along with a male and female Scarlet Tanager on the shortcut trail south of the campground. These are the first Scarlet Tanagers that I can recall seeing during the spring in Broward County.
Warblers seen on 5/19/06
Magnolia Warbler - (Birch -1)
Black-throated Blue Warbler - (Birch -5) (Easterlin -1)
Blackpoll Warbler - (Birch -3) (Easterlin -15)
American Redstart - (Birch -17) (Easterlin -22)
Ovenbird - (Easterlin -1)
Northern Waterthrush - (Birch -6)
Connecticut Warbler - (Birch -2)
Common Yellowthroat - (Birch -8) (Easterlin -3)
Other migrants and birds of interest seen:
Least Tern - (Easterlin -2)
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - (Birch -3) (Easterlin -7)
Pileated Woodpecker - (Birch -1) (Easterlin -1)
Veery - (Ft. Lauderdale -1)
Scarlet Tanager - (Easterlin -2)
House Finch - (Birch -2)
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