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Posted by Nancy Freedman on 08:20:28 03/19/07
A group of 10, including Roberta and Bill from Naples Audubon, a couple from Washington, D.C., Anthony & his mom from Coral Gables and some late arrivals from Miami enjoyed a chilly, but beautiful, morning in Palm Beach County. At Wakodahatchee, the baby birds were plentiful. My favorite was a lone pied-billed grebe, a fuzzy little bundle with a striped head, floating in a cove with its mother nearby. The great blue herons have 3 beak-clacking babies who can barely stay in the nesting area on the island because they are so big. In fact, the great blue herons were everywhere; some still on the nest. Purple martins are back as are the marsh rabbits, I counted 5 (up 4 from this time last year). Jim Sigsbee found a solitary sandpiper, I found one sora.
Green Cay was extraordinary. We tried to find the shiny cowbird at the feeders near the entrance to the nature center. Waited about 15 minutes then walked out on the boardwalk, leaving John Hutchison and Scott from Everglades Audubon to come get us if it appeared. It did, but by the time we got back, it had left. So we walked the walk. There were 5-6 soras, some feeding in the open and very close to the boardwalk, purple gallinules were everywhere, 2 green-winged teal drakes, an aberrant cedar waxwing with orange tipped tail feathers instead of the usual yellow, calico little blues, lots of pied-billed grebes plus the eared grebe was in her usual area. As we were nearing the end, we were waved in by Jim Sigsbee. Linda McCandless had spotted the shiny cowbird preening fairly high in a tree on the right hand side of the entrance - it had previously been seen on the ground by the feeder on the left side. A perfect ending to a wonderful morning.
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