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Posted by Paul-the-other on 18:32:32 12/23/07
Sunday, Green Cay featured 7 roseate spoonbills at the north end of the west walkway. Scores of ducks were present including blue winged teal, mottled, and several green winged teal. Coots were in great number (over 100) and moorhens were also in great numbers. But the show belonged to a family unit of purple gallinule: 2 adults and their five babies of the year all in splendid color and feeding with 10 feet of the boardwalk (also at the north end). Warblers were all palm. Pied bill Grebes were pairing off and there was a great deal of chasing and fighting. We saw about thirty gebes. Three osprey were present. Sora were more abundant then ever seen before. Their calls were heard from all directions and three presented a close up view that entertained 15 photographers for an hour.
There were 12 limpkins and multitudes of other birds in the center water area. Since we had no binoculars we couldn't be positive on the ducks but several were black bellied whistlers. Great egrets, tri colored, little blue and snowy egrets were scattered about the area and most are or rapidly becoming habituated to the presence of people on the boardwalks. It was encouraging to see many families introducing their children to the thrill of bird watching.
At Wakodahatchee the Great blue herons were the feature. Six nests are under construction or being used. Five of the nests are within 40 feet of the boardwalk, one is about 15 feet away and then some on isolated and alligator protected islands. Stick passing, neck stretching and "cooing and nibbling" was evident at all locations. We watched as a GBH "eyed" a dead bayberry bush and selected branches which it then broke of and took back to the nest. That location was where the cement concourse begins on the north side of the circle walk. Both mature and immature wood stork were present as were two racoons, a red shouldered hawk, about 10 king-fisher and.....one solitary downey woodpecker.
About 12 pairs of anhingas are incubating eggs or completing the nest building. Wakodahatchee is short on ducks, compared to Green Cay but the nesting of the Great blues more than makes up for that.
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