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Posted by Bryant Roberts on 22:14:54 01/14/08
I spent a long weekend at Everglades National Park camping at Flamingo Friday and Saturday nights. Among the more interesting birds observed were: Barn Owl, Whip-poor-will, Lesser Nighthawk, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Black-throated Blue and Magnolia Warblers, Nelson s and Salt Marsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows, and Clay-colored Sparrow.
At the Hidden Lake Hammock Friday (1/11) morning Brown-crested Flycatchers called from a couple of places west of the road but never came within view. At the Gate 15 mound Hooded and Red-breasted Mergansers, Green-winged and Blue-winged Teal, a Long-billed Dowitcher, and the usual mix of common shorebirds and waders were in the water west of the mound.
Anhinga Trail had enough Alligators and wading birds to delight the tourists but nothing unusual in the way of birds. The highlight of my stop there was a flock of about 20 American Robins flying over the hammock.
There was little of interest to see at Pa-hay-okee or Mahogany Hammock. At Paurotis Pond one Roseate Spoonbill flew in but otherwise there was no sign of nesting activity.
Things got a little more interesting at West Lake where there was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet with an adult male American Redstart, and a couple of Blue-headed Vireos and Black-and-white Warblers.
There was nothing unusual that afternoon at Flamingo and Eco Pond but at dusk a Barn Owl was hunting near the Coastal Prairie Trail and there was a Whip-poor-will at the northwest corner of C-Loop in the campground.
A light rain curtailed birding at dawn Saturday but the weather cleared after sunrise and a walk out the Coastal Prairie Trail turned up six Nelson and two Salt-marsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows along with Sedge and Marsh Wrens. The old Cotton Pickers Camp area which was so productive last winter produced little of interest besides an Indigo Bunting and a Merlin.
Birding along Bear Lake Trail was slow and the only birds of note were a Black-throated Blue and Magnolia Warbler near the eastern end and a few White-crowned Pigeons along the trail. The baby Crocodiles were still near the end of the trail where I was able to count seven in the canal close to the old nest depression.
Another sunset vigil on the Coastal Prairie Trail turned up nothing new but upon emerging from the trail at the western end of C-loop I was treated to great looks at a male Lesser Nighthawk hunting back and forth low over the road at times coming close enough for me to hear its wingbeats.
On Sunday morning a couple of pairs of Barred Owls started a hooting match from either side of the campground at about five AM and converged over my campsite as I was having breakfast. I arrived at Eco Pond early where a Black Skimmer was skimming over the pond and the resident group of Black-necked Stilts was becoming active and noisy. As dawn approached a Lesser Nighthawk made a few passes and a Barn Owl hunted low around the edge of the pond. As it grew lighter a group of about five Lesser Nighthawks were flying at the north side of the pond in the lee of the central island then headed off towards the north as daylight approached.
Later in the morning I birded around the campground and went a short distance down the Coastal Prairie Trail where the only new birds seen were a couple of Painted Buntings near where the trail forks off towards the south. The sandbar off the Visitor Center had a winter adult Lesser Black-backed Gull and the usual mix of gulls, terns, shorebirds, and waders. A pleasant surprise near the end of my visit to Flamingo was a Clay-colored Sparrow along the western part of the Guy Bradley Trail.
On the way north I made a brief stop at Mrazek Pond where birds are beginning to congregate then continued north to try and see the Brown-crested Flycatchers again. I heard one calling from deep in the hammock and saw another Black-throated Blue Warbler. At the Coe Visitor parking lot the Great Horned Owl was sitting on her nest.
Ten Sandhill Cranes were still in the plowed fields south of Lucky Hammock at sunset and a little while later eleven Lesser Nighthawks appeared over the pines to the west and worked eastward over the farm fields as it became darker. Finally as darkness settled a Whip-poor-will began giving whip notes from the hammock.
During my visit bunting, warbler and vireo numbers seemed unusually low. While all the usual waders were around all there numbers also seemed low and there wasn t much of a morning and evening flight over Flamingo. An unusual missed bird during my visit was Short-tailed Hawk. Mosquitoes were a little worse than earlier in the winter but they still weren t much of a problem.
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