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Posted by Vince Lucas on 11:21:41 06/15/08
The four "regulars" -- Margaret England, Steve Buczynski, Alan Murray and me, were the only ones to show up for the STA-5 tour yesterday. That's a shame because the sun was hidden behind towering cumulus clouds for most of the tour and the pleasant breezes atop the impoundment dikes also made for a rather comfortable day, weatherwise. Birdwise, it was superb as usual. We added another new species to the STA-5 checklist: a Laughing Gull. This is #160 for those keeping track. However, THE highlight of the day HAD to be the thousands of concentrated waders and especially American White Pelicans feeding as a group in the northeast cell. We estimated that there were between 750-1000 AMWPs at STA-5 yesterday! Not an exaggeration! This is even far more than what we record there in winter. What's up with that? Virtually all of the pelicans were juveniles or presumably unattached males. At least, this is what Alan and I could figure out. We can only surmise that the wildfires that have been burning in Lake Okeechobee to the the north for several weeks have caused these birds to relocate to STA-5. Of course, we'd love to hear what others have to say on the matter as well. Still, this total HAS to be one of the highest totals for this species ever recorded in June in the state. There were also well over 250 Roseate Spoonbills yesterday at STA-5. One of them was banded and we were able to read the bands: orange over black metal band with vertical letters "CR". Brennan, can you shed some light on where this bird was banded and when?
Other nice finds were more than 50 Black Skimmers; 12 or so Caspian Terns; at least 10 Ring-necked Ducks and 12 Blue-winged Teal; > 20 Purple Swamphens; 15+ Purple Gallinules (mostly feeding on the flowers of Alligator Flag); > a dozen Least Bitterns, many feeding out in the open on the algae(?) mats and away from their normal vegetative hiding places; and 7 Barn Owls found in abandoned ag structures along Blumberg Road. A summering(?) Greater Yellowlegs in high breeding plumage was an unexpected find as well.
The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) was pumping water into some of the cells and a few of the affected nesting Black-necked Stilts were desperately trying to raise up their nest sites from the impending flood by picking up algae or other nearby water plants to shore up their nests. The eggs were quite exposed during this time. Some might find this timely article interesting reading as it relates to this very issue:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpbirdswater0613pnjun13,0,7528970.story?track=rss
I'll forego relating all of the birds that Alan and I saw on our trip out to STA-5 from Naples but I must pass on a few observations. First, the so-called "Farm 8 Wetlands" on CR835 north of the Ocean Boy Shrimp Farms is now totally surrounded by a levee/high embankment, effectively drying it up. The vegetation i.e. willows, etc. that was just there a few weeks ago has been leveled. This area might become another STA-type reservoir but only time will tell. Despite this disturbing scene, there were still a half-dozen or so Limpkins still there and a few Snail Kites plying the nearby SFWMD canal along CR835. Lastly, earlier in the week when I was guiding a few visiting birders out that way in Hendry County, we stopped at the huge ranchland area on CR833 a mile or two west of the big curve north of the intersection of CR835 & Government Rd. (aka Snake Rd. aka CR833). There we found well over 50 Burrowing Owls on either side of CR833 -- the most I've ever seen at this location.
Here is the day list for STA-5 for Saturday, June 14, 2008:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 2
Fulvous Whistling-Duck >10
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal 12
Ring-necked Duck 10
Northern Bobwhite
Pied-billed Grebe
American White Pelican 750 - 1000!!!
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Least Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill > 250 (one banded individual)
Wood Stork
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Purple Swamphen 20
Purple Gallinule 15
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Limpkin
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
Greater Yellowlegs
Laughing Gull (New addition to the STA-5 checklist)
Caspian Tern 12
Black Skimmer 50
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Barn Owl 7 (the most we've ever seen -- along Blumberg Rd.)
Common Nighthawk
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Purple Martin 4
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
Common Yellowthroat
Eastern Towhee
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Boat-tailed Grackle
The next STA-5 tour is scheduled for Saturday, July 19th, 2008. C'mon out. You won't regret it. Here's a link to all of the upcoming tour dates along with maps and directions:
http://www.tropicalaudubon.org/sta.html
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