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Posted by Bryant Roberts on 22:33:29 08/10/08
Late this morning there were two Greater Flamingos along the northwest shoreline of Snake Bight about half a mile west of Gibby Point. One of the birds appeared to be nearly adult and the other showed considerably less color; neither of the birds had bands. To the best of my knowledge this is the first sighting of Flamingos for several years at once was the most reliable location for this species in Florida.
The area where the Flamingos were seen isn t visible from boardwalk at the end of Snake Bight Road but with a scope it may be visible from the end of Christian Point Trail or from Snake Bight Channel. I took advantage of a late morning high tide to paddle my kayak around the shoreline from Christian Point around the northern edge of Snake Bight. Venturing any distance out of the channels at Snake Bight should be done with caution and only on a rising tide with a current weather forecast and an eye to the sky. A strong north wind can rapidly blow the water out of this large shallow bay and leave you stranded in mud too soft to walk on but too thick to paddle through.
The expected waders and shorebirds were also seen in the area including a couple of American Avocets just south of the boardwalk at the end of Snake Bight Road and a couple of Gull-billed Terns patrolling the shoreline. I was surprised by the number of Wilson s Plovers seen, far outnumbering Semipalmated and Black-bellied combined.
Around Flamingo the most interesting birds were three American Avocets at Eco Pond, one of which still showed a trace of rusty color on its head. Despite a few laps around the parking areas the only cowbirds I could find were a few juvenile Brown-headeds. I spent Saturday night at Long Pine Key Campground where Common Nighthawks, Barn Swallows, and a few Cliff Swallows put on a late afternoon show among the treetops as Northern Bobwhites, Eastern Bluebirds, and Eastern Towhees made the understory interesting. A Great Horned Owl was calling in the distance before dawn.
Mosquitoes are bad everywhere in the park, they were even a nuisance along the boardwalk at Anhinga Trail.
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