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Posted by Rick Schofield on 22:32:19 02/19/09
A friend and I went to STA 3/4 last week only to find that it was not officially open. But because all the gates were wide open we decided to walk whatever parts were accessible. When we saw an air boat with a moon-suited, herbicide spaying operator we high-tailed it out.
But, in the mean time, we saw quite a lot of bird life including a group of at least 8 Purple Swamphens. They appeared to be nesting on the far side of the very first empoundment. I post this message because I'm not sure if this should be reported somewhere. (When I visited Vierra Wetlands last year, they had a poster saying that if you saw this bird to call a number to report it -- presumably to have it 'removed'.)
In addition to the Swamphens, we saw the following:
American Kestrel
Osprey
Red-shouldered Hawk
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Cattle Egret
Little Blue Heron (including Immature Little Blue Heron)
Tricolored Heron
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Palm Sparrow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Red-winged Blackbird (male & female)
Purple Swamp-hen (8+)
Blue-winged Teal
Green-winged Teal
Mottled Florida Duck
Unidentified Ducks
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Turkey Vulture
Killdeer (tons)
Greater Yellow-legs (tons)
Lesser Yellow-legs (tons)
Unidentified Shore Birds (tons)
Belted Kingfisher
Loggerhead Shrike
Tree Swallow (tons)
Northern Roughed-winged Swallow (tons)
I returned with some other friends this past Monday to further investigate the shore birds that I was/am unable to identify. We spent an hour parked at the side of the road at the I-75/US-27 interchange waiting for the State Police to open 27N, which had been closed due to fog. When we finally got to STA 3/4, it was quite cool and very windy. We saw very little compared to my previous trip even though we were there much longer and covered much greater distance. :( But the Swamphens were still there.
Rick
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