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Posted by John Boyd on 12:38:20 05/03/09
Jeff Weber was joined by myself and 4 other birders for yesterday's trip to Big Cypress. Half of the group joined us at the Snail Kite spot on Tamiami Trail, which meant they missed our first River Otter of the day (with a fish), our first two Limpkins, and Purple Gallinule.
We made a number of stops along Loop Road, for another Limpkin, two more River Otters, a pond full of alligators, and other birding stops. A couple of Pileated Woodpeckers flew across the road as we headed toward Sweetwater Strand. We had turned up Black-and-White Warbler, Redstart, Blackpoll Warbler, and a heard Common Yellowthroat before arriving there. Warblers were present as we got out of the cars, the highlight being a nearby male Prothonotary. Numerous Parulas were singing, as were several Redstarts. An occasional Black-and-white was also heard.
It was quite dry, so we took a walk into the swamp. It was delightful. We were surrounded by birds. Seeing them was sometimes frustrating as many were flitting around high in the cypress, but there were MANY! We added BT Blue and RE Vireo as we walked through the swamp, along with many more of the birds we had already seen. On our way back, we were treated to a nice waterthrush comparison, with both species out in the open. Great Crested Flycatchers were also numerous, and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers and Tufted Titmouse also put in an appearance. We also saw several types of orchid.
Since Jeff had to get back in time to go to a wedding, we only made one more stop, at Gator Hook Trail. We added Cape May and Palm Warblers, bringing us to 11 warbler species. We also found Eastern Kingbird and Meadowlark.
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