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Posted by Bryant Roberts on 18:54:35 05/12/09
I spent last Saturday through Monday in the Flamingo area of Everglades National Park where the most interesting birds seen were a White-rumped Sandpiper and three Whimbrels. Songbird migration was slowing down and the only migrants seen during a walk down Bear Lake Trail on Saturday were American Redstarts, Black-throated Blue Warblers, Northern Waterthushes, Black-and-White Warblers, Blackpoll Warblers, and Common Yellowthroats. Prairie Warblers and Black-whiskered Vireos were abundant and singing along the trail and around Flamingo Swallow-tailed Kites, Gray Kingbirds and White-crowned Pigeons were common and conspicuous. The local race of Yellow Warbler was common and could be heard singing along the mangrove shorelines and on the Islands. The tide was a little too high during a paddle out to Snake Bight that afternoon to provide very satisfying birding; even the large waders were off the central flats and most of the shorebirds were too far back from the shore for easy observation.
My Sunday morning project was a paddle to Coot Bay Pond through Mud Lake and into Bear Lake. No especially interesting birds were found but a lot of new ground was seen with much more exploring left to do in that area. That afternoon I made an earlier start into Snake Bight where the birds were much more easily seen. I had to wait for about half an hour where perimeter channel gives out for enough water to float my kayak further northwards but the time was well spent studying various plumages of hundreds of Dunlin, lesser numbers of Semipalmated Sandpipers, a couple of dozen American Avocets, a Gull-billed Tern changing to alternate plumage, and the only Western Sandpiper seen during the weekend. Semipalmated Sandpipers were by far the most abundant peep seen along with far lesser numbers of Lesser Sandpipers and only one Western Sandpiper. Once again able to make progress towards Gibby Point I soon saw a single Whimbrel close to the shoreline and later on a White-rumped Sandpiper a little farther back from the shore. I continued well past the end of Snake Bight Road where shorebirds and waders continued to be abundant and the only three American White Pelicans seen during the weekend flew eastward. Near the point where I turned back a couple of dozen Least Terns were diving at a cowering Great Egret that must have gotten to close to their nesting area. Besides the birds mentioned there were good number of the usual waders as well as Black-bellied, Semipalmated, and Wilson s Plovers. Willets and Marbled Godwits were also seen but not in the large numbers present during my last visit in late April.
On Monday I paddled westward along Cape Sable to Slagle Ditch and probed up its feeder streams as far as possible without heroic effort. It was low tide and on the mud banks well upstream there were a few young Roseate Spoonbills and a couple of Whimbrels along with a few Dunlins. An advantage of birding from a kayak is that birds allow close approach and one of the Whimbrels uttered a thrilling rolling call from less than a hundred feet away. On the way back to Flamingo I stopped to stretch my legs and do some exploring in the coastal prairie at East Clubhouse Beach. The mix of vegetation was limited to the most salt tolerant species with mostly pure stands of Saltwort (Batis maritima) broken by occasional small Black Mangroves. There was a central low area with some small patches of Glasswort, Sea Purslane, and Salt Grass but there was no Sea-Oxeye and the prairie didn t have the mosaic of different plants that I usually find most productive for birds. However, the Saltwort was high and healthy so the area may be worth checking for Sharp-tailed Sparrows next winter. There was one plant there that I hadn t recalled noticing in other prairie areas on Cape Sable which I have tentatively identified as Keygrass (Monanthochloe littoralis)
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