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Posted by Toe on 16:49:18 08/30/09
Angel and Mariel teamed with Trey and me this morning for a trip to the sod farms in western Palm Beach County. We met the group with the TAS trip at Holeyland/Rotenberger WMA in the morning, but knowing we would have to make it a short day went on our own in search of shorebirds ahead of the group. We were hoping to join them again later but car problems prevented that.
Heading north on US-27 we stopped at the microwave tower south of Okeelanta and found the former sod fields overgrown and devoid of birds. A little farther north we found a flooded rice field across from King's Ranch that had some L. Yellowlegs and BN Snilts and a Wilson's Phalarope. (26˚ 33',47.44" N
80˚ 42', 43.10" W) Nice to get this one on the first stop. Crossing to the King's Ranch side of US-27 (east) we found a sod field with about a dozenUpland Sandpipers. (26˚ 33', 23.39" N 80˚ 42', 12.33" W)
We then headed north and took 827A to Belle Glade, finding no suitable fields along the way. Heading east on CR-880 we turned onto Browns Farm Rd at Six Mile Bend. We turned left onto the first bridge on Brown's Farm Rd. and found a couple of very large fields in excellent shorebird condition with nice variety and numbers. After checking the fields on either side of the dirt road leading away from Brown's Farm Rd, we took the levee that runs parallel a little further south to the next road left and found even better numbers and two more Wilson's Phalaropes.(26˚ 37', 16.28" N 80˚ 42', 31.60" W)
Speaking to Andy Bankert on the phone, he told us about an American Golden Plover and two Buff-breasted Sandpipers he and David Simpson found at Roth Sod Rd. (Gladeview Rd) further east on CR-880. We quickly saw the Plover in the first sod fields to the right after turning onto Roth Sod (26˚ 40',32.27" N
80˚ 29', 48.61" W), but dipped on the Buff-breasteds a couple of
miles further south. A crane, tractor, and bulldozer were operating in the field where Andy and Dave found the Buff-breasteds. There was another Upland Sandpiper in the same area as the Golden Plover.
Some species that seemed less numerous than other years were Pectoral and Samipalmated Sandpipers, and Gull-billed and Black Tern. I've included the Google Earth coordinates to some of the better birds. These fields are constantly changing depending on the farming operations, so their appearance on Google Earth will not be indicative of their current condition.
Here's are total tally on shorebirds:
Black-bellied Plover (6)
American Golden Plover
Semipalmated Plover (20)
Killdeer (~100)
Black-necked Stilt (~300)
American Avocet (2)
Spotted Sandpiper (4)
Greater Yellowlegs (50)
Lesser Yellowlegs (~1,000+)
Upland Sandpiper (13)
Ruddy Turnstone (5)
Semipalmated Sandpiper (3)
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper (500)
Pectoral Sandpiper (60)
Stilt Sandpiper (300)
Short-billed Dowitcher (100)
Long-billed Dowitcher (3)
Dowitcher Sp. (500)
Wilson's Phalarope (3)
Other interesting species included Black-bellied and Fulvous Whistling Ducks, Black Tern, Orchard Oriole, and Yellow warbler. Not a blowout trip, but a nice shorebird fix with a couple of really good birds. The TAS group stayed later and got a couple of species that we missed, so we could have gone over our goal of 20 species. Oh well, it was a fun day anyway.
Cheers!
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