Posted by Paul Bithorn on September 01, 2003 at 00:07:13:
The Tropical Audubon Society field trip on Saturday, August 30, 2003 to the sod farms offered several birders a mixture of lifebirds and yearbirds.
We began birding at the Holeyland/Rotenberger W.M.A. on the Palm Beach/Broward County line. Ani's were absent but Northern Waterthrush,Prairie Warbler, American Redstart, White-eyed Vireo, Eastern Towhee (heard) and Red-shouldered Hawks were seen along the road.Heavy construction from the ongoing Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (C.E.R.P.) project has generated a lot of traffic from heavy equipment, which has temporarily decreased the bird diversity.
The sod farms and flooded fields east of US 27 in Palm Beach County south of South Bay were very productive.
The highlight was at least 2 dozen Upland Sandpipers on a sod farm north of and across the street from the large tower along US 27. Our friends from Clearwater Audubon joined us for the spectacle. Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Black-necked Stilts, Solitary Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper,Pectoral Sandpiper, Semipalmated Plover, Black-bellied Plovers in alternate plumage, Kildeer, as well as Mottled Ducks, Blue-winged Teal, Roseate Spoonbills, Wood Storks,Bank and Barn Swallows and a Northern Harrier were also in the area.
A Least Bittern was seen at the small rockpit north of SR 827. A northern Yellow Warbler and a Yellow Rat Snake were also in the area.
The Miami Canal stand of champion Red Cedars had several Barn Owls and Black-crowned Night Herons. One of the Barn Owls posed for excellent scope views.About a mile west of the cedars was a flooded field that Kevin Sarsfield and Juan Villamil led us to after discovering it last week while scouting the area.We added Gull-billed Tern, Least Tern, Black Tern, Short-billed Dowitcher, Western Sandpiper and Yellow-crowned Night Heron.
One Snail Kite was seen from I-75 on the drive home in Area 2A just north of Weston on the drive home. Life is good............especially when birding our bird-rich agricultural areas.