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Posted by Carlos Sanchez on 19:37:48 11/28/09
Today, I birded the Lucky Hammock area for about an hour in the morning. I was surprised to find a very different Lucky Hammock to the one I saw last year, and it will be interesting to see how the bird dynamics of the spot changes as a result of the new maintenance regime.
Highlights included two White-tailed Kites, two Short-tailed Hawks, a Clay-colored Sparrow along the roadside, and both a Wilson's Warbler and Least Flycatcher in the hammock. Birds of note:
Wood Stork: 26 (several flocks flying high overhead)
Turkey Vulture: 1 leucistic individual soaring overhead
White-tailed Kite: 2
Red-shouldered Hawk: 3
Short-tailed Hawk: 2 (one dark morph, one light morph)
American Kestrel: 5
Sandhill Crane: 6
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Eastern Phoebe: 4
Least Flycatcher
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher: 2
Northern Parula
Black-throated Green Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Savannah Sparrow: 6
Grasshopper Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
It was the first time I've birded in Florida since July, so it was a bit of a 'culture shock' to see and hear these birds again. I had been studying abroad 4 months in Australia, where I recorded 386 species of bird (including Southern Cassowary, 6 species of albatross, Superb Lyrebird, 8 species of bowerbird, 22 species of parrot, 8 species of kingfisher, 40 species of honeyeater, etc). The Clay-colored Sparrow I saw today was my 1,010th bird of the year, which includes birds seen in Florida, California, Costa Rica, and Australia. Hope to see many of you again soon during the Christmas Bird Counts or beforehand!
Carlos
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