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Posted by Alex Harper on 16:58:59 12/26/09
My mom and I ventured to Hendry County this morning in search of a life bird and year birds. We took the longer but more scenic route: I-75 to Snake Road, then east, north, then east again along SR-835. We counted three Snail Kites, eleven Crested Caracara, and thirteen wild pigs en route.
At STA-5, Margaret England took our waivers and we were off towards the area where two Cassin's Kingbirds were residing, and have for the past two winters I believe. Heading directly south, with the sun working against us, we managed to see a few Fulvous-Whistling Ducks along with Blue-winged Teal, Limpkin and Black-necked Stilt. We took a right and headed west after passing one of the two cells.
Now with the two western cells between us, we slowly cruised. We found three large groups of ducks. One consisting of about 150 Black-bellied Whistling Ducks. The other two were easily over a hundred each, mostly Blue-winged Teal, but some American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, and Gadwall. We failed to turn any of the 200+ Glossy Ibis into a White-faced. At the kingbird location, we had four kingbirds, two Western and two Cassin's (the life bird). One Cassin's posed well atop a shrub. Tricia showed up with her sister and we watched the bird through a scope. It was also very vocal.
Heading back towards the southeastern cells, we met up with the tour. Here we had over a thousand Fulvous-Whistling Ducks in a large raft. Incredible, they outnumbered the coots in this area. Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, American White Pelican Roseate Spoonbill, Snail Kite, three falcon species, Purple Swamphen, and Sora (heard) were also seen in the area. At the intersection of the cells, Tricia had the juvenile Great Cormorant already in the scope for us as we pulled up. An excellent way to top off the trip.
Thank you Margaret England for allowing us to access one of Florida's most exciting birding locations. Masked Duck in the a.m.
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