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Posted by Nancy Freedman on 08:11:33 02/01/10
Sorry for the delay - computer trouble. 18 people (including our president and his wife) joined me for a glorious morning at Wakodahatchee, water levels were low, birds were close. Lots of Purple Gallinule, nesting Great Blue Herons - 2 nests with very young chicks. Spectacular plumage on Great Egrets, nothing out of the ordinary but stunning nonetheless. On to Green Cay; checked the parking lot for the BT Gray, no flocks at all so in we went. Lots of Sora, at least 4 Limpkin (calling and flying), Painted Buntings, approx. 50 Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, great comparisons of female Blue-winged and Green-winged teal; then Linda McCandless notifies us the BT Gray is being seen. We hustle the last third of the boardwalk - Brian Hope informs us he just had it 2 mins before we got there. We spend the next hour sorting through flocks that span the entire parking lot, but Okeeheelee awaited. Those few that remained, including Jocelyn and Gary, got the bird an hour later. Okeeheelee is always cool, Hootie was not out because Alexandria, the Great Horned Owl, was being displayed. But I did get to go in and trill with Hootie, twice. No wood ducks could be found but there were plenty of Painted Buntings and 2 cranes, one came to say goodbye to us as we were leaving the nature center. The March 20 trip to Okeeheelee hopefully will include up close encounters with the resident raptors and owls at that facility courtesy of John Welch, the naturalist. More to come, so plan on a very interesting afternoon there.
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