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Posted by Trey Mitchell on 11:20:39 11/26/10
I spent the first half of the day in ENP; starting at 9-mile Pond before sunrise. I was hoping the day would produce something really unexpected but for the most part it was a little bit less than typical Nov. morning. I found many Palm Warblers and saw a few sparrows, but other than that there seemed to be fewer wintering passerines. My guess is since we had a lot of rain and a of water this year the birds are spread out rather than concentrated in the areas we usually frequent.
Ducks and Coots were another story... I had hundreds of Coots, 45 American Wigeon, 90+ Shovelers, Blue-wing Teal, Green-wing Teal, 2 Gadwall, and Maria found a Hooded Merganser on the lake in Long Pine Key. Most of the ducks were found at West Lake. This is the first time I've seen ducks in big numbers there. I have heard about people seeing many ducks there, but this was a first for me.
Normally in Mahogany Hammock there is a wintering flock of warblers, but I saw nor heard a peep. Very quiet except for a few Northern Cardinal and a Red-bellied Woodpecker.
I had two Owls, a Barn Owl perched on a snag and I heard a Barred Owl at Eco Pond. The only other bird seen worth mentioning was a Gull-billed Tern at Coot Bay canoe launch. It put on a show for a few minutes, but there was an alligator in the way preventing me from taking photos. You had to be there....
On my way back home I stopped at Lucky Hammock for a few minutes to look for the Field Sparrow Toe and Maria saw early in the morning... I didn't see the Field, but did see a Vesper Sparrow confirming one the Toe thought he saw earlier. There were many Savannahs and a few Grasshopper Sparrows to look through. I imagine there may be other good sparrows in the area if one had the time to put in an effort to look.
While at Luck Hammock a Swainson's Hawk did a flyby.
Overall it was a good morning for me. I got to get away from work and took a few photos.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving weekend!
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