Posted by Jeff Weber on February 21, 2004 at 13:58:38:
This morning, Dick Cunningham and I were leading a beginning birders' walk when we saw a breeding male Red-Legged Honeycreeper at Royal Palm. The bird was first spotted by hawk-eyed Oklahoma birder Sandi McDonald and was ID'd in a nanosecond by Dick. It was actively feeding on fruit high in a large gumbo limbo tree immediately above the right-hand entrance to the Gumbo Limbo Trail. The trailhead in question is marked by a post with four small signs saying "No Food," "No Pets," etc. The bird was sighted about 8:30 a.m., and it remained in the open, lit by bright sunlight, for about 20 minutes. We tried to relocated it after walking Anhinga Trail and were unable to do so, but the abundant food supply should motivate it to remain in the area. The bird had no leg bands and displayed brilliant, unworn plumage.